Have No Shame

 Book 74 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on July 30

Have No Shame

by Melissa Foster

2 stars

I read this book in a day.  It helped that the story was 187 pages long even though my paperback copy has 373 pages.  The author included 2 formats, one with Southern dialect and one without.  I read the one with Southern dialect as it seems that was the intended way of the author; in comparing a few pages, it seems the main difference was whether words ending in 'ing' had the full ending or an apostrophe (jumping vs jumpin').  Both versions had the 'n' word (appropriate for the story but something I was curious about when changing formats).

The fact that I read it in a day because I liked her writing style is what made it 2 stars vs. 1.  The story itself was too 'Pollyanna' for me.  The main character goes from never ever even questioning anything about race to being on the front line of the civil rights movement?  After one conversation she goes from being afraid to be in the same room as a black man to falling in love with one?  It was like the opposite of the "white savior" complex...she met a black person, they were nice, and she realized they're people too.  Ok...

I'm not going to complain about a happy ending but I will say this book is like a Hallmark version of race relations.  Also, I saw the pregnancy reveal coming a mile away but when the blood test came in with the gestational age I didn't think it was possible; that's a gap that wasn't explained.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 74th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- A book I own that is leaving my house for a new reader to find (my goal is to declutter and make progress on whittling down my shelves/boxes of books in my house)

And Now I Spill the Family Secrets

 Book 73 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from July 18 - 29

And Now I Spill the Family Secrets: An Illustrated Memoir

by Margaret Kimball

3 stars

I'm pretty neutral on this because life impacted how I read this.  I will say this book delves deeper into the question of how memoirs affects people around the author, which is always something I wonder about.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 73rd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

Good Grief

 Book 72 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from July 18 - 19

Good Grief

by Sara Goodman Confino

5 stars

This book felt emotionally perfect as I was reading it and satisfying when I finished it.  It was hopeful and optimistic without being 'Pollyanna', spiritual without being hokey, and realistic in its troubles with an underlying support of family.  I will definitely read this author again.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 72nd book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

Pall in the Family

 Book 71 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from July 9 - 16

Pall in the Family

by Dawn Eastman

published 2013

4 stars

This book is the first in the Family Fortune series and it was a quick read that I enjoyed enough to look for the next book in the series to continue.

The characters is what made this book.  As I reflect for this review, I realize the "mystery" part was actually pretty sparse and it was the family dynamics that kept me interested.

Quote from the Book

"Some people run away from home to join the circus; I had left home to escape one."

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 71st book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

The Moment of Lift

 Book 70 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from July 5 - 15

The Moment of Lift

by Melinda Gates

published 2019

4 stars

The book was engaging and well-written.  The author did a great job of centering the people on the ground directly working or benefitting from the programs so for this type of book, it felt light on any "savior" complexes.  The author quoted Vishwajeet Kumar and it hit me: "Their cup is not empty; you can't just pour your ideas into it. Their cup is already full, so you have to understand what is in their cup."  The people the programs are for are not blank slates just waiting for someone to tell them what to do. 

When I say 'this type of book', I mean books that usually only find friendly audiences (on both sides of any spectrum).  Most people picking up this book already care about these issues so they don't need to be convinced and anyone who might benefit from learning something isn't picking up this book.  But what made this book different is all the examples and really stressing small things that can create bigger ripples.  

Something I noted about myself as I read...I found myself less interested reading the chapters about the U.S. than other countries.  When I thought about why (I have a psych degree, analyzing is my favorite hobby), I realized seeing things firsthand makes me much more cynical and less hopeful about the changes the author would like to see.  To quote the author, "we're quick to criticize gender injustice when we see it around the world. We also need to see it where most of us feel it and can do something about it - in the places where we work."

It was a little weird to read about her marriage and partnership knowing they later divorced.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 70th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I purchased in 2026 (my goal is to read any books I buy within 6 months of purchasing them)

Marry Me a Little

 Book 69 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on July 12

Marry Me a Little

by Rob Kirby

published 2023

5 stars

I think nonfiction graphic novels are something I'm going to seek out more.  This book is a memoir and it was mainly celebrating love and partnership while also touching on the world outside of their home and how it affected their ability to "officially" do so.  The book ended before the second Trump term and I want to look them up and see how they're doing; I hope it's well.

Also, love the title.  Something about it made me smile every time I picked the book up.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 69th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

Happily Ever After

 Book 68 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on July 9

Happily Ever After & Everything In Between

by Debbie Tung

published 2020

3 stars

A very quick read, it was fine.  It's the kind of book where I'm glad I was able to check it out from the library; I'm not sure I've ever purchased a graphic novel but always look at the section when browsing libraries.

I do like the cozy feel of this book.  A lot of books in this vein are criticism disguised as jokes but I could feel that she actually likes her husband which is always nice to see.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 68th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)