Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Oct 7

Back to Reality (October 7, 2024)

by kennithfreeman

As should be expected, I left a piece of my heart in Malibu. I didn’t want to come back to West Texas, but responsibility beckons.

Last weekend, I attended Waves Weekend at Pepperdine University. This year was targeting 1990s alumni (that’s me!) and there were lots of special faces that returned to the ‘Bu to reminisce and celebrate with us. Additionally, I was asked to coordinate an alumni coffeehouse to close out the weekend on Saturday evening. While most of the music wasn’t my typical rep, it was exactly how I stretched my wings as a collaborative pianist and music director while I was at Pepperdine, so it felt very natural to agree.

Were there challenges? Absolutely! Just lining up performers and rehearsals from Texas was a challenge in and of itself. But if I hadn’t had the responsibility of performing, I probably wouldn’t have made the trip back to California. There never seems to be a convenient time to leave work if I’m not performing or recruiting students. So I had to steal away from the reunions for a few hours to grade a few submissions, but nothing too daunting.

Am I glad I went? Absolutely! There is really nothing quite like spending time with cherished people who poured into my life during some formative years. Hugs with Hung, Bob, Stuart, LaJuana, Scott, and Kim lingered as I soaked in their love. Spending time with men and women who did life with me on campus for six years as friends, musicians, and fraternity brothers cannot be given a price. (Oh how I treasure the time I got to spend with Jessica, Andy, Amy, Jen, Alan, Ben, Tim, Natalie, Gina, and Brian Lee….as well as lots of others!) Sometimes I think I forget just how much I need to be in a safe space with people who know me best and love me most. These people are my family…and it felt as though we just picked up as though we were still roaming the halls of Pepperdine as we did 30 years ago. My heart is so full!

Besides traveling and seeing friends, I also managed to get some significant reading done. And that’s what we are here to talk about, right?

What I Finished This Week

Returning to Eden by Rebecca Hartt. For the flight, I decided that I wanted an ebook to read on my Kindle that I could easily come in and out of as the weekend went by. Hartt’s novel is the first in the Acts of Valor series and was listed as a Christian thriller. I was intrigued and pleasantly surprised. The story centers around Jonah, a navy SEAL who was taken captive when a mission went south. After a year of being gone, he is presumed dead and his wife and step-daughter have begun to move on with their lives. Then the call comes that changes everything — Jonah is alive, but he has no memory of his wife, his capture, or his imprisonment. Being treated for PTSD, Jonah has a very real sense that his life is still in danger. This gripping novel is a lovely story of transformation through Christ while keeping us on the edge of our seats as we follow the mystery to its chilling conclusion. If you like John Grisham and would like to have something with a Christian worldview, this might be the perfect novel to check out.

What I’m Currently Reading

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors (p. 205 of 342). I started reading this novel last week and didn’t get very far. As I kept reading, I found myself struggling through the first 150 pages of the novel. Everything was so depressing as the remaining Blue sisters dealt with the death of Nicky. I am normally fine with dark themes, but these characters seemed irredeemable. I just didn’t like any of them. FINALLY, it appears that the three are going to come together to help each other with their various demons. It seems that the tone and tempo of the book has improved with everyone’s arrival in New York. The chapters are very long in order to maintain a single point of view, but I think the same thing could have been accomplished simply by providing big headings and breaking the chapters into smaller, digestible chunks. I’m ready to see how this one is going to end and hope that I will keep up the progress that I’ve made this weekend.

There you have it! Happy reading, y’all.

~Kennith

Book of the Month Christian ebook family saga fiction romance thriller

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Dec 7

#31: Love on the Brain (Ali Hazelwood)

by kennithfreeman

Sometimes, the Book of the Month Club offers options that I normally would not pick up to read. However, the premise sounds interesting and I find myself reading a palette cleanser. Despite my recent visits to Bridgerton, the romantic premise of Love on the Brain was not what I normally go for. After a slow start that found me struggling to connect with the characters, I was soon laughing out loud and rooting for this unusual cast to find love.

