Show Us Your Books: September 2018

Happy fourth anniversary to Show Us Your Books!!! I'm so grateful Steph and Jana host this link-up every month. It allows me to share my book discoveries and find great recommendations from others.

A lot of my friends were reading this book and talking about how it made them feel and think. I decided I needed to check it out as well. As I read through Rachel's words about lies she's told herself and how she had to learn from them, I found myself relating a lot. I plowed through the 20 chapters in just a few days. They were short enough to absorb and think about without being too overwhelming. Some made me think more than others, but that's not unexpected. Just because we are both women doesn't mean we've experienced the same things.  The chapters about parenthood, for example, didn't apply directly to me, but I still enjoyed her perspective. Some people aren't happy with Rachel's writings, and think she is doing a disservice to the Bible's teachings. But I'm not really religious, so that didn't bother me one bit.

I connected with Caroline Moss (one of the authors) years ago on Twitter through her brother, who at the time was touring with one of my favorite Broadway shows, "Spring Awakening." Over the years, we've exchanged laughs and encouragement. I was so happy when she announced she'd written a book. She's very witty and her humor definitely shines through in "Hey Ladies," which documents the life of eight friends over the course of one year and lots of emails and texts. It's a work of fiction, but I could definitely see myself and some of my friends in each of the characters. It was too real. I laughed a lot while reading this and the format made it easy to breeze through. It was the perfect lighthearted read right when I needed it.

Jennifer is an author I've admired for quite a while. Her debut, "Good in Bed," remains one of my all-time favorite books, and this memoir of sorts gave me a little more background on who she is and why she writes what she writes. I related a lot to her struggle with body image and some of her tales of social awkwardness. I learned more about her relationship with members of her family and her journey to achieving her dream -- becoming a published author. I will certainly read her fiction works through a new filter now.