Book recommendation: Broken for You

Book recommendation

My favorite part about flying (besides arriving at my destination) is guilt-free, uninterrupted reading time. You may have noticed that my vacation posts are often followed by book recommendations. My recent trip to Mexico is no exception. This time the book is the award-winning Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos.

As depressing as the title may sound—and the book does deal with some heavy subjects—this is not a sad read. In fact, I felt uplifted and hopeful throughout the book. This is a tale of repair and redemption, of love and acceptance, of the families we’re born with and those we create.

The characters are eccentric and lovable. They are intriguing and funny. They come in all ages, genders, and backgrounds. You’ll no doubt fall in love with at least one of them—and maybe all of them, as I did.

It’s hard to believe that Broken for You is Stephanie Kallos’s debut novel; it is so beautifully written. As one journalist said, “In her acknowledgements, Kallos states that the novel took her seven years to finish, and there is a definite sense that this is a book that has been well-raised. Care has been taken in its telling…Nothing feels rushed, the timing and pace are just right.” (Lacey Galbraith, Nashville Scene)

Enough talking about it…now you must read it. And then tell me what you think.

In the meantime, do you have any book recommendations for me?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

This post linked to the GRAND Social

You may also like

  • To hell and back: cultivating resilience

    She could never go back and make some of the details pretty. All she could do was move forward and make the whole beautiful. ~Terri St. Cloud Everyone is going through some shit—or has been—or is about to. None of us gets through this life unscathed. The goal then is resiliency, bouncing back after hardship,…

  • I love BATS! I think you will too.

    Here’s something you may not know about me: I like BATS. No, not the mammals with webbed wings that hang upside down in caves and are a staple of Halloween movies (though they’re pretty awesome too). I’m talking about Blessings, Accomplishments, Talents, and Strengths; an exercise from one of my favorite self-help books, Creating Your…

  • Giving up anxiety as a way of life; cultivating calm

    In the midst of chaos When the wind is howling, I hear The ancient song Of ones who went before And know that peace will come ~Susan Stauter It’s election day and coincidently the day I was scheduled to write about Brene Brown’s next guidepost—cultivating calm and stillness. Whatever your politics, I have a feeling…

  • Book recommendation: The Nest

    So we’re back at the cabin, and in addition to hiking, lounging on the deck, and playing Yahtzee, I’ve been reading again. It seems I always finish good books up here. This time it was The Nest, a New York Times Bestseller by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. Fair warning: The book is at times dark, and…

  • Repeat after me: you are partly right

    When someone praises you, do you feel pleased or uncomfortable? When someone criticizes you, are you devastated or defensive? Perhaps a combination of the two? In her book, We Were Made for These Times, Kaira Jewel Lingo offers another more thoughtful response: you are partly right. This response acknowledges that neither praise nor blame is…

  • Are you wasting precious time?

    I just started reading Time to Fly, a book of daily inspirations. Today’s entry was about the value of time and cautioned against the many time wasters in our lives. It got me thinking, not about the value of time—that’s a given—but about what constitutes a waste of time. Are you wasting precious time? Many…

4 Comments

  1. I read this YEARS ago, so I actually (sadly) don’t remember much about it now, other than the fact that I enjoyed it. Maybe time for a re-read.

  2. If you’re looking for a quick read, Ian McKeown’s Nutshell is part hoot [a take-off on Hamlet, with the “prince” forced to inaction by being inter-utero] and part diatribe against the ills of today’s politics. [he’s british so our politics is not the focus of his barbed arrows]. It would barely last a long plane ride but it ihs hilarious parts and a strong narrative thread.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *