This was an interesting reading month. Some really excellent books, but also some big disappointments where usually reliable authors did not meet my expectations.
Insignificant Others - Sarah Jio - fiction - three stars - I generally enjoy Jio's works. They are quick, easy palette cleansing reads. I thought this one was one of her weaker books, the idea seems a bit too familiar/overused. Lena is a hardcharging, focused individual who has just broken up with her boyfriend on the evening she thought he was going to propose. She heads to her aunt's house to recover, and ends up in a strange time loop where she wakes up each day with a different man. She sees what different lives she could have with different types of individuals, teaching her that what she has looked for in the past isn't necessarily something good. Again, I thought this was kind of a retread in terms of plot.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin - fiction - five stars - I loved this one. It's about an industry that I honestly don't know much about, video games and when I started I thought it might be a bit over my head, but it wasn't. It's about Sam and Sadie, best friends from childhood who fall away, come back together, fall away again and agin, and in the process build a video gaming empire. I really enjoyed learning about the industry and what goes into creating video games. This book had a little bit of everything, highs, heartbreak, frustration. At it's heart it's a story about friendship and love. Must read.
Horse - Geraldine Brooks - historical fiction - five stars - Another fantastic read. It's based on the true story of Lexington, a record-breaking American thoroughbred in the mid-1860s. Lexington left a huge legacy, his bloodline runs through most of the winning horses since his time. The story of Lexington focuses on the relationship between Lexington and his groom/trainer Jarret. There's a modern day storyline as well which honestly I thought the book could do without. It's about Jess, a scientist at the Smithsonian, and Theo, an art historian. Again, that storyline was pretty extraneous and unnecessary in my opinion. It got into the political and the historical storyline really stoond on it's own. Still, a five star read.
How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #9) - Louise Penny - detective - five stars - I've had a few folks recommend Louise Penny, so she's been on my list to try. Normally, I like to start at the beginning of a series, but I found this book in a little library near me, so figured that I would go ahead and jump in in the middle. Penny has written a whole series of books about Inspector Gamache, in charge of homicides in Montreal. The book occurs at a time where Gamache has been isolated, his handpicked squad has been broken up and distributed across other departments and others have been brought in who are actively trying to undermine him. Amid this backdrop, Gamache's friend Myrna asks him to investigate the disappearance of her friend. When her friend is discovered murdered, Gamache begins to investigate, at the same time he is trying to determine who is trying to drive him out of the department. Penny does an excellent job tying together multiple threads. While it would have been helpful to have some background/backstory on the characters, I really didn't need that, the book stood well on it's own. Really compelling read, and I'm looking forward to going bavk to start from the beginning of the series.
The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo - fiction - three stars - This was OK. One of my biggest issues was that it could have been 100 -200 pages shorter than it is. It really needed some editing. Marilyn and David have a marriage that many would envy. They are so into each other and while they have had some difficult times, they have always been united. Somehow their kids are a hot mess. THe story starts with the appearance of a long lost child/grandchild. Daughter #2, Lila secretly gave up a child for adoption years ago. His parents were killed in a car accident and he's been bouncing around foster care. When they realize this, the clan jumps into gear, incorporating him into their messy family. Meanwhile, each of the four daughters is struggling in some way, and trying to hide it from everyone else. The book was OK, but just seemed so unfocused and seemed to ramble at times. I also never really felt connected to any of the characters. So so read.
The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club - Martha Hall Kelly - historical fiction - three stars - Ironically, what I didn't like about the previous book is what I missed here, the length. I've been a huge fan of Kelly's previous books. They aren't short, they are on the longer side, and extremely well developed. I was honestly a little surprised when I saw the thickness of this book. It's about the Smith family who own a farm on Martha's Vineyard during WWII. Their brother goes of to war, and the girls and their grandmother are working to keep the farm afloat. Cadence dreams of becoming a writer, while quirky Briar is convinced that she's seen a German sub off the coast. I felt like the book was a little bit all over the place, trying to tie together too many different historic anecdotes/ideas while not fully fleshing things out. It was OK, but nowhere near the caliber of Kelly's previous writing.
My Friends - Fredrik Backman - fiction - four stars - I love Backman, but this book was very uneven for me. It kind of reminded me of My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. I spent a large part of the book kind of wondering where things were going, and not necessarily enjoying the story, but Backman really brought it all together in the end, with some unexpected twists. The story centers around the first painting of a famous artist. A chance encounter between the artist and an orphan leads to a connection between the orphan and the artist's best friend. While they travel back to the artist's hometown, the friend tells the orphan the story of the painting. The story wandered a lot, it wasn't as bad as the first 100 pages of My Grandmother, but I was definitely questioning the book. As I mentioned, it all came together in the end but was a bit of a chore to get there. Four starts balancing the three star majority of the book with a five star finish.
Atmosphere - Taylor Reid Jenkins - fiction - three stars - This was another very uneven book for me from a an author that normally knocks it out of the park. Joan is a scientist who applies to and is accepted into the astronaut corps. I loved all the space portions of the book - applying, interviewing, training, mission itslef, etc. It was the other part of the book, which unfortunately for me was the majority of the book, that fell flat. The extremely annoying relationship between Joan and her sister, the relationship with Vanessa, I guess I was just expecting more of what I thought was the focus of the book, the space stuff. I also felt like the ending was too unbelievable. Just OK.
Favorite this month was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, while my least favorite was Insignificant Others. Hoping that August is a little better in terms of quality!
