More July Reading

All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle

People compared this one to Ove, but honestly, I think I liked this story better! Hubert tells the story of his life as a Jamaican immigrant to England, his marriage, his work, his friends, his family. His past is woven through his current life of loneliness, as a widower waiting for his daughter's visit. As Hubert tries to make friends to keep his daughter happy, he creates a group of eclectic humans who also want to combat their own loneliness, as well as the town's where they live. Ultimately, it is a thoughtful look at the disease of loneliness, a disease that kills in and of itself. The audio is exceptional - highly recommend:)

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

Are you like me, tired of WWII novels? If so, this book is worth the exception. It tells a unique story, of the women who worked as code breakers at Bletchley Park in the UK, during the war years. (think Hidden Figures meets The Imitation Game, and yes, Alan Turing makes a guest appearance). The research done by Quinn is exceptional - when I took issue with Prince Phillip being made a character, I learned that YES, he did date a suspected codebreaker during the war. I mean, who knew?? This was a fascinating read.

Boundary Waters and Purgatory Ridge (Cork O'Connor, #2 and #3) by William Kent Krueger

If you're looking for a new mystery series, look no further - this one from the author of Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land is a WINNER! And just like the Louise Penny series, each book is better than the last. Boundary Waters is an incredibly tense odyssey through the lakes district as a diverse crew of Native, family, and law men search for a famous young woman. And Purgatory Ridge was literally un-put-downable, combining the story of a decades old ship wreck, eco-terrorism, and deadly love. Each book has Native lore and characters woven through, and the character of Cork O'Connor is a brilliantly flawed lead man.

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi, Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram, and Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

Okay, it might be weird to put three separate books by varied authors in one review, but trust me here. All three are young adult, written by Persian authors, and each tells the story of Iranian immigrants through a young person's eyes. Emotion focuses on the teen daughter, who is struggling with how to be accepted when wearing a hijab, how to accept the young love in front of her, and how her family deals with great tragedy. In Darius, we meet a teenage boy, struggling with clinical depression in the midst of his first trip to Iran to see his mother's family. It is a thoughtful look at mental health, as well as dealing with peer pressure. And finally, in Everything, we meet a younger Iranian boy who acts as Scheherazade to his classroom, spinning tales of his ancestors in Iran as well as making his parents into storybook heroes. I laughed out loud over some poop stories, and fell in love with this memoir. What a wonderful group of diverse books for any young person in your life!

The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (The Henna Artist) by Alka Joshi

If you liked The Henna Artist, I suspect you will like this sequel. I did - not as much as the first, but it's a worthy follow up. Years later, we meet the entire cast of characters from Henna, as Lakshmi has now married and works in the mountain country, Malik has been sent to learn the world of construction, and Nimmi, the tribal girl, seeks a new life with both Malik and Lakshmi. Threaded through the life story of these three, is the mysterious collapse of a movie theatre in Jaipur. I'm not sure if I would have liked it quite so much on paper, but oh my, the audio was truly spectacular.

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis

The latest book from Michael Lewis (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘪𝘴𝘬, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭) had my full attention. As in, I could NOT put it down. This one is less about the 2020 pandemic than it is how America got where it did in dealing with it. Once again, this author writes a gripping story of facts that had my jaw dropping over and over. And Dr. Charity Dean is just simply my hero: “𝘔𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦…𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯.” If you want to learn, read this book.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

A story of three people - Reese, a transexual who identifies as a woman, former lover of Amy; Ames, aka Amy, a former transexual who has detransitioned, and is now once again living life as a man; and Katrina, Ames' boss and lover, who finds herself pregnant with Ames' baby. This is a groundbreaking tale of family, gender identity, social bias, work-place culture, and sooooo much more. I struggled with this one at times, as I did not much care for the characters of Reese and Katrina, but was so invested in Ames/Amy. I wanted to stay in their story the entire time, and occasionally was resentful when it went back to the other two characters. I found myself skim reading towards the end due to my aggravation (probably not fair), but ultimately I was glad to have read such a unique book. And oh my, what a book club discussion this book would elicit!

