You want to know the last time I reviewed books I had read? November. Life happened, and in December, I didn’t feel like I had read much so didn’t have much to review. January we lived in a state of illness and school closings. And here we are at the end of February! And I finally have some books to tell you about!

My friend Jen at Show Me + Sweet Tea always uses book descriptions from Goodreads in her book reviews, and I love that idea! That gives you a much better idea of what the book is about, so I’m going to jump on that bandwagon.

Way back in December, I read The Bullish Case for Bitcoin.

Description: The Bullish Case for Bitcoin is an informative and engaging read for the newcomer and long-time Bitcoin enthusiast alike. Boyapati makes a compelling case for Bitcoin via a fast-paced tour of the historical setting of money, the properties of different types of money, and why Bitcoin is the world’s best form of money and store of value, potentially set to displace other forms.

If you’re thinking, ”Man. This doesn’t seem like the normal type of book Lauren reads.” You’d be correct. Nathan wanted me to read this, so I did. It’s a very good introductory read regarding Bitcoin. It answered some of the questions I had about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and I thought it was pretty informative. Definitely not my normal go-to book, though.

Then, I followed that up with…

The Girls in the Stilt House: Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.

Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she’s holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.

As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.

Ooooh this one was good. I listened to it on Audible, and did find at times that I was having a hard time tracking between the two different story paths. But about halfway through, I couldn’t put it down. The way the stories of the girls intertwined, and how that came to be, I was hooked. Fascinated by where they would go next, and where their lives would end up. Really good!

Then to round out my late December/early January, I read…

One Day in December: Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic… and then her bus drives away.

Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

After the Girls in the Stilt House, this was a welcome sigh. It was easy. It was pretty light. It was cute. Perfect little holiday book. Surely this will be turned into a movie one day, right?

In January, I started reading…

Going There: The description on this book was LONG. Kind of like this book. Here’s my description: A memoir of Katie Couric’s life written by her.

Oh man. Does she go there. About it all. It’s a longer book. It took me many weeks to finish listening to, which was coupled with not having much time to ”read” with the kids at home sick. But I really liked this one. I vaguely followed Katie Couric’s career, but this was like a deep dive into good old boys television era, and what that was like as one of the largest female newscasters of the day. Very interesting read!

And finally, I ended the month with…

The Turkey Shack: Author’s Preface:

I’m a guy who wears Carhartt jeans, with pliers in the pocket. I also was the CEO of a $65 million agribusiness and the Executive Director of a $100 million-plus science research laboratory during its startup. Along the way I had spiritual experiences that mystified me. I didn’t shave my head, don robes or join an ashram. My life continued, but it was changed.

In 2010, I created Pathways Spiritual Sanctuary on my ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Based on my history, you might think I’m an unlikely person to create a spiritual sanctuary, so let me tell you up front what I am not. I am not a guru. I am not a psychologist, philosopher, theologian or a person with a degree in any field that would seem relevant to spirituality. I do have bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but in agricultural economics. I remain the guy in Carhartts, a Nebraska farm kid, who happened to have some extraordinary experiences that allowed me to see a new world of love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness.

This book is the story of that journey–a story that begins in a tin shed called the Turkey Shack.

I had a personal interest in this story. It’s about the man who created and opened one of my very favorite places to go in the Black Hills, SD, the Spiritual Sanctuary. This is his autobiography about his life, and he came to open up the Sanctuary in his retirement. I found it interesting because of my personal connection to the place, but the writing was average.

Phew. Maybe I won’t go three months without a book review now…😊