My BookStack, May-June (2026) 📚

Plus, the Next Chapter Book Club starts soon!

There’s still time to join the inaugural meeting of the

Next Chapter Book Club!

When? Tuesday, July 14th, at 6:00 p.m. ET (5:00 CT, 4:00 MT, 3:00 PT)

What to read: We will be discussing “The Correspondent” by Virginia Evans.

How? Drop a comment below, send a message, or reply to this email letting me know you’re interested, and I’ll send you the Google Meet link prior to the meeting.

I hope you can join us!

So much excitement!

With America’s 250th birthday, Travis and Taylor’s wedding, and the World Cup games, life sure has been full lately! I hope you’ve been able to take in some of the celebration wherever you are.

We’ve had family visiting us at the cabin for the past two weeks, so there’s been the additional excitement of fishing, kayaking, shopping, visiting, etc. It’s been hard to find time to read, and even harder to write up reviews. But, as I’ve been doing every two months for the past couple of years, I got ‘er done.

During May and June, I finished seven books—four were for my summer book club which meets every two weeks, two are recent best sellers that it seems everyone is talking about, and one had been on my TBR list for years.

And now, on to the reviews.

*BookStack, vol. 15, May-June, 2026.

Educated (Tara Westover) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Highly Recommend. Such a heartbreaking, yet inspiring, story. This memoir gripped me from the first page until the last as Tara Westover recalls her very unusual and violent upbringing. Without ever denying the love of her family and parents, she comes to terms with how their beliefs and actions shaped her in her youth, and haunted her into adulthood. A devout Mormon, her father was also suspicious of the federal government, public schools, and medical doctors. After leaving home and becoming “Educated,” Tara also suspected her father had bipolar disorder.

Tara’s story is one of resilience, perseverance, pain, and courage. Like a fish out of water, she enrolled at BYU when she was 17, after receiving no previous formal education. Despite being initially ostracized by her peers because of the habits, beliefs, and sheltered life she grew up with, she eventually broke through and thrived in her collegiate life and studies, earning a PhD from Cambridge. (eBook)

The Jilted Countess (Loretta Ellsworth) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Highly Recommend. This story, based on the real-life events of Hungarian countess Roza Meszaros, takes place in Minnesota, which made it a perfect choice for the book club I attended in Park Rapids (MN). The story of a hopeful GI bride who travels to America only to be jilted by her fiancé is captivating from beginning to end.

Roza's resourcefulness and courage in finding a husband so that she could stay in America reminded me of a 1940s version of today's "Tinder" and "Hinge" dating apps. The fact that she had to choose a husband from nearly 2,000 suitors in only two weeks was even more life-changing than today's speed dating.

While the author fictionalized parts of the story to add more romance and intrigue, the characters and plot were believable and engaging. The book's themes of love and protection, early feminism, and the effects of war on those who served and lived through it all added value to this most unusual and intriguing romance. (Audiobook)

The Last American Road Trip (Sarah Kendzior) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

You might like it, but it wasn’t for me. I read (listened to) this book for a book club, and when we discussed it, many in our group had similar likes and dislikes. What I liked: Sarah Kendzior’s road trip destinations and many of the descriptions. From the various national parks to the offbeat gas stations, diners, and touristy spots, she inspired me to get on the road and see more of this great country. Some of the history she recounted was also interesting, but often the descriptions went on too long.

What I didn’t care for: Kendzior’s negativity and doomsday approach to just about every place they visited. Her goal in taking her family (husband and two children) on these road trips was to make sure her kids had a chance to see America before it no longer existed. She focused so much on her anger over politics and our country’s past wrongs (something I don’t deny) that it seemed to steal any joy they could have experienced in their travels together. While she focused on the demise of our nation, she offered no hope for the future.

