in What I'm reading 982 Words

Books read in June 2024

The first Monday of July is here, so my blog today is about some of the books I read in June. It’s hard to realize 2024 is half over.

Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond, by Henry Winkler

Being Henry: The Fonz…and Beyond, by Henry Winkler

I began June by listening to Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond. It was enlightening and enjoyable, partly because it was read by the author, Henry Winkler. I hadn’t known anything about Henry Winkler’s childhood or how much out of his comfort zone his portrayal of Fonzie was on the TV sitcom “Happy Days.”

In the book you learn how Henry Winkler went to great lengths to try to keep his character from overshadowing Ron Howard. The show had been created to feature Ron Howard, but the public became enamored with “The Fonz.”

The book takes you on Henry Winkler’s journey as an actor and shines a light on how he met his wife of nearly 50 years. He tells of his struggles to break into acting and how he landed the part of Fonzie on “Happy Days.” He is painfully honest about the support he did not receive from his parents.

Henry Winkler describes himself as a shy and private person, which tells us what a good actor he was in his portrayal of Fonzie!

A Calamity of Souls, by David Baldacci

A Calamity of Souls,
by David Baldacci

I will start out by saying that I highly recommend this book. Stop reading right now and get on the waitlist for it at your local public library.

This is a book that Baldacci worked on for a decade. It was a story he was compelled to write. It is a novel about race relations in the United States in 1968. It is not set in the Deep South. That would have been too easy. Instead, Baldacci did the difficult thing. He set this novel in his home state of Virginia.

A well-known formerly affluent white couple are murdered in their home. When a black man who works for them is found by sheriff deputies in the house with their bodies, it appears to be an open and shut case.

Not so fast! There are twists and turns and family secrets in this story. The tension builds and builds until the killer’s identity is revealed.

This is a novel you won’t want to put down once you start reading it. If I didn’t have several hundred books on my To-Be-Read List, I would probably read it again just to study the clues and red herrings.

The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War Mission to Save a City, by John Tusa and Ann Tusa

The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War Mission to Save a City,
by John Tusa and Ann Tusa

This was one of the books I skimmed through as I did research about the Berlin Airlift so I could blog about its 76th anniversary last Monday. The book goes into detail about the airlift, in case you want to know more than I was able to condense into 1,000 words for my purposes. In case you missed last Monday’s blog, here’s the link:#OnThisDay: Berlin Airlift, 1948.

Stop Buying Bins & Other Blunt but Practical Advice from a Home Organizer, by Bonnie Borromeo Tomlinson

Stop Buying Bins & other blunt but practical advice from a home organizer,
by Bonnie Borromeo Tomlinson

As I age and am very much in fear of leaving a bunch of clutter for my heirs to have to deal with some day, I discovered this book. It struck a nerve with me and prompted me to pull out every article of clothing I own. Some garments went in the trash – where they should have gone long ago. I’m talking about 30-year-old tee shirts that had holes in them. Not a good look for me even when doing yardwork!  Nearly half the garments were donated to a thrift shop. I have lost about 16 pounds in the last year, so many of the things did not fit and I don’t want to grow back into them!

A major point in the book is that you must know why you are decluttering or downsizing, and you must have the right mindset. For several reasons, the time was right for me to do some major downsizing.

The book drives home the point that you don’t have to keep everything just because you kept it in the first place. It says you don’t have to keep things passed down to you just because they remind you of that person. Keep the memory, but don’t necessarily keep the item unless it brings you joy.

The book says if you don’t value something enough to display it, then get rid of it. Someone else might enjoy having it.

A local library had a craft swap last week. It was time for me to get rid of most of my cross-stitch supplies and books. I can’t see well enough now to do much small needlework.

Now that I have my clothes and craft items under better control than they have been in years, I’m ready to tackle my “stuff” in general, one room at a time.

There is a chapter about helping an aging parent downsize. There’s a chapter about parting with those adorable pictures your children colored. There’s a chapter about how to go about clearing out a house after a death, even if you live a long way from the house you’re having to clean out.

The book was well worth the $3.99 I spent for the Kindle version.

Until my next blog post

I wish my fellow-Americans a safe and happy Independence Day on Thursday!

