July was an OK month of reading. Plenty of good, solid books, but it's been a while since I had a month with no five star books which was a little bit disappointing. Here are the recaps:
A Killing on the Hill - Robert Dugoni - detective - four stars - About a rookie newspaper, Shoe, writer in Seattle during the Great Depression. He gets a break from a detective and starts investigating a murder that involves the mob. This one was a bit of a disappointment to me. It was interesting, but I just didn't think that the story hung together particularly well. There were a lot of side tangents regarding Shoe: his dating life, his family at home, his land lady, that took the focus off the main thrust of the story for me. OK, but didn't rise to the level of his previous books.
Shelterwood - Lisa Wingate - historical fiction - four stars - This was another where I had high expectations based on Wingate's previous books. It's a dual timeline story of Oklahoma in the early 1900s when two girls run away from a dangerous situation at home and take up with up a group of orphaned children, and 1990 when Valerie moves to Oklahoma to start a new life as a park ranger with her son. Soon after Valerie's arrival the remains of three children are found in a cave at the park, this dovetails with the earlier timeline. To me the modern day story was pretty weak and unnecessary, while the earlier timeline story was pretty compelling. Four to balance out the different between the two timelines.
Lies and Weddings - Kevin Kwan - fiction - four stars - I feel like I'm a bit of a broken record this month. This is the first Kwan book that I've just felt disappointed by because I have such high expectations. This is about the Gresham family. Their older daughter is about to marry a prince, and now their mother has her sights set on a similar match for son Rufus. In fact, they absolutely need a high end marriage because the Greshams are in financial trouble. Problem is that Rufus doesn't want to marry for money, he wants to marry for love. While still a very entertaining book, the characters were just not redeeming in this book. Even those that I kind of liked I got frustrated with because they were so weak.
A Short Walk Through a Wide World - Douglas Westerbeke - science fiction - four stars - Closer to three and a half stars, rounded up. This was a really interesting concept. Aubry Tourvel, aged nine, becomes essentially cursed. She is forced to travel as if she stays somewhere too long, her body revolts and she begins to die a horrible painful death. As long as she keeps moving she stays healthy. She travels the world over he lifetime, and sees many amazing things, but of course she cannot keep long friendships or be with her family. The story jumps around a lot and is sometimes told as flashbacks as she recounts her life to others. I didn't enjoy the fact that the flashbacks weren't necessarily in order. I also think that while the premise was good, the wrap up was kind of weak, like the author was quite sure how to finish things.
The Glassmaker - Tracy Chevalier - historical fiction -four stars - This might be my favorite book of the month. It's about Orsolo Rosso, daughter in a glassmaking family in Venice. She's befriended by a woman in another glassmaking family who sets her on a path making glass beads. While not glamorous like glassblowing, it has the potential to provide some income/stability for Orsola. When her father dies unexpectedly, the family's livelihood is in jeopardy as her brothers are not yet seasoned enough to really take over. It's at this point that Orsolo's craft takes on more significance and helps the family through this difficult transition. The family weathers the plague in Venice as well as other difficulties and tragedies. I really enjoyed reading about the process of glassmaking as well as the way the industry functioned in those days. The ending was OK. I've noticed several books now where the author feels compelled to include the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of the book, to me it seems more of an afterthought, and would have been better without.
I Hope This Finds You Well - Natalie Sue - fiction - four stars - Jolene is a socially awkward, passive aggressive employee/co-worker who survives work drudgery and dealing with her co-workers by including mean messages in her emails where the font is white. She knows it's there, but no one else does, until one day she accidentally forgets to change the font color. HR is called in. She has to take training and her computer permissions are changed so that other can read her emails, except that the installation is done incorrectly, and now she has access to everyone else's emails. Seeing all this information gives her a better understanding of the issues facing others, but also what she needs to do to keep her job. As she changes her behaviors and starts to build relationships with those around her, she starts to change.
Good Night, Irene - Luis Alberto Urrea - historical fiction - four stars - About an aspect of WWII that I had not heard of before. The Red Cross had Clubmobile crews (nicknamed Donut Dollies) in theater to help boost morale. They were teams of 2-3 women who drove around a food truck like vehicle and served coffee, tea, and donuts to service members. The book is focused on Irene and Dorothy, from completely different areas of the county and social spheres who become best friends working together. The first half of the book was a drag. It just seemed to take so long to get into the meat of the story and Urrea's writing style was not my favorite, particularly at the beginning when the story was dragging. In any case, it is a really interesting look at WWII, and the last half of the book was excellent.
Miss Morgan's Book Brigade - Janet Skeslien Charles - historical fiction - four stars - There are so many WWII historical fiction books, but not as many about WWI, and I always enjoy learning more about that period. This is a dual timeline story--why must they all be dual timeline? That's one of my biggest criticisms. Rarely is the present day story compelling enough to keep up with or outshine the historical story and that is the case here. The present day story is about Wendy Peterson who work sat the NY Public Library and wants to be a writer. She digitizes/archives old documents and stumbles upon the story of Jessie Carson, who took leave from the NYPL during WWI to go and work with the American Committee for Devastated France, known as CARD, (run by Anne Morgan, daughter of J.P.) in France. CARD provided support to France during WWII, stationed not far from the battle in areas that had been under German control, but were taken back by the Allies. They were helping the French rebuild their homes, lives, providing provisions, etc. As part of that effort, Jessie was working to rebuild libraries, but also created traveling libraries that went throughout the region. It was fascinating to learn about the Red Zone, which still exists now, a no man's land deemed by the French to be uninhabitable and unfarmable following the German withdrawal, even now that area is restricted in France and no one lives there. This is another scenario where the historical timeline gets five stars and the present day timeline gets three resulting in a four star average.
The Lonely Hearts Trivia Night - Lauren Farnsworth - fiction - three stars - This book had all the makings of a two star review, but it did get a little better in the end. It's about a random group of misfits who answer an ad to create a bar trivia team. They are all searching for something different in their lives, new friends, etc. The problem is they are all rather unlikeable for various reasons. I was just generally annoyed with the whole group. As I mentioned, the end did save it a bit, but I would probably pass on it if I had the change to read again.
Fire Exit - Morgan Talty - fiction - three stars - This one was another two and a hlaf stars rounded up and honestly was a bit of a mess for me. About a guy who essentially lets another man raise his child so that she can be registered as native and live on a reservation. He lives across the river from her and kind of stalks her life as she grows. Meanwhile he is taking care of his mother who has mental issues, he sees his daughter seems to be struggling also, questions if it's because of him. I dunno, this one just was a bit of a mess. I kept thinking something was going to draw it all together, but it left me pretty lacking. Another I would pass on.
So yeah, not my best month of reading, but I've already finished up a five star book for August (All the Colors of the Dark), so things are looking up. What have you guys been reading?
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