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?