This post contains affiliate links.
#27. DIRT TO SOIL: ONE FAMILY’S JOURNEY INTO REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE by Gabe Brown // ★★★★☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)
I really, really enjoyed this book! It was a crash course on soil health and a blueprint for how I can care for our pastures as we begin raising animals on our homestead. The advice was generally for bigger acreage, but I still found tons of inspiration throughout.
#28. THE MANDIBLES: A FAMILY, 2029-2047 by Lionel Shriver // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)
To set the stage, I’ll quote part of the blurb on the back: “In 2029, the United States is engaged in a bloodless world war that will wipe out the savings of millions of American families. Overnight, on the international currency exchange, the “almighty dollar” plummets in value, to be replaced by a new global currency, the bancor. In retaliation, the president declares that America will default on its loans. The government prints money to cover its bills. What little remains to savers is rapidly eaten away by runaway inflation.” The book is about one formerly well-to-do family and how they survive when their money seems to evaporate. I’ve been learning a lot about finance and the Federal Reserve lately and reading this dystopian speculation made me nervous! I hope we’re not headed toward a future like this described. Thought-provoking.
#29. THE HOURS OF THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST by Luisa Piccarreta // ★★★★☆
(amazon)
I first read this beautiful reflection of the Passion back in 2020 and brought it back out to read during Holy Week this year. It ended up taking me longer than that one week, but I think that’s okay because I was able to really meditate on each hour. So good.
#30. NEWS OF THE WORLD by Paulette Jiles // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)
This was a quiet little novel about a traveling gentleman who reads the news and a little girl who was captured by the Kiowa Indians and rescued. The story follows their adventure to reunite the girl with her family. The writing was beautiful but there were some little things that bugged me (no quotation marks!!) and I thought there could have been less of the end and more of the middle. How’s that for an opinion, ha!
#31. THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY by Sulari Gentill // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop)
The structure of this book is unique and I was intrigued from the start. The premise is that four strangers are sharing a table at the Boston Public Library when they hear a scream. That experience (and the later discovery of a dead woman) bonds the four strangers and they quickly become friends. But are they now friends with a killer? A good story, but the ending was just okay. (The Woman in the Library will be published on June 7, 2022. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!)
#32. ESCAPE FROM CAMP 14: ONE MAN’S REMARKABLE ODYSSEY FROM NORTH KOREA TO FREEDOM IN THE WEST by Blaine Harden // ★★★☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)
“I did not know about sympathy or sadness,” he said. “They educated us from birth so that we were not capable of normal human emotions. Now that I am out, I am learning to be emotional. I have learned to cry. I feel like I am becoming human.” (p.192)
Man. Escape from Camp 14 is the incredible story of Shin Dong-Hyuk who was born and raised in a North Korean labor camp. During the time he stayed in the camp, he endured starvation, hard labor and torture…and considered it all a normal way of life. Thankfully, due to the influence of another political prisoner, he was introduced to the idea of freedom and then became (as of the writing of the book) the only person to successfully escape to the free world. A really important read.
#33. THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell // ★★☆☆☆
(amazon // bookshop // better world books)
I was in the mood for another easy thriller/mystery, so decided to pick this one up. Meh. It was a fast read, but I thought it was weird.
