It’s time once again for my monthly book haul post!

All blurbs are from Goodreads.

Clicking on the title will take you to Amazon, where you can purchase the book if you wish. (The last book is only available from the author.) These are not affiliate links.

This month I only chose one book from Book of the Month. And it was finally a book I think I might actually read sooner rather than later.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (2017). This new book by the author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (which I also want to read) takes place in Ireland beginning in the mid-20th century. “Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead. At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from and over his many years will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country, and much more.”

As for the rest of my haul…

 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (2006). This is the probably the most well known of John Boyne’s books. It’s basically a child/young adult’s introduction to the Holocaust. “When Bruno returns home from school one day, his father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.”

 

Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan (2017). This 513 page sucker is a new find of mine that is very exciting! It was released on May 1st and already has nearly 30,000 reviews on Goodreads with an average rating of a whopping 4.46/5! Holy cannoli. After reading it, I can see why. “Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior. In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders. Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.” I finished this one already and gave it five stars. It was truly stunning.

When Hope Speaks by Jessica Morris (2016). Each year, the organization To Write Love On Her Arms chooses a slogan for World Suicide Prevention Day, which is on September 10th every year. The slogans picked usually come from books about depression. This year’s slogan is: “Stay. Find what you were made for.” It is from this book, the author’s memoir about life with mental illness. “Living with anxiety and depression since she was 12, Jessica Morris was described as the girl who was ‘afraid of everything’. In the years since her diagnosis she has travelled extensively and found that, though it is a significant part of her life, depression doesn’t define her. Faith in God and the support of family, friends and professionals have enabled her to live a life she once only dreamed of. Read the story of Jessica’s ‘beautiful, terrifying, mundane, adventurous and exhilarating life’ and be inspired.”

And that’s it. My smallest book haul this year! But I’m really trying to work through my TBR. Plus my birthday and Christmas aren’t too far off, so I can be patient.

Have you read any of the books in this month’s book haul? How did you do on your own book haul?

💛ribbonrx