It’s time to look at the books I read in April!
Exiles by Jane Harper
★★★★.75
Federal Investigator Aaron Falk heads to a small town in Southern Australian wine country for his friend Raco’s child’s christening. It is also the weekend that marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie’s disappearance.
One year prior, at the town’s annual festival, Kim tucked her baby into a stroller and then disappeared. Her oldest daughter has pleaded with everyone for any information that could lead to her mom. He and his friend Raco cannot leave the disappearance alone and work to find out what happened to Kim. Falk has been welcomed into the close-knit group of friends but soon discovers that the friendships are more fractured than close.
As with all of Harper’s books that I have read, I was drawn into this one as well. I loved the characters, the setting, and the mystery. I wasn’t sure who did it throughout the entire book. If you like mysteries, I would recommend this one, and her other books as well.
Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory by Deena Kastor
★★★★.75
Deena Kastor was a star runner in her youth, but her philosophy on competition – running as hard as possible (because she didn’t want to lose) – caused frustration, negativity, and burnout and nearly ended her running in college. She was on the brink of quitting but she took a chance and moved to Alamosa, CO, to train with “Coach” Joe Vigil. Through his training, she learned that thinking positively and training her mind to be encouraging, would make her run faster than she could have imagined. It took years of discipline to think in a positive, kind, and encouraging way, but it propelled her to American records in every distance from the 5K to the marathon, and the first American women’s medal in the Olympics.
This book is great for everyone, despite being about running. The concept of thinking positively can be applied to more than just running. It makes everything we do in life go better, if we look at the good instead of the bad.
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