I hope you are reading a good book.

Don’t forget the people of Ukraine.

Janet

23 thoughts on “Books read in June 2024”

  1. Hi Janet, it’s been a while. I’m glad to see you’re still reading significantly more books a month than me. I’ll have to work harder. Henry Winkler’s book looks good. I’ll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

    Chris

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  2. Hi, Chris, yes, it has been a while, but I keep up with you a little bit on Facebook. Looks like you are really getting out there and your displays look great! I keep telling myself that I need to read less and write more. I have good intentions. Henry Winkler’s book was a fun read. Poor guy didn’t get any encouragement or support from his parents. I hope you enjoy his book. Sometimes it’s nice to read something just for the enjoyment of the moment and not have to try to keep up with a plot or the names of multiple characters!

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  4. I agree, Carol. The book says if something brings you joy or happiness, keep it. I realized I had kept a lot of things that would not mean anything to my heirs. They were things packed away and never looked at or enjoyed. I was able to part with some of them.

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  7. Always was a fan of The Fonz! Must be a fun and interesting reading. Well I hope you continue to read very good books throughout the summer! I am preparing to leave for my summer place so I’ve been quite busy these days in order to paint and keep up the daily posts so I may not be commenting too much but I will be reading for sure. I also plan to pick up a book… all the best!

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  9. I don’t know whether it was a case of the timing being right or the message finally getting through to me, but I have made a lot of progress since reading the book. I’m a pack rat, so decluttering will be a long-term project for me. If my remarks about the book inspire you, then all the better! When I die, I don’t want to be remembered for the mess I left behind.

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  11. Your comment made me smile because I don’t feel like a fast reader. If I read just one book on my TBR every week, it would take me eight years to get through my list. And that’s if I never added another book to the list! I’m not good at math, but it sounds hopeless to me! I think I need to purge my TBR like I’m decluttering accumulations of paper and “stuff” in my life. I’ve given up on my second brain, but I’m still convinced that you can get a handle on yours. By the way, several days ago I couldn’t type “i” on any comments I tried to leave on other blogs on WordPress. I’m trying to remember now which day it was. My guess is that it was the same day your “i” wasn’t working. What in the world was going on with WordPress that day???

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  15. Good, you read a lot! I don’t have a TBR list longer than 10 books at a time. I put them on hold at the library and read them in the order they come in. I’ve finished Second Brain. What I noticed is he spent a lot of time convincing me I needed his system but not as much time saying how to implement it. I found his acronyms distracting. I like to use Pages rather than Notes for my note taking. How odd about the i’s! System wide glitch?

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  18. I’m working on this every single day. Every. Single. Day. There is light at the end of the tunnel now. I’m making progress.

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  19. I apologize for not responding sooner. I didn’t realize it had been five days since I checked my blog for comments. Wow! I’m really falling off the wagon here! I admire you for plowing through the Second Brain book. I agree that he spent too much time pushing his system. It seemed too complicated for me. Perhaps if I were 20 years old and just started to seriously collect information about my main interests it would be easier to implement. And yes… I find it bizarre about the i’s on WordPress that day! I thought my keyboard had worn out until I switched to Word and discovered the “i” worked on Word. I haven’t heard anyone but you and I commenting on this.

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  22. I completely forgot about Henry Winklers book, thank you for the reminder.

    These all sound like a good bunch of books and I, too, am working on decluttering. It is crazy the things I have saved. I started because I knew the contractor would need to get into the basement to work on electric, water and the propane line. It was a great incentive and I can’t wait until he is done so I can get back at it.

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  23. I’m glad my post served as a reminder for you about Henry Winkler’s book. I enjoyed listening to it since it was read by him.

    The decluttering has taken over my life the last couple of weeks. I’ve made a list of one or two specific things to tackle each day, and so far it is working pretty well. Tomorrow I start on our “computer room” which is also our sewing room, craft room, genealogy room, and junk room. That book I read suggested starting at the door and attacking a room in a clockwise manner. I think in this room’s case, I’ll need to start in the middle and make a path first! I think I’ll take “before” pictures so I can fully appreciate the finished product when I’m through. I’m glad you were also prompted to declutter. It feels good, doesn’t it?

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