Bee is a neuroscientist who has sworn off of relationships. Her parents died when she was young resulting in she and her sister bouncing around between relatives in cities around the world. In graduate school, she was engaged to Tim – – but he ultimately left Bee at the altar for her best friend. As her professional career appears to be in the toilet, Bee is elated when she learns that she has the opportunity to co-lead a NASA project. There’s just one problem….Bee’s co-leader will be Levi, the sarcastic, egotistical man that made life in her graduate studies a living hell. How can this all work? Can two mortal enemies actually find a way to put the past behind them for the success of the project?

Love on the Brain combines scientific concepts and Twitter for a hilarious romp that brings the unlikeliest of couples together. From Bee’s quirky appearance to the quiet and extremely handsome Levi, sparks are flying. Toss in a bit of NASA lab espionage and you have the formula for a really fun read. Additionally, the commentary on the importance of family, the need for stability, and the role of standardized tests in graduate school admission (I kid you not!) keeps the book from getting too sappy. Am I surprised that I enjoyed this read as much as I did? Absolutely. Do I think I’ll check out what else Ali Hazelwood has written? Definitely. It was just too fun of a read to ignore the possibility that there might be something more to take in.

Book of the Month fiction romance

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Sep 24

#23: The Hotel Nantucket (Elin Hilderbrand)

by kennithfreeman

A recently restored historic hotel staffed by people who have lots of secrets to hide. Sounds interesting, huh? Toss in a super critical hotel reviewer and a ghost who was murdered in the hotel 100 years ago and you have the key components of Elin Hilderbrand’s latest novel, The Hotel Nantucket.

I have seen Hilderbrand’s books on the bookstore shelves for years, but I’ve never taken the time to pick one up. I suppose I assumed that they were strictly fluff pieces that were not worth my time. When The Hotel Nantucket showed up as an option of the Book of the Month club, I decided it was time to give this author a chance. I found myself laughing out loud at the outrageous storyline and rooting for this charming cast of underdogs.

The Hotel Nantucket was mysteriously destroyed by fire nearly a century ago and a chambermaid died in the inferno. Since the disaster, the hotel has been poorly renovated and been the subject of much negativity by the community. The fact that the building was haunted did not help the hotel’s marketing either. Now that the place has been bought by English billionaire Xavier Darling, Hotel Nantucket now has a second chance at a new life.

When he hired Lizbet to serve as general manager, Xavier told her that he was trying to impress two women. One of those women was Shelly Carpenter, the author of the monthly blog Hotel Confidential. Shelly is notoriously picky and has never given an establishment the coveted five key rating. Xavier (and Lizbet) are determined to earn that distinction for Hotel Nantucket.

Finding a qualified staff on short notice proves to be more challenging than Lizbet imagined. Despite her best efforts, her staff turns out to be a gaggle of misfits — from the frat boy housekeeper to the unethical night clerk and the gold-digging front desk manager. While trying to keep these problematic people in check, Lizbet doesn’t need anything else to go wrong. Once the hotel guests begin to arrive, things go from bad to worse and the antics really begin.

The Hotel Nantucket was an engaging read with its witty writing and loveable cast of characters. Now I have to figure out a way to go to Nantucket for a visit during the summer season.

What’s next in my reading list? I’ve begun another selection from the Book of the Month club — The Attic Child by Lola Jaye. I just started the novel this morning and I am already HOOKED! I’ll let you know how things go with this latest read next week.

2022 Reading Challenge Book of the Month fiction

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Jul 27

#17: The Personal Librarian (Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray)

by kennithfreeman

Once again, I feel compelled to yell from the rooftop – If you like historical fiction, READ THIS BOOK! If you are just looking for a compelling story, READ THIS BOOK! If you are interested in exploring the role race plays in America, READ THIS BOOK! Can I make it any clearer for you? READ THIS BOOK!!!!

