|| MARCH || APRIL || JUNE || JULY ||

For this month’s reading roundup, I have to be brutally honest and explain why I only read two books as opposed to meeting my monthly goal of 3-4. I got sucked into the CBS show, Bluebloods, and binge-watched seasons 4-9 in the past month. There ya have it. I had a legitamate problem for a few weeks…I would watch the show while editing all day and then still watch more episodes in the evening in my downtime INSTEAD of reading. Shameful, I know. But I was (and still kind of am) obsessed. And I’m totally Team Jamko forever (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, do yourself a favor and go watch this show). While I wait for Season 10 to air, I will hopefully fit in a few more books in September. Hahaha.

The two books I did manage to read were “The Orphan’s Tale” by Pam Jenoff and “The Healer“, book number five in Dee Henderson’s “O’Malley” series.

The Orphan’s Tale

Yet another WWII book, this one has a greater fictional feel than some of the other WWII novels I’ve read this year. As all WWII books go, it is tragic and hard to read through parts, but it showcases the great perseverance of the human race and also the immense power of love and sacrifice in the midst of unthinkable cruelty and tragedy. Noa is a sixteen-year-old girl who became homeless after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and is forced to give her baby away when it is born. She stumbles upon a boxcar full of Jewish babies headed towards a concentration camp and in a split-second decision, she grabs a baby from the boxcar and flees into the winter night. She ends up being taken in by a German circus whose entire existence is on the line as Noa and her Jewish infant are not the first refuges they are hiding. I found this novel intriguing and engaging, although at times there was a little too much sensuality (especially considering the context of the rest of the book, it didn’t really fit and seemed like it was just thrown in). A decent read, but not a must-read by any measure in my opinion.

The Healer

If you’ve been following my monthly reading series, you’ve probably seen me mention this O’Malley Series by Dee Henderson multiple times. She is a brilliant writer as her novels contain both romance and yet suspenseful mysteries and she manages to nail both of them perfectly. “The Healer” is book number five and follows Rachel O’Malley, a trauma psychologist for children who works for the Red Cross. A devastating flood, complicated murder scene, and a tragic school shooting end up all interconnected and Rachel and love-interest, Cole, end up in the middle of it all as they both attempt to do their jobs to help the grieving community and find the culprit before another tragedy takes place. I definitely recommend the O’Malley series and am looking forward to reading the 6th and final book this month!

I’ll try to curb my Bluebloods addiction this month and get back on the ball with reading!!

Xoxo,
Mary Kate