Wednesday, August 2, 2023

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?

14 comments:

  1. Adding a couple of these books to my to-read list!!

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  2. This is making me wistful. My summer reading is non-existent (very common for me). I'm keeping up with ATGIB and that's it. For July this felt okay and even good, but now I really miss reading. I just find it so hard to find the time. And in the evening, I tend to want to read blogs or write a bit to unwind...and I'm getting to bed so late. I know I'll get back into my groove in September and I've just added a whole bunch of your recent reads to my list!! Very inspiring.

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  3. I added Stealing and We're Going to be Pals! to my TBR. I love how enthusiastic you are about the books you read to the boys. I hope they remember all the reading you do with them!

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  4. Ah, I'm sorry The Marriage Portrait wasn't a hit! I loooooved it so feel extra sad that you didn't. (We all like different books which is good!)

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  5. You read such a terrific and diverse selection of books/topics. I'm disappointed to hear about the O'Farrell. I haven't read Hamnet but it is on my 'someday' list. Maybe not?

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  6. thank you for the honest review of The marriage portrait. I've been hesitating to start it, glad I didn't. :)
    great that you had such good month of reading.

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  7. I have read Good for a Girl (LOVE) and Pineapple Street (ALSO LOVE), and I have a few of your other bests on my library holds :)

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  8. The Rachel Incident is by one of the podcasters I listen to - Caroline of Sentimental Garbage - and she was talking about it recently, and then I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT. So, I'll put that on my list!
    I liked The Marriage Portrait except for the ending, which I thought was incredibly stupid.

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  9. I don't even have kids but I know that kids books are great for explaining things in a way that's easy to understand. If I want to know more about burrowing owls, or phases of the moon, or something, it's off to the picture books in the library or bookstore. I don't need an in-depth lecture, I just need to understand this simple thing I should have learned about long ago.

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  10. So many of these books are on my TBR - I just need to get around to reading them soon!

    I read many great books in July - my favorites being The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve, Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, and Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly.

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  11. I haven’t read any of these! You always read books with such interesting topics. I’m currently reading the last Ender book, and after that I can branch out again! Good for a girl has been on my TBR for while.

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  12. Ha, that last comment was from Jenny.

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  13. I did not love Hamnet either, and that was my first book by her, so I have not read any of the others (I Am, I Am etc). After your review of this one, I am not sure that I will read any more of hers. Life is too short for meh books!

    I have one of the other books on your list (Pineapple Street) so have added several of them to my holds queue! I liked the other Wingate book (Before We Were Yours I think) so am interested in another by her! Also the first two both sound very interesting (even the flying one).

    My favorite book in July was I Feel Bad About My Neck. I had a few other four stars as well, but no five stars in July.

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  14. Those all sound really good! My last few books I really liked were Prom Mom by Laura Lippman, How The Word is Passed by Clint Smith, and We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels.

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