50 by 50 – Three Awesome Beach Reads

Thanks for joining me again today for one of my 50 by 50 goals – my quest to carve out more time to read, a joyful hobby that enhances each week! My newest reads are 4, 5 and 6 on my goal towards reading a minimum of a dozen more books by the time I turn 50.  Pretty cool that I’m already halfway there, discovering three awesome new beach reads that kept me highly entertained!

My number 3 read was SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult.  I woudn’t class this as a beach read but I will encourage you to add it to your TBR, it’s incredibly thought-provoking, addressing some very tough topics that we need to be having more conversations about.

#ad @RandomHouse // Airport layovers are the perfect excuse for me to read a new book. I started reading #SmallGreatThings by @JodiPicoult and I’m so glad I was on my way home when I did! This is one POWERFUL page-turning book! I couldn’t put it down. I kept reading all the way home and way into the night… next day… and so on until I devoured each thought-provoking page. Small Great Things tugged at every emotion from love and hope to fear and even a cringe or two as Picoult eloquently peels back the layers of prejudice in our world. There are books that will stay with you long after you read them and this is certainly one of them. In fact, I feel like I owe it a second read to fully absorb each revelation. The Minneapolis Star Tribune calls this novel “A courageous and important work.” I couldn’t agree more! Check out the link in my bio for more info. #ReadReflectConnect

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What I do consider a beach read is a book that captures your attention and imagination but is a lighter read, allowing you to put it down and comfortably return to later to enjoy.  They are book with excellent character development and emotion with compelling plots that are very relationship driven.  And generally, they have happy ending… because, really, who wants to be caught crying on the beach?

I picked up THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware on an airport layover.  It’s the story of four high school friends who share a deep love for each other and secret that binds them for life.  Years later, their secret is coming to the surface and they must all confront the past and how it has shaped their present.

Friendship is at the core of this novel and I enjoyed how each of the women had their own approach to relationships and life.  I also truly enjoyed the air of mystery and suspense throughout the novel.  The ending is unexpected, yet oddly satisfying.

THE HOUSE ON HARBOR HILL by Shelly Stratton is a book that I received as part of my Once Upon A Book Club membership.  Once Upon a Book Club is a cool mail order club that I discovered where they select a novel and then send it along with gifts that are paired to the story.  When you reach a page in the book where the gift is appropriate, you open it.  So it’s like getting little extra surprises along the way of reading that help enhance the story and give you a little tangible treat.

I decided to use this service to inspire my 50 by 50 book goals and it’s definitely working!  I love the selection I was sent THE HOUSE ON HARBOR HILL, and I loved having the incentives of opening gifts while reading.  It definitely had me finding more time to read more often to get to the goodies.

In THE HOUSE ON HARBOR HILL follows the path of a young woman who is estranged from her husband, trying to forge a life of her own.  Along they way she makes new friends in an unusual way and when their lives converge, it presents a set of new challenges for all.  It’s a very heartfelt story of three individuals who think they need very different things, but what they all truly need is a chance to heal.

50 by 50 - Three Awesome Beach Reads

THE OPTIMIST’S GIDE TO LETTING GO by Amy E. Reichert was the focus of a special Mother’s Day-themed box from the Once Upon A Book Club.  I’d heard of the book before and it is one that was on my TBR, so that was an awesome coincidence.  It’s a wonderful novel primarily centered on the complex relationships between mother’s and daughters.

There are secrets, there are sorrows, there are triumphs and there are joys.  It’s a wonderful blend of the moments that define our lives and the memories that can stop us from living.  I will give a slight forewarning that this is one beach read that could evoke a tear or two as you relate to some of the more powerful moments, so maybe better for the privacy backyard than the public beach?

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WIN an Awesome Beach Read Prize Pack!

One (1) Rural Mom reader will win one (1) $25 Amazon Gift Card so that you may purchase a few new beach reads to enjoy!

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What are you reading this month?  Please share, I’d love to be inspired by your ideas!

Tags: books, family, new
by
Barb Webb. Founder and Editor of Rural Mom, is an the author of "Getting Laid" and "Getting Baked". A sustainable living expert nesting in Appalachian Kentucky, when she’s not chasing chickens around the farm or engaging in mock Jedi battles, she’s making tea and writing about country living and artisan culture.
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Comments

  1. Reply

    I would love to read Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

    • Dwayne Berry
    • June 5, 2018
    Reply

    This month I’m reading 2 books, a biography of Son House called Preaching the Blues and This Book is Full of Spiders by David Wong.

