Not sure that I will finish a book tomorrow, so I'm going to post my July #monthinbooks now. What a month! In my reading life, professional life & of course *points outside* In no order, these are the books that kept me company, provoked me, thrilled me, entertained me, kept me reading me way past my bedtime in a very unusual month:
*Catherine Ryan Howard's The Trap (Easily one of the best new thrillers I have read this yr. So smart.)
*(CONT)
I almost posted my #monthinbooks last night but glad I didn't, as one of them would have been omitted. Overall a good reading month. Halfway through & loving my current short story collection: Berlin's “Manual For Cleaning Women“.
Favorites of the month:
*CJ Leede's “Maeve Fly“
*Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried“
*Peter Heller's “Celine“
*Percival Everett's “God's Country“
*Kelly Link's story “Skinder's Veil“
*Laird Barron's story “Tiptoe“
Despite a hitch this past week due to work, this month was a better reading month overall than April. Favorites for May:
*Todd Keisling's “Scanlines
*Chester Himes “Run Man Run“
*Caroline Kepnes “The Bad Friend“
*Patricia Highsmith “The Tremor of Forgery“
*Roadl Dahl “Matilda“
*Suzuki “Rings“
*Hailey Piper “Benny Rose“
*Joe Hill “The Pram“
*Dan Marlowe “The Name of the Game Is Death“
*Josh Malerman “It Waits In The Woods“
*Le Guin “Voices“
My slowest reading month of the year unfortunately, largely due to work issues. I still managed to read some real gems. I wanted to read at least 1 book of poetry this month & met that goal w/ the excellent “Diaspora Sonnets“ by Oliver De La Paz. Best reads of the month: Bora Chung's “Cursed Bunny,“ Witch Hat Atelier Vol 2 & 3, Kelly Link's “Magic For Beginners,“ Margaret Millar's “The Fiend“. Onwards to May!
#monthinbooks
A slight bump up this month over last month in terms of books read, which is surprising as I had some minor health issues which are now resolved. As far as currently reading, I recently had to winnow my stack as I had too many books going. The books that I am currently actively reading are: Riker's: An Oral History, McCullers' Member of the Wedding, Lost Films ed. by Max Booth & Lori Michelle, Frederic Dard's “Crush.“ The latter book is the (CONT)
I didn't read quite as many books this month as January, but there were some gems nonetheless. Favorites of the month: Kuang's “Yellowface.“ I have read only one other book by Kuang before (The Poppy Wars) & still don't know how I feel about it, however YF was a car wreck in slow motion that I couldn't turn my eyes away from full of both scorn & sympathy & nuanced discussions of digital bookish spaces & their issues. Then there was (CONT)
pick#MonthInBooks
Not bad for setting up house, getting ready to entertain, and hosting Thanksgiving.
Lots of Readalongs:
#NorthangerinNovember #Pemberlittens #HashtagBrigade #JaneAdjacant and the #Chunkster the was Sword Catcher.
I get that it's the first book, so there's a lot of world building. It took about 180 pages for something to finally happen. But then I really like it. So I'm giving a Pick rather than So-So.
Great reads this month - all hugely atmospheric and with a powerful sense of place, be that the NJ pine forests, the streets in Paris during the French Revolution or from inside a diving suit, eyes shut exploring the sea bed of the Hudson. I‘ve travelled back and forward in time and across lands (real & imagined) and planets. Love reading ❤️#monthinbooks
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
*Lucia Berlin “A Manual For Cleaning Women“ (I'm a bit lost for words, other than to say that this is one that the recent NY Times list got right. Berlin was a modern day Raymond Carver. Absolutely incredible.)
*Elmore Leonard “Maximum Bob“: Reminded me of everything I loved about Leonard. *CONT* 7mo
*Camus' “The Plague“ I have read a few works by Camus & this is easily my favorite. I planned on reading it during the recent pandemic, but am honestly glad that I didn't as I think it would have detracted from the overall effect. There is an extremely important message here. IMO this is better than The Stranger.
*(CONT) (edited) 7mo
*Alan Moore's “Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book Three“ Halfway through Moore's take on Swamp Thing & I continue to be astonished by it.
*Darth Vader: Black, White & Red. A collection of shorts utilizing only black, white & red color palette seems like it might be a bit of a gimmick or limiting but it works! 7mo