What We Read in July

I had a great reading month in July! I finished 8 books. I had a lot of plane travel between trips to St. Louis and San Francisco so that is when I got much of my reading done. I was hoping to work on my Delta flights but my VPN does not cooperate with Delta's free WIFI! I did not read much during my lake vacation as I opted to play cards/games with family instead. 

Best Reads

I was going to try to pick a few favorites from the month but it felt like picking a favorite child! You can't go wrong with any of these books. Stealing is an owned voices heavy fiction novel about a Cherokee child who is sent to a residential school. It's as heart breaking as you can imagine. In the author's note, she talks about how it was hard to get this published because of disbelief over the storyline - until the truth of what happened at residential schools came out. Drowning is a propulsive page turner about a plane that crashes in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. Do not read this if you are afraid of flying! Rootless was another heavier read about a Ghanaian couple living in London. It focuses on sacrifices of motherhood and how it can impact your identity. Good for a Girl is an excellent memoir by a professional runner. She talks about how coaching and body/weight expectations do not take female health, specifically menustruation, into account. The Rachel Incident is a coming of age novel about an unhealthy/co-dependent relationship between 2 friends. Sometimes I struggle with coming of age novels because I don't have patience for the bad decisions people often make but I loved this one. Pineapple Street is another great summer read. It's about rich people behaving badly but they have redeeming qualities. Lastly, The Book of Lost Friends is historical fiction about previously enslaved people trying to reconnect with their families. 

A Meh Read

I only had one "meh" read and it was The Marriage Portrait. I adored "This Must Be the Place" and "I am I am I am" but I am finding I do not like her historical fiction. I did not enjoy Hamnet AT ALL. I slogged through it because I had heard such great things. So I did not plan to read The Marriage Portrait - but then it was picked for book club so I had to read it. I liked it more than Hamnet but was glad when it was over. It's beautifully written but I was not drawn into the story and was reading to get to the ending which is never a good sign. I hope O'Farrell goes back to writing modern fiction!

Paul's Reads

We had some great reads in July. There were 2 fun friendship-themed books. First, We Are Going To Be Pals! which speaks to the symbiotic relationship between rhinos and egrets. Paul already knew that egrets help Rhinos get bugs out of their ears! Surely he learned this from Wild Kratts (that show is pure gold). Secondly, Sasquatch and Squirrel. Sasquatch lives in a quiet and somewhat lonely life until squirrel shows up. But what can these two do together when they have such different interests? Our non-fiction read was an excellent book about Orcas! I learned SO MUCH from this book, like how pods are formed, how Orcas mate with others outside of their pod, how big a baby orca is, how the baby orca gets fed, and the list goes on! And then I got to show Paul a picture of an Orca that SHU saw during a whale watching tour in Vancouver! Kid non-fiction is the best because there are lots of pictures and bite-sized, interesting facts. 

Did you read anything great in July?