July Book of the Month
Talk Book of the month club
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1oldstick
The Girl in the Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold. Another book with the same title as other books. To start with I resisted this novel set in Victorian times but gradually the character of Dorothea Gibson won me over and her relationships with her husband and her sister became compelling reading. A difficult book to rate as on another day I might not have persevered - but eventually I was glad I did.
Past Caring by Robert Goddard. An absorbing mystery story about a broken romance and a historical conundrum. A wonderfully gripping read.
Jemima's Mice by David Moodie. A curious children's story about a hidden mouse circus, really a morality tale- but, in places, quite vicious. A simply written take on Grimm. Published by The Book Guild(!) with a great cover and large font.
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert. A haunted house horror story - complex and enthralling - layer upon layer of mystery and terror - a great read.
Justine from the Alexandria Quartet by Laurence Durrell. A book recommended by an LT member, and on the 100 best books list.
It is not often I read a challenging book but this proved so. The writing style is so rich that I only read in small bites and I struggled to stay with the narrator. It was a relief to finish it and I didn't really want to start the next book but I'm glad I did. There's a little more action and a little less introspection. I'm also becoming familiar with the characters. I can't promise to read all four - but it is an experience. if you like metaphors you'll like Durrell.
The Secret of Crickley Hall was the book I enjoyed most, but I see I gave Past Caring more stars. I liked it a lot while I read it, but Crickley Hall stayed with me while Past Caring didn't. They are very different, Crickley Hall is dramatic but long winded, Past Caring is faster but subtle.
I have also finished Balthazar in the Alexandria Quartet and Durrell is beginning to grow on me ( although I do sometimes skip a paragraph!)
Past Caring by Robert Goddard. An absorbing mystery story about a broken romance and a historical conundrum. A wonderfully gripping read.
Jemima's Mice by David Moodie. A curious children's story about a hidden mouse circus, really a morality tale- but, in places, quite vicious. A simply written take on Grimm. Published by The Book Guild(!) with a great cover and large font.
The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert. A haunted house horror story - complex and enthralling - layer upon layer of mystery and terror - a great read.
Justine from the Alexandria Quartet by Laurence Durrell. A book recommended by an LT member, and on the 100 best books list.
It is not often I read a challenging book but this proved so. The writing style is so rich that I only read in small bites and I struggled to stay with the narrator. It was a relief to finish it and I didn't really want to start the next book but I'm glad I did. There's a little more action and a little less introspection. I'm also becoming familiar with the characters. I can't promise to read all four - but it is an experience. if you like metaphors you'll like Durrell.
The Secret of Crickley Hall was the book I enjoyed most, but I see I gave Past Caring more stars. I liked it a lot while I read it, but Crickley Hall stayed with me while Past Caring didn't. They are very different, Crickley Hall is dramatic but long winded, Past Caring is faster but subtle.
I have also finished Balthazar in the Alexandria Quartet and Durrell is beginning to grow on me ( although I do sometimes skip a paragraph!)
2tjsjohanna
oldstick - thanks for sharing your reads. I was on vacation the first week in August and just remembered I didn't post July's reads. Here they are ...
Fiction
The Big Over Easy - I loved the Thursday Next series and found this beginning to be just as fun and clever.
Charms for the Easy Life - read for book club. It was enjoyable to watch these three generations of women live their lives.
Pirate King - I always enjoy Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes series and this one didn't disappoint.
Knock Down & Dead Level - another series I have been reading - caught up on the two most recent additions.
East of Denver - an Early Reviewer book, I enjoyed the curious mix of real and surreal in this tale of a son caring for his father.
Broken Vessels - a decent tale about healing and forgiveness
Darcy's Voyage - a re-imagining of "Pride and Prejudice", this story is fun but definitely lacks the sparkle of the original.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall - I picked this up free for my Kindle and those novels can be pretty uneven in quality but this one surprised me with its good writing and enjoyable storyline.
Non-Fiction
Fiction Ruined My Family - I'm a fan of memoirs, as a general rule, but this one left me cold - just didn't like the author or her experiences.
Young Adult
Linger & Forever - I finished up this trilogy about werewolves and was surprised to find that the author didn't take the crowd pleasing way out of the story but left things up in the air - not sure if that is because she didn't know how to wrap it up or she really wanted to leave things ambiguous.
Alice's Adventures in Wonder Land - I'd never read this before and the audio version I listened to was really well done, but I got tired of the witticisms towards the end.
