June 2023 Book Recap – The Fitnessista
Sharing the books I read in June and would you recommend adding them to your collection!
Hello friends! I hope you are having a wonderful week! I’m so happy you liked the anniversary sale selections. While there isn’t as big a selection as in years past, there’s still plenty of good stuff!
For today’s post, I wanted to share a summary of recent reading. I haven’t been reading as much as usual since I was so focused on IHP2 finish, but I’m back in the action read with a mix of fun fluff + more educational fare. I’ve added a lot to my list over the past month, so I’m looking forward to diving into a few new ones on the list.
This is what I read in June!
June 2023 Book Summary
I love Kate Quinn and am on a mission to read all of her books. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that this book It’s part of a 4 part series, and I’m already on the second book. It’s slower than some of his previous novels I’ve read (The Huntress, Code Pink, The Diamond Eye, The Red Alice), but it builds gradually to a crazy satisfying finish. Since I normally read more of WWII era historical fiction, it was a treat to read about a completely different time period and also learn a lot about what it might have been like in first century Rome. 9/10 recommend and it lined up perfectly with our trip and the chance to see the Colosseum again in person.
Of Amazon:
Rome of the 1st century: A young woman will have the fate of an empire in her hands.
Thea, a Judean captive, is a smart and determined survivor who hides behind a docile mask of a slave. Bought as a toy for pampered heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea evades the spite of her mistress and hones a secret passion for music. But when Thea wins the love of Rome’s newest and wildest gladiator and dares to dream of a better life, the jealous Lepida separates the lovers from her and throws Thea out.
Rome offers many ways for the resourceful to survive, and Thea renews herself as a singer for the brilliant aristocrats of the ‘Eternal City’. As she strives for success and independence, her nightingale voice attracts a dangerous new admirer: the Emperor himself. But the passions of an all-powerful man come at a high price, and Thea finds herself fighting for both her soul and her destiny.
Many have sought to destroy the Emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the most powerful man in Rome is in the hands of one woman: the Emperor’s mistress.
Wanted to like this book a bit more than me, but I still checked it during our flight so I could figure out what happened. This follows the story of Percy and Sam, who have been friends (and a little more than friends…) since their teens, until a mysterious event completely changes their relationship. Percy ventures home after Sam’s mother’s funeral, and little by little the pieces of their relationship are revealed, along with what happened that tore them apart. I would give this a 6/10.
Of Amazon:
They say you can never go home, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt all too true. Instead of the glittering lakeside summers of her childhood, she spends them in a fancy city apartment, hanging out with friends and keeping everyone at a safe distance from her heart.
Until she gets the call that sends her back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek, the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through misty afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working at his family’s restaurant and snuggling with books—medical textbooks for him and horror-in-progress tales for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually, that friendship grew into something amazingly more, before it spectacularly fell apart.
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as ever. But until Percy can confront the decisions he’s made and the years he’s spent beating himself up for them, they’ll never know if his love may be greater than the biggest mistakes of his past.
Told over six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a great nostalgic story about love, people and the choices that mark us forever.
Ever since I’ve been dealing with the eye saga, you can bet your loot I’ve been a reading and research machine, especially since trips to various doctors haven’t given me many answers or a true plan of action. (Going to see my regular eye doctor + specialist this week. Good news is my eyes have healed! But I’m trying to figure out WHY this happened so I can prevent it in the future and also a path to wearing contacts again as my doctor told me I still have to wait. I can’t function with my glasses forever.)
I stumbled this book and although it is meant to be an 8 week action plan, i read it in one sitting. (I took a break every 20 minutes and also did blink exercises lol). It’s packed with tangible action steps and favorite products if you suffer from dry eye or Meibomiun gland dysfunction. I’m still not sure if I have any of these things or if I’m allergic to something in the environment that triggered all of this. Either way, these steps have absolutely continued to help. You can get a copy on Amazon and also download a free workbook to accompany the book. The author also has a lot of free resources on your site.
I have not finished This however, but I have read bits of it every night; It’s the perfect bedtime read and fills my heart with warm memories before I drift off to sleep. This book explores the various love stories in the Bible, including romantic relationships and deep friendships. I love this book and I also think it would make a great gift. 10/10
Of Amazon:
The Bible is full of “love” stories. But the biblical idea of love is much bigger than we imagine.
Love is at the heart of the Bible. From the moment Adam declared Eve “flesh of my flesh”…to Joseph’s sacrificial love for Mary…to David and Jonathan’s deep friendship…to God’s abundant and unchanging love: The Bible is a love story. But it also redefines the way the world tells us to think about love.
The Bible reveals not just butterflies and broken hearts. In the Scriptures, we see God’s beautiful design for the partnership of marriage. We are witnesses of friendships that cross all limits. We watch as families navigate the many seasons of life. Our guiding example for all of them is the deepest, most enduring, most fundamental love ever known: God’s unconditional love for his people.
In The Love Stories of the Bible Speak, Shannon Bream draws lessons from the good, the bad, and the ugly of biblical romance, friendships, and families. She shows how God’s love is often very different from ours, upending our assumptions about life, relationships, and each other.
The Love Stories of the Bible Speak reminds us that no matter where we find ourselves, God’s unwavering love will sustain and guide us. These insights into biblical relationships will uplift and encourage him, revealing new dimensions of the most central Christian duty: to love God and his neighbor.
the circus train–DNF
While the premise is promising, I found the writing slow and boring. I read 50 pages before I put it down. There are so many other books I have on my list, so I won’t force myself to read something I don’t quite like. It has great reviews, but it wasn’t my favorite.
Of Amazon:
When all is lost, how do you find the courage to carry on?
1938. Lena Papadopoulos has never quite found her place within the circus, even as the daughter of head illusionist extraordinaire, Theo. Bright and curious, Lena, who uses a wheelchair after a childhood bout with polio, yearns for the magic of the real world of science and medicine, her mind stronger than the limitations society imposes on her. Then her unconventional life takes an exciting turn when she rescues Alexandre, an orphan with secrets of his own and a mysterious past.
As World War II intensifies around them, their friendship deepens as Alexandre trains as an illusionist’s apprentice. But when Theo and Alexandre are arrested and forced to perform in a Nazi-established town for Jews, Lena is cut off from everything she knows. Forced to make his way her way, Lena must face her doubts and dare to believe in the impossible: in herself.
So tell me friends: what have you been reading lately? Any favorite summer reads? this is still my #1 of the summer so far.
Thank you very much for visiting the blog today and see you soon!
xo
gina
