So much good reading this month! June was super busy, although you wouldn’t know it from my reading list. I spent three days at education conferences in Baltimore. We traveled to Wisconsin for my niece’s high school graduation, and then we had family visit us in DC last weekend. Oh, and I turned 45 this month.
While my nieces were here, we went to Ford’s Theater, which is where Lincoln was assassinated, and we saw this really cool tower of books, representing the hundred thousand or so books that have been written about Lincoln.
In a week we’re off on a grand vacation to Hawaii! We’ll spend a week with my husband’s family in Kauai and then a week on our own in The Big Island. We’ll also see Pearl Harbor, something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Our last visit to Hawaii was our honeymoon, 15 years ago, so this is a return trip we’re really excited about.
I signed up for 20 Books of Summer, and I’ve already read 8! And that’s before our 11-hour flights to Hawaii and long days on the beach.
Books I finished this month:
- Some Possible Solutions by Helen Phillips
- The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan
- Whom the Gods Love by Kate Ross
- My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
- The Big Sheep by Robert Kroese
- League of Dragons by Naomi Novik
- Eventide by Kent Haruf
- Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo
My favorite read this month? Impossible choice. Lucy Barton was fantastic, thoughtful and subtle. I want to read it again. I loved Helen Phillips’ new book of short stories, even more eerie than The Beautiful Bureaucrat. Everybody’s Fool was a happy (at times) return to the world of Donald Sullivan. The Big Sheep was a fun, futuristic detective novel. And I’m still thinking about The Sunlight Pilgrims.
Least favorite? I was slightly disappointed by Eventide, but that’s only because I expected to be blown away, and I felt like the book needed to focus on fewer characters. In truth, it’s a more complex book than Plainsong, but somehow felt a little less rewarding.
This month I reviewed: Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett, Hero by Belinda Crawford, Eventide, and League of Dragons. I’m way behind on reviews, and with a vacation coming up, I need to be writing furiously. All of these books merit a solid review.
What’s next? I’m reading LaRose right now, and while it’s beautifully written, it’s a dark read and one I’m not sure I’m enjoying. Next up is Kelly Link’s Get in Trouble.
And the year’s half over! I’ve read 38 books so far. Not that I’m counting, really. How about you?