Crossed - second in a trilogy it left me wanting to know how it's all going to end. This is why I try to read series after all of them have been written!
The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas, A Full House, and The Anti-Muffins - I'm starting to re-read the Austin Family series by Madeline L'Engle and started with these short stories that I had never read before. I like Vickie's voice in these stories - just quiet stories from a family's life.
My favorite this month? I'd say a toss-up between The Big Over Easy and Pirate King - both authors are top-knotch.
Fiction
The Big Over Easy - I loved the Thursday Next series and found this beginning to be just as fun and clever.
Charms for the Easy Life - read for book club. It was enjoyable to watch these three generations of women live their lives.
Pirate King - I always enjoy Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes series and this one didn't disappoint.
Knock Down & Dead Level - another series I have been reading - caught up on the two most recent additions.
East of Denver - an Early Reviewer book, I enjoyed the curious mix of real and surreal in this tale of a son caring for his father.
Broken Vessels - a decent tale about healing and forgiveness
Darcy's Voyage - a re-imagining of "Pride and Prejudice", this story is fun but definitely lacks the sparkle of the original.
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall - I picked this up free for my Kindle and those novels can be pretty uneven in quality but this one surprised me with its good writing and enjoyable storyline.
Non-Fiction
Fiction Ruined My Family - I'm a fan of memoirs, as a general rule, but this one left me cold - just didn't like the author or her experiences.
Young Adult
Linger & Forever - I finished up this trilogy about werewolves and was surprised to find that the author didn't take the crowd pleasing way out of the story but left things up in the air - not sure if that is because she didn't know how to wrap it up or she really wanted to leave things ambiguous.
Alice's Adventures in Wonder Land - I'd never read this before and the audio version I listened to was really well done, but I got tired of the witticisms towards the end.
Crossed - second in a trilogy it left me wanting to know how it's all going to end. This is why I try to read series after all of them have been written!
The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas, A Full House, and The Anti-Muffins - I'm starting to re-read the Austin Family series by Madeline L'Engle and started with these short stories that I had never read before. I like Vickie's voice in these stories - just quiet stories from a family's life.
My favorite this month? I'd say a toss-up between The Big Over Easy and Pirate King - both authors are top-knotch.
3fdholt
I am late in posting my reading for last July. Went into the hospital August 1st and it all went downhill from there. Really didn't get back to reading until spring.
So here is July:
July
Vince Guaraldi at the piano by Derrick Bang (LTER) – a scholarly look at the composer of the music for the Charlie Brown specials on TV - - review here.
Weepy the dragon by J. J. Hebert (LTMG) was written for children - - review here.
Imagination and meaning in Calvin and Hobbes by Jamey Heit (LTER) – a really difficult book to read but what can one expect from an academic. It took the joy out the strip which I loved - - review here.
The Wright Brothers and their development of the airplane by Barbara Craig (read and reviewed for the group Go review that book) – an introduction to the history of flight.
Ducks on the pond by R. Scott Murphy (LTMG) – poetry about baseball - review here.
The brothers of Gwynedd contains all 4 of Edith Pargeter’s novels about Llewelyn, the one, true and only Prince of Wales. This was dense reading and took me many months to plow through all 800 pages but it was worthwhile reading - - review here.
Book of the month - Brothers of Gwynedd.
Edited to fix touchstone
So here is July:
July
Vince Guaraldi at the piano by Derrick Bang (LTER) – a scholarly look at the composer of the music for the Charlie Brown specials on TV - - review here.
Weepy the dragon by J. J. Hebert (LTMG) was written for children - - review here.
Imagination and meaning in Calvin and Hobbes by Jamey Heit (LTER) – a really difficult book to read but what can one expect from an academic. It took the joy out the strip which I loved - - review here.
The Wright Brothers and their development of the airplane by Barbara Craig (read and reviewed for the group Go review that book) – an introduction to the history of flight.
Ducks on the pond by R. Scott Murphy (LTMG) – poetry about baseball - review here.
The brothers of Gwynedd contains all 4 of Edith Pargeter’s novels about Llewelyn, the one, true and only Prince of Wales. This was dense reading and took me many months to plow through all 800 pages but it was worthwhile reading - - review here.
Book of the month - Brothers of Gwynedd.
Edited to fix touchstone
4tjsjohanna
fdholt - sorry you have been struggling with health issues - hope you are doing better now. I will steer clear of Imagination and Meaning in Calvin and Hobbes - I don't want the magical wonder of this comic strip to ever disappear from my life!! :)