My takeaway: I feel sorry for Kendzior and her children, who live with such a negative world view despite the beauty, truth, and goodness that surround us in this diverse and bountiful, though admittedly flawed, nation. (Audiobook)

Theo of Golden (Allen Levi) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Highly Recommend. My 5-star review was likely influenced by hearing so many people recommend this book. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, only because it was slow-moving, especially in the beginning, and didn't always hold my attention (the audiobook, which I intermittently listened to, helped). Still, Theo was the most humble, kind-hearted, and generous character I’ve come across in a long time. I couldn’t help loving him and his story.

After Theo moved to Golden, he found a coffee shop with walls lined with portraits of local residents. One by one, he purchased the portraits, reached out to their subjects, met them on a park bench, and, after hearing their stories, gave them the gift of their portrait. He also freely gave his attention, acceptance, and often friendship to each person he met, regardless of their age, status, or circumstances.

The mystery of Theo's background and reason for being in Golden kept me guessing. The ending, though sad, brought a satisfying conclusion. There were many "golden" lines and moments sprinkled throughout the book that stayed with me after finishing. (Paperback & Audiobook)

The Weekend (Charlotte Wood) ⭐️⭐️

I don’t recommend. Another book club pick, this one disappointed me. The story was about three older women in their 70s, who’ve been friends for most of their lives. They come together for a weekend to clean out the house of a fourth friend, who is recently deceased.

If these women are lifelong friends, then they don’t know the meaning of friendship. They are catty, critical, and cut each other down constantly. I kept hoping they would break through their mean-spirited thoughts and comments and renew the ties that once held them together. But that didn’t happen until the very end of the book and even then, their reconciliation was mostly unspoken and mediocre.

Besides the shaky friendships, the book offered frequent graphic descriptions of aging bodies, and an old incontinent dog with one foot in the grave. Overall, I thought The Weekend was simply a depressing look at aging and friendship. (Paperback)

Yesteryear (Caro Claire Burke) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommend. After hearing several commentaries on this book, I was excited to find it was available on audio in my Libby app. I listened to it on one of my long trips between Minnesota and Michigan, and it held my interest from beginning to end. Very captivating!

Natalie Heller Mills, an Idaho “trad wife influencer,” portrays to her millions of onlin followers her supposed simple life—making her own butter and sourdough bread, feeding her chickens, homeschooling and raising her six children, and supporting her cattle-farmer husband. But her portrayal is far from her reality, and her ideal household is shaken when a scandal surfaces. Things get even crazier when Natalie wakes up in the life of an actual traditional wife in 1855. Everything is familiar, but different, unsettling, harsh, and painful.

Yesteryear is a thought-provoking assessment of several current societal trends. I was especially struck by the frequent contradictions inherent in the characters’ views of ideal womanhood, manliness, faith, and family values. Caution: contains explicit and disturbing scenes. (Audiobook)

In the Family Way (Laney Katz Becker) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommend. I read this book for the book club I attend in Minnesota which is comprised of women, approximately ages 60-80. The book’s setting, a Midwest town in 1964-65, along with topics of women’s roles and the rise of feminism, allowed for a lively discussion. The main characters were almost all either happily pregnant (“in the family way” as they’d say in the 60s), not-so-happily pregnant, or trying to get pregnant.

In the mid-60s, as is now the case in many states, abortions were illegal. Unfortunately, this led to dangerous medical procedures for women in desperate situations, which often led to complications, hospitalizations, or even death. Whether pro-choice or pro-life, this book of historical fiction presents multiple sides to the issue of abortion, and stirred me to reexamine my own thoughts and feelings about it.

Although the book’s content was heavy at times, the many references to life in the 60s (i.e. TV shows, food trends, celebrities, etc.) provided a pleasant walk down memory lane, even if I was only a toddler in the mid-60s. 😇 It also brought back fond memories of my hard-working mother and contrasts between her life then and mine today. Trigger warning: contains spousal abuse, rape, and abortion. (eBook)

And…that’s the stack!

Let me know if you’ve read or plan to read any of these books! Or, just let me know you were here by “hitting the 🖤.”

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