August TBR Pile
A mix between old and new releases
Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out Of This Wild and Glorious Life by Jen Hatmaker
Blurb from Goodreads:
“Jen Hatmaker believes backbone is the birthright of every woman. Women have been demonstrating
resiliency and resolve since forever. They have incredibly strong shoulders to bear loss, hope, grief,
and vision. She laughs at the days to come is how the ancient wisdom writings put it.
But somehow women have gotten the message that pain and failure mean they must be doing things
wrong, that they messed up the rules or tricks for a seamless life. As it turns out, every last woman
faces confusion and loss, missteps and catastrophic malfunctions, no matter how much she is doing
"right." Struggle doesn't mean they're weak; it means they're alive.
Jen Hatmaker, beloved author, Big Sister Emeritus, and Chief BFF, offers another round of hilarious
tales, frank honesty, and hope for the woman who has forgotten her moxie. Whether discussing the
grapple with change ("Everyone, be into this thing I'm into! Except when I'm not. Then everyone be
cool.") or the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip ("Why are we in San
Antonio?"), Jen parlays her own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce
women everywhere who, like her, sometimes hide in the car eating crackers but also want to get
back up and get back out, to live undaunted "in the moment" no matter what the moments hold.”
Where to Buy:
Olive the Lionheart: Lost Love, Imperial Spies, and One Woman’s Journey into the Heart of Africa
by Brad Ricca
Available August 11th
Blurb from Goodreads:
“In 1910, Olive MacLeod, a thirty-year-old, redheaded Scottish aristocrat, received word that her
fiancé, the famous naturalist Boyd Alexander, was missing in Africa.
So she went to find him.
Olive the Lionheart is the thrilling true story of her astonishing journey. In jungles, swamps,
cities, and deserts, Olive and her two companions, the Talbots, come face-to-face with cobras
and crocodiles, wise native chiefs, a murderous leopard cult, a haunted forest, and even two adorable
lion cubs that she adopts as her own. Making her way in a pair of ill-fitting boots, Olive awakens to
the many forces around her, from shadowy colonial powers to an invisible Islamic warlord who may
hold the key to Boyd's disappearance. As these secrets begin to unravel, all of Olive's assumptions
prove wrong and she is forced to confront the darkest, most shocking secret of all: why she really
came to Africa in the first place.
Drawing on Olive's own letters and secret diaries, Olive the Lionheart is a love story that defies all
boundaries, set against the backdrop of a beautiful, unconquerable Africa.”
Where to Buy:
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Blurb from Goodreads:
“In this striking literary debut, Carol Rifka Brunt unfolds a moving story of love, grief, and renewal
as two lonely people become the unlikeliest of friends and find that sometimes you don't know you've
lost someone until you've found them.
1987. There's only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that's
her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can
only be herself in Finn's company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies,
far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June's world is turned upside
down. But Finn's death brings a surprise acquaintance into June's life—someone who will help her to
heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.
At Finn's funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later,
she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn's apartment,
and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time
together, June realizes she's not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this
unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.
An emotionally charged coming-of-age novel, Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a tender story of love lost
and found, an unforgettable portrait of the way compassion can make us whole again.”
Where to Buy:
The Soul of Power by Callie Bates
Blurb from Goodreads:
“Sophy Dunbarron--the illegitimate daughter of a king who never was--has always felt like an
impostor. Separated from her birth mother, raised by parents mourning the loss of their true daughter,
and unacknowledged by her father, Sophy desires only a place and a family to call her own. But fate
has other ideas. Caught up in Elanna Valtai's revolution, Sophy has become the reigning monarch of
a once-divided country--a role she has been groomed her whole life to fill.
But as she quickly discovers, wearing a crown is quite a different thing from keeping a crown. With
an influx of magic-bearing refugees pouring across the border, resources already thinned by war are
stretched to the breaking point. Half the nobility in her court want her deposed, and the other half
question her every decision. And every third person seems to be spontaneously manifesting magical
powers.
When Elanna is captured and taken to Paladis, Sophy's last ally seems to have vanished. Now it is up
to her alone to navigate a political maze that becomes more complex and thorny by the day. And
worse, Sophy is hiding a huge secret--one that could destroy her tenuous hold on the crown forever.”
Where to Buy:
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Blurb from Goodreads:
“It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital,
eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games.
The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance
that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor
the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female
tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined --
every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena,
it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute...
and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.”
Where to Buy:
