June 2021 Wrap Up

In June, I turned 31 and enjoyed my birthday! I also had a good reading month! One book was from one of my favorite authors, and another book was a reread. The other two authors were new to me. I read romance, science fiction, and a classic self-help finance book. Let me know what you think and click the book covers to get the books!

The Wife He Needs by Brenda Jackson

This book was a quick and enjoyable read. We follow another Westmoreland, in this case, an Outlaw, in a boss/employee love story. Honestly, I can't give much of a summary without giving away a lot of the book or rehashing what the back of the book says. This book does not have much depth, and I don't know if it is because of the structure of this line in Harlequin. However, when the books were under Kimani, they seemed to have more depth. Or maybe I've just read so much Brenda Jackson that I see the storylines from past books. I do enjoy getting quick updates from other family members in this series. If you are new to Brenda Jackson, I recommend not starting with this book or The Marriage He Demands. I recommend starting with the Madaris family series, but this book would be fine for a rainy afternoon with nothing else to do.

Warcross by Marie Lu

If you aren't into romance novels, I also read a science fiction book that you may be interested in reading.

Warcross follows Emika, who is a hacker and bounty hunter living in poverty. Emika mother isn't mentioned in the book much and her father is dead. She decides to hack into the virtual reality game, Warcross, to steal something with real-world value. During the hack, there is a glitch, and everyone sees her. Heido, the creator and CEO, hires her as a bounty hunter to infiltrate Warcross Games as a player and find Zero. Zero is trying to sabotage Warcross. We follow Emika through the mystery of Zero and Heido, along with her growing attraction to the latter. It is slow in some parts, but the ending makes up for it.

It reminded me of Ready Player One but not as corny. I think this may be my favorite of the two. It was diverse. The female characters weren't as shallow in this book, and the guys had depth as well. The author wrote the slow build attraction between Emi and Hideo well.

The book was slow in some areas, but overall, I enjoyed the book. I would recommend Warcross since it has a little bit of everything: action, romance, mystery, science fiction, and fantasy elements.

Favorite Quotes

“Every locked door has a key. Every problem has a solution.”

“Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact.”

“When you refuse to ask for help, it tells others that they also shouldn’t ask for help from you. That you look down on them for needing your help. That you like feeling superior to them. It’s an insult, Emi, to your friends and peers. So don’t be like that. Let us in.”

The Richest Man in Babylon

Note: The link above is not the exact copy I have of this book.

I am trying to get my finances in a better place, and everyone recommend this book. It is a short book with different parables. My version had around 90 pages. Not too long and not too short. Overall, the book was okay but nothing ground breaking in current history.

The first word that comes to mind is redundant. The parables repeat points—a lot. But, honestly, the main points aren't far off what the Bible has to offer about money. Christians should go to the Bible first instead of this book to change their mindset about finances and hard work.

It isn't all bad. There are some excellent ideas, some I agree with and some I don't. Let's be careful about measuring success by money. I think that gives a false narrative to what is essential in life, and the goal post will keep moving. The amount of money you think will make you successful will constantly increase. I agree that money does allow people to enjoy themselves more, but it also comes with more responsibility. I also agree about the discussion about the wisdom of asking for help.

I wouldn't recommend it. Honestly, as a Christian, I would advise Christians to skip this book and do a deep dive in Proverbs about money and hard work.

Out of the Silent Planet

This last book was an interesting read because of the Christian narrative the book provided. In this science fiction story, we follow the adventures of Dr. Ransom, after a former classmate and a wealthy man kidnap Ransom. They go to Mars, and we follow Ransom as he navigates this new world and comes to realizations about himself. The story is slow in some areas but has some great quotes that have a lot of wisdom.

While this book has Christian undertones, it doesn't explicitly say that God from the Christian faith is the way to go. However, it does allow the reader to explore faith in a situation removed from reality. Lewis shows us that creative work can have a Christian undertone without being preachy or hitting you over the head.

I enjoyed that it was a quick read and was my introduction to CS Lewis. I would recommend and will reread in the future to explore some of the themes more deeply.

Favorite Quotes

“As it is. I admit that we have had to infringe your rights. My only defence is that small claims must give way to great. As far as we know, we are doing what has never been done in the history of man, perhaps never in the history of the universe. We have learned how to jump off the speck of matter on which our species began; infinity, and therefore perhaps eternity, is being put into the hands of the human race. You cannot be so small-minded as to think that the rights or the life of an individual or of a million individuals are of the slightest importance in comparison with this.” (Page 29)

“A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered. You are speaking, Hmān, as if the pleasure were one thing and the memory another. It is all one thing.” (Page 74)

“You began to be afraid of me before you set foot in my world. And you have spent all your time then in flying from me. My servants saw fear when you were in your ship in heaven. They saw that your your own kind treated you ill, though they could not understand their speech. Then to deliver you out of the hands of those two I stirred up a hnakra to try if you would come to me of your own will. But you hid among the brossa, and though they told you to come to me, you would not. After that I sent my eldil to fetch you, but still you would not come. And in the end your own kind have chased you to me, and hnau's blood has been shed." (Page 119)

Conclusion

June was a good reading month! I read different genres, and while I wouldn't recommend all of these books to everyone across the board, I think they all have preferred readers. As always, I hope these quick reviews will jump-start your reading journey or introduce you to unfamiliar books. If you have any recommendations for me, let me know!

If you need more recommendations, check out my Goodreads. And then follow me on Instagram and Twitter.