Books Lately: August '17

This month has been a pretty decent one for reading.  Much better than July, where I didn't finish a book at all, but still not my best month.  I've been spending most of my nights working on my side project this month (will post about all that next week) instead of reading so I wasn't able to get through as many books as I would have liked.  I'm currently in the beginning of another book and will try to read more this month, but no promises.  Anyway, here's what I read:

Feminine Genius, by LiYana Silver

**A copy of this book has been generously provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Description from NetGalley:

"What would happen if we took all the energy we spend self-bashing, self-improving, and chasing impossible standards and instead channel it into our true passions? HuffPost and Forbes writer LiYana Silver teaches how getting to know, listen, respect, and work with your body will lead you down an enlightened, powerful path to tapping into your deepest wisdom—for work, relationships, parenting, and every aspect of living. Through exercises, self-assessments, and journaling, readers learn how their “masculine” strengths are overused and how to embrace their sexuality in a way that radiantly balances their masculine and feminine strengths in order to achieve enormous effectiveness and fulfillment in life."

I'm all about Feminism, girl power, and self-love so this book intrigued me.  The first couple chapters were good but then I started to lose interest.  The author talks a lot about her life and how she found her "Feminine Genius" but it gets a little confusing when she throws in her client's stories along with hers.  And even without the client's stories, I feel like she's more than one woman because she talks about all these different experiences (standing in a river in Sedona, vacationing in Mexico, dinner party in New York, etc.) that just turned me off a bit.  The message of the book as a whole was great but wasn't really as empowering for me as I thought it would be.  Maybe it's because I started reading it and then put it away for a month before reading it again?  I'm not sure.  It was okay, just not my favorite read this month.

The Play of Death, by Oliver Potzsch

Description from Amazon:

"It is 1670 and Simon Fronwieser is in the town of Oberammergau to bring his seven-year-old son to boarding school. As he bids his boy a tearful farewell, news comes of a shocking murder: the man who was to play the part of Christ in the town’s Passion Play has been found dead, nailed to the set’s cross. As there is no doctor in town, Simon is brought in to examine the body. The chance to spend more time with his son and to investigate the murder quickly convince him to stay.

Soon he is joined by his father-in-law, Jakob Kuisl, the Schongau hangman, and the two begin piecing together the puzzle of the actor’s death. Was he murdered by a jealous rival? Are the recently arrived and unpopular immigrant workers somehow involved? Or is it a punishment from God for the villagers’ arrogance in trying to schedule the play four years earlier than prescribed by ancient custom? Once again, it looks like it is up to the Kuisls to unravel the mystery and bring a town’s dark secrets to light." 

I've been in love with The Hangman's Daughter series since the first book back in 2011 and I loved this one just as much as the others.  If you're a fan of history and mystery, you MUST read these books.  Oliver Potzsch does such an amazing job at telling a truly believable story that it's hard to discern the truth from the fiction.  There are so many different twists and turns in his stories to keep you guessing who the killers are until the very end which makes it so hard to put down!

Basic Witches, by Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman
**A copy of this book has been generously provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Description from NetGalley:
"Tap your inner sorceress and channel the magical arts with this bewitching lifestyle guide. Need to exorcise a toxic friendship? Say the right symbolic curse and banish it from your life. Want to enhance your attractiveness? Pick the right power eye-shadow color and project otherworldly glamour. Interested in boosting your self-confidence? Whip up a tasty herbal “potion” to strengthen your resolve. All that plus historical and pop culture sidebars that situate today’s witchcraft trend within a broader context. With humor, heart, and a hip modern sensibility, this charming guide dispenses witchy wisdom for the curious, the cynical, and anyone who could use a magical boost to get through the day"

This was a cute, quick read. I enjoyed the illustrations throughout and the fun, girl-power vibes I was getting while reading it.  I wouldn't particularly purchase this book for myself right now, but I could see myself purchasing it when I was in my late teens/early adulthood.  The "spells" throughout were cute and though not really magical, they seemed like a fun way to meditate and focus on or shift focus from certain issues.  All in all, not something I would particularly read for myself, but definitely something I would gift to a niece.


Real American, by Julie Lythcott-Haims

See tomorrow's post for my full review of this book.