June 2021 Reading List

 I felt like I got back into the swing of things a bit this month. Things are settling down in our lives a bit as we move to get established in North Carolina. This has allowed some more down time for me to squeeze in some reading whenever I can find the time throughout my busy days. 

While I did not read a ton of books this month, I was able to get through some heavier reads which I always enjoy. 

Here is what I read in the month of June: 

I am fascinated with the border having lived relatively close to it for 19 months while we lived in New Mexico. We traveled to El Paso frequently and the realness of the issues surrounding border control have since fascinated me. This book was a good one. It was the first book I can remember reading regarding inside looks at patrolling the border and the flip side, trying to get across the border. I would definitely be willing to read more books on this topic in the future. 

I read Christa's book 'Loved and Wanted' last month and was intrigued by her writing. This book follows the untimely death of her twin sister and her experiences stemming from that. The books that Christa writes are pretty heavy and deal with some big issues, so I don't know that I could read her books over and over again like I can some other authors I read. I am glad I stumbled across her work though and am glad to have read two of her books. 

I am back on my obsession with the Roosevelt family. I have really been focusing on FDR's branch of the Roosevelt clan. This book was written by his grandson and was a good read. I enjoyed it because it was not written by a historian, but rather by someone in the actual family. This can be a double-edged sword though because the author does not have the ability to stand back and look at his family's history with the objectivity that an unrelated author could. On the flip side though - it was pretty cool to get an insiders view/insight to family matters. 

I will definitely read this book again. This book wove the story of both the Teddy Roosevelt and the Franklin Roosevelt branches of the family. It was such a good read because it is not too often that I have found a book that deals with both family's simultaneously. I thought it was cool to see their histories intertwined. 

I am actually finishing up this book right now, but I am including it in my June list because I read the majority of it during June. Eleanor Roosevelt fascinates me. Her history is so interesting. In some aspects I find myself cheering her on and in other aspects I find myself appalled at her choices. I love getting my hands on books regarding the different possible facets of her life. She is a complicated woman and I resonate with that. I enjoy any book I can find on her. 

I think with a little bit of effort I can reach my goal of reading 52 books this year. I wasn't sure even a month ago if that was going to be a possibility because I got off to such a rough start reading wise, but I feel myself picking up some steam. I have a week's long vacation at the ocean at the end of the month with the kids and my sister's family. I think I can make some good progress on getting out of my reading deficit to hit my 52 book goal by the end of the year. 

Numbers of Books Read in 2021:

January: 5

Feb/March: 8

April/May: 6

June: 5

Total: 24