July 2.0

 The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry

Take the multiverse of Dark Matter, mix it with the time traveling serial killer of The Shining Girls, and put it all together with the wild brain of the author of Lexicon, and you've got a helluva ride in this new book from Max Barry. Madison, aka Maddie in some worlds, has multiple career choices, the same tired ex-boyfriend, and the same creep following her around, just waiting to stab her to death. Felicity, erstwhile political reporter, falls into the coverage of her first murder and the hunt across the multiverse commences. Don't even try to figure out all the worlds, the signs, the clues, the mind-bending chases across worlds - just sit back and enjoy the ride because it is AWESOME!

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

Part of the Truly Devious YA mystery series, this book stands alone, so if you need a quick unhealthy snack, pick this one up - I dare you to be able to put it down! It's a delicious little mystery, involving a summer camp and every hilarious trope of the famous 80's slasher movies. Johnson's ability to do tongue-in-cheek and laugh at her own plot twists is genius, as is her development of an entertaining and eclectic troop of characters. Feel free to start with this one, and then backtrack and do the rest of the trilogy; these books are just plain FUN!

Falling by T.J. Newman

Written on the napkin during a flight, this debut by a former flight attendant is chilling, suspenseful, and all together impossible to put down. Not since Gone Girl have I been tempted to just go buy the book when I was listening to the audio, because I could not listen fast enough. Yes, my dog got extra long walks and I might have made two batches of cookies just so I could finish this audio in 24 hours! As far as the actual plot goes, think airlines pilot put in a REALLY bad position, the ultimate rock-and-a-hard-place, and enjoy the heart-clenching ride. (PS skip the prologue - it's gory and completely unrelated to anything in the book - it was just weird). 

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

If you are up for an epic saga, that marches across the aviation history of the 20th century, then this book is for you. However, strap in because it's a looooong ride, as in over 600 pages. Shipstead's writing is sublime as she explores the life of Marian and Jamie Graves, twins abandoned by parents, raised by their uncle in Montana, both dreaming, searching, finding unique lives as an aviator and an artist. Spliced into the story is the modern day take of an actress enmeshed in pop-culture controversy while playing the fictional Marian Graves in a film. The intertwining of these two stories was at times, awkward for me, but ultimately, I think I understood the reasoning behind it. Is this book 150 pages too long? Yes, it was for me. Was it worth? Also, Yes, it was for me; I loved the female-centric focus, the push and pull society puts on women who want to soar above the men, the strength and weakness it takes to be different, the loneliness of those choices. 

Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-lyimide

This YA debut novel is a a combo of satire and social commentary, amidst a high school mystery and I LOVED it! This new young author sets the scene at the very start, as we meet the private school prefects during the beginning year assembly; the focus stays on Chiamaka, a wealthy young Black teen who's all about staying at the top of the popularity hill, and Devon Richards, a young gay Black teen whose single mom has worked three jobs just to keep him in this 'special' school. Soon, these two teenagers will find out how 'special' this school is as this roller coaster ride takes off through the history of white supremacy, privilege, and secrecy. This was a hard one to put down, stating some hard truths, providing some uncomfortable moments, and a lot of tension as each rabbit hole gets explored.

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

I was super excited by this new fantasy debut, intertwining the idea of climate change and the society of witches. Yet, ultimately, I was rather disappointed. The plot focuses on a society of witches who each have magical power connected to a season; the main character, Clara, though, is an Everwitch who can call on all the power of the seasons, no matter what time of year. There's some tension over climate catastrophes, the humans (aka shaders) who want to ignore it (hello GOP), and a little romance with her fellow student. However, the world-creation was a bit weak for me, and some thin plotting did not help. Sadly, this was not my favorite.

Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

I was not a 'theater kid' in high school; my school was so crappy I'm not even sure we had a drama program??? But as a high school English teacher, the drama kids were always some of my favorites and this book played right into that theme. Focused around two couples, we watch their lives unfold with the small theater group named Good Company used as the backdrop. What I loved about this book was the interplay of their lives, with all the messiness of marriage, parenting, careers, health issues, and friendship; I thought Sweeney nailed that. While the middle dragged a bit for me, if you love theater, family drama, and character-driven stories, I suspect you will like this book as much as I did.

July Reading

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby 

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮.” Two men lose their sons…one Black, one White, married to each other, leaving a child behind. So what do these dads do??Isiah’s father, Randolph, wants to stay out of trouble, after spending 15 years in prison. Derek’s father, Buddy Lee, wants retribution. And for the record, Buddy Lee has some shady friends, with LOTS of guns. This is not a story of hope, of redemption, of healing - it is a story of Vengeance. The racism, the homophobia, the violence - it is all disturbing. The complexity of the fathers’ feelings about their sons is heart wrenching. But it is the authenticity of it, the brutal truth of it all that disturbs. This latest novel from the author of Blacktop Wasteland hits every current problem in America today - homegrown terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of war, hatred of the ‘Other.’ This is a tour de force that I could not put down until the final page was turned. I understand why Hollywood already optioned it; every great actor should be chomping at the bit to get their hands on these two lead roles!

