I’m a bit obsessed with reading, so I thought it would be fun to start sharing some book reviews. Just to be clear, when I say “review”, I’m not going to share a book that I didn’t love. I’ve got no interest in tearing other authors down just because what they wrote isn’t my cup of tea.

I’m always working through at least four books at a time – an audio, a kindle, a paperback for fun, and a paperback for growth. Because of this, people often ask me for book recommendations! Here are a few of the books I’ve loved recently, and what I loved about them. I’ll make each picture a link to amazon in case you’re interested in checking it out.

Runaway Alex

Runaway Alex is the first of a fiction series by Natalie Keller Reinert, and it has totally stolen my heart (bonus, I think the ebook is free). After working at the track myself, most books that have anything to do with horse racing have annoyed me with their inaccuracies. This one was so spot on, I found myself totally reliving and laughing over the tiniest details the author got correct about the track. Plus, the story sucked me in right away, and I didn’t get a solid night’s sleep until I was done!

Here’s a part of the synopsis I copied from Amazon:

“Horse racing isn’t for nice girls like Alex. She’s been told again and again: stick to horse shows, stick to riding lessons, stick to the relative safety of the suburban equestrian center where she has been a working student since grade school.

But Alex can’t shake the conviction that the Thoroughbred life is her destiny.

When her unstable trainer cuts her off from horses, Alex finally has to obey her instinct to run away from the safe version of life. She heads to Ocala, where horse racing is king, with no plan and no leads on jobs. When she meets handsome, successful racehorse trainer Alexander White, she feels an instant connection with him. Could this be her dream come true?

Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever

This one is a memoir by Kareem Rosser. Here’s part of the synopsis from Amazon:

“Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Kareem thought he and his siblings would always be stuck in “The Bottom”, a community and neighborhood devastated by poverty and violence. Riding their bicycles through Philly’s Fairmount Park, Kareem’s brothers discover a barn full of horses. Noticing the brothers’ fascination with her misfit animals, Lezlie Hiner, founder of The Work to Ride stables, offers them their escape: an after school job in exchange for riding lessons.”

Did you catch that? There’s a BARN in a very poor area of West Philly where most kids end up dead, in gangs or in jail, stuck in the cycle of poverty. The barn provides a work to ride program to help kids break the cycle. This book was a juxtaposition of addiction, loss, and watching people you love make poor choices, and the thrill of polo, teamwork, and learning to dream and hope outside the thin walls of his apartment. 

It dealt with hard truths, and asked questions we don’t have the answers to yet, but simply by asking we hopefully take some sort of baby steps towards change. I laughed, cried, and my heart sang every time he was on the back of a polo pony.

Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved

a memoir by Kate Bowler

Here’s a snippet from Amazon:  “What does it mean to die, she wonders, in a society that insists everything happens for a reason? Kate is stripped of this certainty only to discover that without it, life is hard but beautiful in a way it never has been before.”

As a rule, I try to stay away from books about cancer. I know it’s weird, but I have enough to worry about without a book making my brain even more hyperaware of every odd feeling or pain in my body. But when I did a random search in my Libby app for Christian memoir and this came up, I thought – why not try it? It felt right.

The author is witty and hilarious. She’s raw and tells it like it is. She grew up at a Mennonite church that practically relishes in suffering and studied the prosperity gospel for her PhD which basically says if you’re suffering you’re doing something wrong, because we’re meant to prosper.

Kate is diagnosed and dealing with stage IV colon cancer with a new baby and husband she dearly loves at home. Her greatest fear is her death, and her baby growing up not even knowing his mom’s love, her husband moving on without his dear wife. She questions God, questions everything she’s been taught, rages, cries, laughs, and finds peace in the very God she questions.

This book had an odd way of ripping me open and filling me with a divine peace about the things I’ve feared most in life.

That’s it! What did you think? Have you read any of these books? Are there books you’ve read recently that’d you’re dying to talk about? Tell me!

Also, honest truth, the only authors who are featured on my Author Shenanigans Podcast are authors whose books literally made me lose sleep. If it couldn’t keep me sucked in and skipping important aspects of life, it won’t be featured. So, if you want to really get to know books that I’ve loved, meet the authors on the podcast!  Author Shenanigans podcast

Happy reading 🙂

~Sarah