Non-fiction
Small Animals was a really interesting examination of how the fear of things like abduction/kidnapping has impacted the way we parent and how much freedom was allow our kids to have. It made me think about how to balance the need to keep children safe with giving them some freedom/autonomy.
Present over Perfect was a collection of personal essays about trying to live more in the moment and reject the need to always be busy. This resonated with me as I used to pack my schedule FULL OF ALL THE THINGS. I'm finding that I enjoy a quieter, less-scheduled pace of life now that I'm a mom.
My Own Devices is another essay collection by a local musician, Dessa. I am not familiar with her music but she spoke at podcast event I went to a couple of years ago. She's incredibly intelligent and an excellent writer. This is our August book club book. I think it will make for an excellent discussion!
Summer Reading Guide Books (from Modern Mrs. Darcy):
Searching for Sylvie Lee was the 3rd book I read this summer by this author. In this book, the daughter of Chinese immigrants living in NYC travels to The Netherlands where she lived for the first 7 years of her life. Then she goes missing so her younger sister travels to The Netherlands to try to find her/figure out what happened. It was a good page turner.
Ayesha at Last is a modern-day Pride and Prejudice set in a Muslim community in Toronto. It was a very sweet book. I personally did not like Pride and Prejudice (not an Austen fan) but I love the modern-day retellings!
Ask Again, Yes was my favorite read of July and will make my best books of 2019 list. It's very much a character-driven novel, but there is enough of a plot to push the book along. It's about 2 families who live next door. Their lives are altered by a tragic event that has life-long ramifications.
Other Fiction Reads:
The Flatshare is set in London and is about a male over-night hospice nurse who decides to rent out his flat. A young woman who works in the publishing industry stays there (and sleeps in his bed) at night and on weekends and he has the flat during the day. You can tell by the cover design that it's a light, breezy read - perfect for summer.
Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok was the 2nd book by this author that I read this summer. Similar to her other books, it features a Chinese immigrant family, living in NYC. In this book, the oldest daughter secretly finds work at a ballroom dancing studio which is a job her father would not approve of. The author worked as a ballroom dancer between getting her undergrad at Harvard and her MFA at Columbia, so she draws from personal experience!
One True Loves was a light, enjoyable read and probably my favorite book that I've read by this author so far. In this novel, a woman's husband goes missing after a plane crash in Alaska. After several years, she moves back home to the Boston area and falls in love with someone she knew in high school. Then her husband is found and she has to decide who she is truly meant to be with.
Miracle Creek is a courtroom drama about a fire/explosion at a hyperbaric oxygen chamber that was used to treat special needs children, such as those with autism and cerebral palsy. 2 people are killed in the explosion. The cause of the fire appears to be arson, but who set the fire? This novel covers a lot of topics such as parenting special needs children and the immigrant experience. It was very well-crafted - I was not surprised to learn that the author was a lawyer.
Miscellaneous
Principles of Uncertainty was, in a word, strange. I guess I was not the target audience for this book. It's a collection of photos and drawings along with short bits of text. It's a very short read - I read it in less than an hour but it honestly left me scratching my head a bit. I guess it was just too "out there" for me to appreciate it?
Paul's books:
Paul's favorite "books" to look at are the chatbooks I have made with pictures of him. We have a little narcissist on our hands. Ha! We try to include as many pictures of him with family members as we can so these books are good for working on words like Nana and Papa and identifying his cousins, aunts and uncles!
He's back into his Little Blue Truck books, especially Little Blue Truck Leads the Way
He still likes the Usbourne Fingertrail/Lift-the-Flap Books!
He's also been interested in this touch and feel book that my mom got him last fall. He especially like that 'tap the drum' page!
What have you read lately?
6 comments:
I was pleasantly surprised to see that I read 15 books this month. I don't think that has happened since I started tracking! I read a lot of light reads and cozy mysteries this month. My favorites were Mistress of the Ritz, which I think you'd enjoy, and The Mother-in-law. Mistress is set in Paris during the Nazi occupation and goes back in time a bit to tell the story of the wife of the director of the Ritz (based on real people).
Two of my favorites are on this list! Loved Miracle Creek and One True Loves. TJR is such a great writer, ahh.
I read 14 books this month, which was surprising to me! My sweet spot is 10-12, so it was nice to have a higher-than-usual month.
Wow, 11 books in a month! That's amazing!
I love that you read such diverse books! And Paul is getting quite a collection too!
Present Over Perfect sounds like a great read!
I am currently reading, "Empty Brain, Happy Brain" both because I'd love to slow down the overthinking that I am prone to, and because I love books about the brain.
Oh that Taylor Jenkin Reids book sounds good! I have been loving her books lately. I really want to read Ayesha at last but it's not available at my library right now. I'm not reading anything right now! But hoping some of my library holds will come in soon. I have a couple non-fiction books on the go that I feel meh about.
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