August was a busy reading month.
I read 12 books last month. Of those, I gave one non-fiction and three fiction books perfect grades.
Lifescale
Lifescale by Brian Solis was the non-fiction book I gave a perfect score in August.
The book is about how distracted we’ve become, mostly because of technology, why we need to reclaim our lives and how to do so.
While there were parts of the book that I related to more than others, I found the advice to be practical. I was able to begin applying some of it immediately, which is always important to me when I’m reading something to learn from it.
Some of my favorite parts of the book were about how to:
- Identify sources of distraction and become more productive,
- Resist the manipulative techniques of our digital devices,
- Find meaning and purpose to guide our time, and
- Focus on deep, purposeful work.
Lifescale probably has the best method of setting your goals and priorities that I’ve read. While going through the process might seem intimidating, Brian leads the reader through it step-by-step. I set meaningful goals for the year, based on my life priorities, in about four mornings while drinking my coffee.
Good Girl, Bad Girl
A girl is found hiding in a secret room in the same house as a man who was tortured to death. Starving and filthy, the girl won’t tell anyone her name, age or where she came from.
No one is sure who the girl is or what happened to the man, even six years later when psychologist Cyrus Haven meets “Evie Cormac” at a children’s home.
Cyrus must decide if Evie is ready to go free. He plans to gather this information by fostering Evie in his home.
While the two attempt to adjust to their new normal, Cyrus is called on to investigate the murder of a high school figure-skating champion, Jodie Sheehan.
Could Evie give him insight that will help solve Jodie’s murder?
Someone We Know
What would you do if you teenage son confessed to breaking into your neighbors’ houses and hacking into their computers?
Even worse, what would you do if one of those neighbors was found murdered and your son’s fingerprints were all over the house?
After two anonymous letters are received from an apologetic mother, gossip starts to circulate in a New York neighborhood. When the woman down the street is found murdered, it seems that every is (and should be) a suspect.
But it appears that the secrets discovered by a teenager involved in his own crimes could solve the murder, even though they may also hurt the ones he loves most.
Two Can Keep a Secret
Ellery’s never been to Echo Ridge, but she’s heard all about the small town where her mom was the homecoming queen and her aunt went missing at age 17.
Ellery’s aunt’s disappearance, which her mother won’t discuss isn’t the town’s only mystery. Another homecoming queen was found murdered. Now Ellery, who is a bit of an amateur detective, has to move to Echo Ridge with her twin brother to live with her grandmother while her mom is in rehab.
The town has secrets, and Ellery is ready to uncover them, when someone begins threatening the upcoming homecoming court and another girl goes missing. The longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the more Ellery begins to think that the town’s secrets are more dangerous and guarded than she expected.
There they are, my favorite books of August! I hope you find something here to read and love.
Happy reading!