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdhich

"The services that the government provides to Indians might be likened to rent. The rent for use of the entire country of the United States." Yeah, let that quote sink in a little bit. Fishing rights, taxes, federal aid, etc.  - is it a handout, a hand up, or just due to an indigenous people against whom America has committed genocide? In Louise Erdhich's Pulitzer prize winning new book, she provokes us to think about all these issues as she embeds us into a tribe of people who are fighting to keep their tribe as a recognized entity of the government. Based on Erdhich's grandfather, this is a story of the Turtle Mountain people, of Thomas the night watchman, of Pixie the jewelry bearing plant worker, of Wood the boxer, of Vera the kidnapped sister, of Valentine the friend and sister, of Stack the math teacher. So many characters, so many connections, so much heartbreak and love and connection. This book slowly and insidiously wormed its way into my heart; it is unforgettable.

Aristotle and Dante Discovered the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Two boys and a friendship in 1987 California - can it be that simple?? Yes. And it is one of the most beautiful coming of age stories I have ever read. Seriously. This book has been a huge hit for the last eight years, and should be put in the hands of every teenager, read by every parents, as well as every adult. It is that good - don't miss it as the long-awaited sequel comes out this fall!

The Fortunate Ones by Ed Tarkington

This is the story of a poor kid pulled into the world of Nashville's rich society, and an ugly look at the entitled, privileged, 'fortunate' people. When Charlie is offered a scholarship to the elite private high school in Nashville, he thinks it is a dream come true. His single mom had struggled for years in a bad part of town so they said a resounding yes to all the perks that came their way - a new job for mom, clothes and friends for Charlie, a guest house on the grounds of a wealthy family. Yes, there's a catch and when it comes, it impacts Charlie and his life for decades. This was a page turner for me, and provoked much thinking about what people will, and won't do, to get to the head of the line - push, pull, trample whoever gets in their way. It would be a fantastic book club read as there's a lot of meat on that bone to discuss.

Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon

Are you looking for a dark, gritty thriller that you cannot put down? Found it! Wow, this book led me on quite the ride, with one bad decision after another. It begins with Bad Decision #1 by Oliver - go to a gay bathhouse to cheat on your live-in boyfriend, Nathan, and then try to cover up all the bad shit that happens afterwards. And trust me, it is baaaaaad. This book has it all - betrayal, murder, social media, deadly secrets, family dysfunction - it will keep you up far later than you want just to find out what the heck is actually going on!

The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright

Yes, the same man who wrote The End of October (remember, that prescient thriller on a plague that came out in April of 2020!!), has now written a non-fiction book, examining the year of Covid. I cannot begin to tell you how fascinating this book is, and no, it was not too soon. If anything, it was perfect timing for me. To see where this pandemic emerged, the mistakes made by so many different countries, the lack of compassionate leadership in countries that the world depended on for sanity, the variety of people trying ot make to make their voices heard. At times, he gets stuck in the weeds a bit scientifically, which is why the audio worked so well for me. Highly highly highly recommend this one - knowledge is power, for the next time a plague comes to call.

After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made by Ben Rhodes

In the aftermath of 2016, when many of us were shell-shocked by a television reality star conning his way into the presidency of America, a former official of the Obama administration decided to find out what happened, and not just with Brexit and Trump winning. Ben Rhodes goes in search of how the world has shifted from the pro-democracy direction that was at its zenith in the early 90's, to the embracing of autocracies world wide over these last thirty years. He looks specifically at Hungary, China, Russia, and yes, America, but all in the context of how we got here, and how to course correct. If you're a political junkie like me, this book will satisfy every nerdy obsession you have - I loved it. (Okay, not as much as his memoir The World As It Is, but I did learn an enormous amount)

The Ivies by Alexa Donne

This book is just a YA potato-chip-bag-of-temptation! Mean girls + cutthroat college admissions + boarding school = addictive entertainment. I couldn't eat, I mean read, it fast enough. Just pure fun!