I had mixed feelings when public school ended and summer started. It meant the places we frequented as a homeschool family would now be crowded. I just wasn’t sure how to do summer when we technically school year-round.
I was a little reluctant going into summer, but now I am living it up.
Summer for us has meant slower days and a much needed break from therapies.
I didn’t realize just how burnt out Jackson and I both were until we didn’t have any place to be each morning.
We are spending our summer mornings at home and it feels glorious. No rushing to get to speech. No fighting with Jackson to do school work in the afternoons, because we are doing it first thing in the morning.
I have made a promise to myself – we will continue this schedule when Fall rolls around. We will guard our mornings and we won’t schedule therapy sessions until the afternoon.
This much needed break, these slower days, have allowed me to pick up some good books this month.
I am reading again and it feels so good.
Here’s what I read this month. I’m hoping to continue this reading trend for the rest of summer.
Summer of ’69 By Elin Hilderbrand
It isn’t summer without the newest beach read from my favorite author. Last summer I saved her book to read on our beach vacation in September. Didn’t make that mistake this year. In just a few days I had gobbled up Summer of ’69!
The book is about The Levin Family and all the drama the Summer of 1969 brings. Tiger has been drafted and is off fighting the war. Kirby is protesting the war. Blair is about to have two babies and her marriage is on the rocks. Jessie is falling in love for the first time and becoming a woman.
While her children are going through their own stuff, Kate, is hiding a secret that could change everything. She thinks the secret is the reason her son was sent to war and worries her dishonesty will be the reason he doesn’t survive the war.
Elin Hilderbrand does it again. She writes the best beach reads and I look forward to her new release each summer.
It Ends With Us By Colleen Hoover
Several friends had recommended this book and it had been on my Amazon wish list forever! I finally purchased it and let me tell you…I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down.
The book is about the intense love between two random people – Lily and Ryle – who meet on a rooftop one night. As their relationship gets more serious, so do questions concerning Ryle’s past. Lily struggles with a dark side of Ryle, while also sorting through feelings for her old flame Atlas.
I don’t want to give away the good stuff, but I do want to warn you that there are some heavy topics addressed. This was the first book I had read by Colleen Hoover and it did not disappoint.
All Your Perfects By Colleen Hoover
This was another one of Hoover’s books that came highly recommended so I decided to read it after I finished It Ends With Us.
This book took me a little longer to get into. It was hard to read at times because I could personally relate to the hard topic addressed – infertility.
Quinn and Graham meet one night after they discover their significant others having an affair. Graham is determined they are soul mates and within a few months a whirlwind romance begins. When the time comes to begin a family they are disappointed month after month and their perfect love begins to unravel.
Homeschool Bravely By Jamie Erickson
I read this book because sometimes you just need a little encouragement when you homeschool – especially a kid who learns differently.
This book was such a good reminder that homeschooling is my calling. It gave me just the boost I needed as we ended our first official year of homeschool. I was weary and this book gave me renewed hope.
If you are a homeschool mama, I highly recommend it!
