July 2018 Reads

July	49	Scribe	Alyson Hagy
	50	Us Against You	Frederik Backman
	51	What I Leave Behind	Alison McGhee
	52	Human Hours	Catherine Barnett
	53	Half Hazard	Kristen Tracy
	54	The Mars Room	Rachel Kushner
	55	Where The Crawdads Sing	Delia Owens
	56	Under My Skin	Lisa Unger
	57	So Long Gone	Andre Dubus III
	58	The Devil All The Time	Donald Ray Pollack

As usual, lots of good books.  Here's a rundown of the books I recommend/love.

First, Us Against You, I've read all of Backman's novels, starting with A Man Called Ove.  They are all outstanding and this one is no exception.  If you haven't read Backman, what is wrong with you?  Start reading him.

Where the Crawdads Sing is hard to describe, but I loved it. "An exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming of age story, and a surprising" murder mystery. The quote is on the back cover of the ARC. I had a hard time putting this down, to do other things. The story was very engaging and beautifully written.

Under My Skin, a mystery with an ending that you'll never suspect. This is a very good read.

So Long Gone, Dubus renders this story of love, jealousy, guilt, and atonement in a voice that rings with authenticity and evokes the texture of working-class lives.  He's a great writer and I've loved all his books.

The Devil All the Time, stayed up past my bedtime finishing this. The writing is great but the characters are brutal, repellant, and horrifying. Not for the faint of heart. Read it, but you've been warned.

What are you reading?

June 2018 Reads

source

June	42	Even Dogs In the Wild	Ian Rankin
	43	Ohio	Stephen Markley
	44	Rainsong	Sue Hubbard
	45	The Martin Chronicles	John Fried
	46	American Journal	Tracy K. Smith editor
	47	Still Life With Two Dead
		Peacocks and a Girl	Diane Seuss
	48	Annie Freeman's Fabulous
		Traveling Funeral	Kris Radish

Even Dogs In the Wild is a  Scottish police procedural. I really enjoyed this, Rankin kept me guessing.

I think Ohio by debut author Stephen Markley is going to be an instant best-seller.  The book will be published in August, and you don't want to miss it.  "Markley’s novel is alternately disturbing and gorgeous, providing a broad view of the anxieties of a post-9/11 Middle America and the complexities of the humans who navigate them." ~ Publisher's Weekly.

I picked Rainsong to read because the title reminded me of Plainsong, one of my favorite books.  The story starts slow, but I really liked it.  It will be published in September.  Here's the blurb from the BN site, "It unfolds as a compelling tale of grief, art, and the fragile, quiet ways in which time and place can offer a measure of redemption."

And, I picked up The Martin Chronicles, because of Martian Chronicles!  Sometimes these things work out.  This is a moving debut that perfectly captures the intense emotion, humor, and earnestness of young adulthood as Marty navigates a series of life-changing firsts: first kiss, first enemy, first loss, and ultimately, his first awareness that the world is not as simple or safe a place as he had once imagined.  The book will be published in January 2019.

Don't you just love this title, Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral?  I'm not big on "chick-lit", but this story was great, and it does Thelma and Louise, one better. “Radish sings the praises of sisterhood by creating an enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be.” —Booklist

What are you reading?

May 2018 Reads

or books.

May	33	Before We Were Yours	Lisa Wingate
	34	American Fire	Monica Hess
	35	The Rising	Heather Graham/Jon Land
	36	Midnight War of Mateo Martinez	Robin Yardu
	37	Mean Streets	Jim Butcher
	38	Before I Let Go	Marieke Nijkamp
	39	Woman In The Window	A. J. Finn
	40	County Line	Bill Cameron
	41	Anatomy of a Scandal	Sarah Vaughan

Mays' reading started out with a bang.  Before We Were Yours, is good historical, well researched, fiction about a shameful chapter in American adoption. My heart broke a couple of times.

American Fire is in-depth reporting of an American crime. Arson is hard for me to understand and because the lead perpetrator wouldn't grant interviews, I still have questions. Hesse interviewed everyone she could, including the volunteer firefighters and crime scene investigators, plus victims and other affected residents. Very worth the read.

The Rising is a Terminator-like suspense story that has everything you would want in a science fiction fantasy…action, mystery, thrills and a storyline that will spur your imagination and give you hours of reading pleasure.  Jon Land was one of my husband's favorite authors, this is the reason I gave this book a try, and I'm so glad I did.  It's YA, but I'm an adult and loved it.

Midnight War of Mateo Martinez is a children's book, geared toward 7-10-year-olds. It's well written, a lot of fun, and involves best friends, little sisters, and talking skunks!

Woman in The Window has been on the bestseller list for months. I packed it for a 3-week trip, hoping that it'd be good. (Sometimes bestsellers are stinkers.) This is suspenseful and well written, I couldn't put it down. A great debut. I really recommend that you read it.

Contemporary sharp-edged noir doesn't get much better than County Line. This was a suspenseful read; another one that was hard to put down. I recommend it.

What are you reading?