    • Amanda L.
    • June 5, 2018
    Reply

    I’m reading It Was Me All Along by Andi Mitchell

    • Ashley C
    • June 5, 2018
    Reply

    I would love to read the house on harbor hill

    • Michelle Donovan
    • June 6, 2018
    Reply

    I’d like to read the The Lying Game: A Novel. Looks super interesting

    • JASON JENNINGS, Sr.
    • June 6, 2018
    Reply

    any good drama book

    • Kiara Lindstrom
    • June 7, 2018
    Reply

    These look like great summer reads

    • Susan Smith
    • June 7, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read The House on Harbor Hill

    • Brandy c
    • June 9, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading the Murderbot diaries.

    • Marianna
    • June 9, 2018
    Reply

    I’m reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

    • Iliana R
    • June 10, 2018
    Reply

    I still don’t know what book I am going to read but probably a mystery book!

    • Shirley Emitt
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I like the reviews for The House on Harbor Hill, like to read.

  2. Reply

    I would like to read the optimist guide of letting go.

    • Kim Henrichs
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I’m getting ready to start Heavens on Earth!

    • Nicole C
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer.

    • tat2gurlzrock
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware sounds like a great read!

  3. I am currently reading a book called Vox.

    • Angelica Dimeo
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I would love to read big little lies

    • Debra Francis
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray.

    • Melissa Storms
    • June 11, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read Big Little Lies. I have heard the show is good so I imagine the book is too.

    • heather eg Kaufman
    • June 12, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading The Outlander.

    • Zoey
    • June 12, 2018
    Reply

    I am rereading the Harry Potter series.

    • Tracy Robertson
    • June 13, 2018
    Reply

    I want to read The Lying Game. I really enjoy thrillers that span over the decades and follow the long term ways people are affected by their past.

    • Debra Holloway
    • June 13, 2018
    Reply

    Right now I am reading Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris.

  4. Reply

    I am reading one of the books from The Secret

    • susna smoaks
    • June 14, 2018
    Reply

    right now i am reading born a crime by trevor noah

    • Francine Anchondo
    • June 14, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read the Lying Game

    • Austin Baroudi
    • June 14, 2018
    Reply

    I’m currently finally getting around to reading Stephen King’s It.

    • Amanda lea
    • June 15, 2018
    Reply

    The sorcerers daughters…Taking a while to get into it

    • Daniel M
    • June 15, 2018
    Reply

    tales from known space by larry niven

    • Kyl Neusch
    • June 15, 2018
    Reply

    like to read The House on Harbor Hill.

    • Rosanne
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read Small Great Things

    • Sarah B.
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read all of these. Just finished re-reading all the Harry Potter books.

    • Lisa Romine
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading North and South by John Jakes.

    • Montana
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read the lying game

  5. Sex and the City and Us.

    • Michelle C
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would love to read SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult. I’ve read some of her other books and really enjoyed them.

    • Brenda Elsner
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would love to read The Lying Game and The House on Harbor Hill.

    • Ed
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    “Dream Boy” by Jim Grimsley

    • PATTY NIEDERT
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I just picked up a copy of Rainbow Rowells “landline” today. It’s too hot to do anything outside, so I’ll sit inside and read.

    • Renee Grosskreuz
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read the Optimist guide of letting go.

    • Robin
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to check out The House on Harbor Hill.

    • yana ryjova
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I am reading the annihilation trilogy

    • Kelly G
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I’d like to read the Lying Game

    • Susan Christy
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I’ve been working in my yard so much I haven’t had time to read. I love Jodi Picoult’s books and want to read Small Great Things.

  6. I am really looking forward to reading The House on Harbor Hill! Sounds like I will greatly enjoy it!

    • Lauren Becker
    • June 16, 2018
    Reply

    I’m curious about The Lying Game. I’m about to start A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

    -Lauren
    http://www.shootingstarsmag.net

  7. Reply

    I’d like to read THE OPTIMIST’S GIDE TO LETTING GO by Amy E. Reichert.
    Thanks for the contest.

  8. Reply

    I’d like to read THE OPTIMIST’S GIDE TO LETTING GO by Amy E. Reichert.

    • SHAYNA BROOKMAN
    • June 17, 2018
    Reply

    I would like to read Big Little Lies 🙂

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