The Personal Librarian is the factionalized account of Belle de Costa Greene, personal librarian of J.P. Morgan. Greene was singlehandedly responsible for pulling together one of the world’s greatest collections of important printings of early English works as well as an outstanding gathering of paintings by masters of the Italian Renaissance. Miss Greene was respected as an art expert in the early decades of the 20th Century in both America and Europe. What makes Belle de Costa Greene an even more interesting figure is that she accomplished all of this as an African-American woman who passed as white in order to succeed, fully knowing that if her secret were discovered, it would result in catastrophe for both herself and her family.

Beautifully written with an eye for historical accuracy, The Personal Librarian is an outstanding portrait of an era in American history that shares many parallels with the one we are currently living in at the beginning of the 21st Century. With lush descriptions of illuminated manuscripts, prized art collections, and the social gatherings of New York’s upper class, The Personal Librarian explores the Gilded Age with remarkable clarity while comparing that life with the plight of minorities existing just a few blocks away. A struggle that occurs just after the Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Jim Crow laws were taking hold, and segregation was becoming the rule of the land. The novel is both endearing and heartbreaking at the same time. Read this novel and you will gain a new perspective that I think will forever change you. READ THIS NOVEL!

Book of the Month fiction historical

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Mar 28

#6: The Kindest Lie (Nancy Johnson)

by kennithfreeman

I finally did it! I finished reading Nancy Johnson’s The Kindest Lie. Here’s hoping that my reading drought has finally come to an end.

Don’t misunderstand. My reading drought had nothing to do with the novel. I liked the book a lot and found the plot interesting and fun to read. I just did not want to sit in my corner chair with a book in hand. This weekend, I decided to simply put my nose back in the book, enjoy some good food, and read. I’m glad I did.

The Kindest Lie tells the story of Ruth, a successful African-American engineer living in Chicago with her husband during the election of President Obama. As the couple begin to discuss beginning a family, Ruth must confess that she was a teen mother, but does not know her child or where he ended up. Saddled with guilt, Ruth travels back to her Indiana home in an effort to discover the truth about her child. Along the way, she comes face to face with lies, deceptions, and cover-ups intended to keep her from discovering her child’s identity. What lies are we willing to tell in order to protect our children and allow them to fulfill their dreams? Is a lie ever an act of love? Johnson raises these and other interesting questions in her latest novel as it explores the meaning of parenthood and when a lie can be the kindest act of love a parent can express.

Book of the Month fiction

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Feb 20

#4: Memorial (Bryan Washington)

by kennithfreeman

February has not been a particularly good reading month for me. I don’t know what the problem is, but I always tend to find that my reading decreases during this cold winter month every year. I thought this year would be different since there would be less travel occurring due to COVID restrictions. Still, I could not find motivation to sit quietly with a book most days. This week, in the midst of all of the snow, I finally managed to finish reading Memorial by Bryan Washington. It was not a favorite reading experience for me.

Memorial focuses on Ben and Mike, an interracial gay couple living in Houston. Both men struggle with their relationships with their parents, especially their fathers. Ben is African-American and Mike is Japanese-American. When Mike’s mother arrives for a visit, her son abruptly decides to travel to Japan to spend time with his father — leaving his mother and Ben alone. Mike has been estranged from his father for many years. Now that the old man is dying, Mike feels as though he must get answers to his many questions.

I found the book confusing. The narrative shifted between past and present without adequate warning. The portrayal of gay men and their relationships with family, friends, and significant others seemed more of a stereotype than an honest examination of the challenges they may face. This fact really surprised me since the novel was written by a gay man. I expected a more heart-felt, thought-provoking read. Reviews of Memorial that I had read and heard were quite good. Am I missing something? I simply was not impressed and was very thankful to turn the last page so I could move on to another novel very quickly. I needed to rid myself of the bad taste that was left in my mouth.

What’s next in the TBR stack? I am just beginning another selection from the Book of the Month Club — The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson. Already, I am enthralled by the story and losing myself in the magnificent story telling. It is a most welcome change to the recent fare I’ve encountered in My Reading Chair.

Book of the Month fiction

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