Adult Recommendations

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Untamed is an intimate memoir and a wake-up call for women to look at ourselves, trust ourselves, honor our bodies, make peace with anger, and recognize our truest instincts.

Doyle discovers a family is not it’s structure, but the ability to bring everything you have to the table, while engaging all family members to do the same.  A complete “wholeness,” that is family.  Does a good mother slowly die for her child or does she teach them how to live fully?  How can you navigate divorce and form a new family, or do you sink into a depression of “it will never happen!”

Doyle insists: “The braver we are, the luckier we get.”

Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley

I haven’t read a Jane Smiley book in a long time.  What a pleasant surprise to fall into her whimsical story about a racehorse who wanders into Paris.  How can a horse be unspotted in Paris?  Well…you need a good collection of animal buddies plus one or two humans aiding your adventure.

Take a break and stroll through Paris with the horse Perestroika and her friends.  Forget about our rocky world racked with the P’s of pandemic and politics, rejoice in living creatures and their desires, like all of us, looking for love and understanding.  Enjoy a feel-good book, give yourself a hug, you probably need both.

Girls Burn Brighter

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao

Poornima and Savitha are two young women living in rural India where poverty is rampant, and women adhere to a prescribed life without question.

After her mother's death Poornima is forced to take on the responsibilities of her father's house. When Savitha, a young village girl, is hired to help, Poornima discovers a kindred spirit. A strong bond forms between them with their friendship the sole source of joy in their lives.

When Savitha runs away from the village after a traumatic event and Poornima is forced into a loveless marriage it seems as if all their happiness and dreams are destroyed. Despite the odds, however, Poornima and Savitha are determined to find each other again.

With great determination and courage, they struggle against cruel and ruthless obstacles that seem to immense to overcome. A reader cannot help but be filled with admiration for these women who never seem to lose hope.

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