July Book Report

Much fewer books read this month — mostly because I started writing a new first draft and because 2 of the books were big, thick, SLOW books.

I’ve adjusted my library list a little to get some fun, faster reads for this next month. And (as always) lots of U.S. History. I am finally moving on to John Tyler this month!

Some of my reads from July:

The Magician King by Lev Grossman: The sequel to The Magicians. I was reading the first part of this book, trying to explain to Andrew why I like this book so much. It has such a clear, entertaining voice that I feel like I could turn to any page and find a sentence I just love. A character described as “almost alarmingly short” or describing the Middle Ages as “some point between when Jesus was alive and when Shakespeare was alive.” At one point the MC mentions feeling like he’s in a Monty Python sketch, and also at different points quoted both Friends and Die Hard (I texted Andrew immediately: ‘I genuinely love this book’). I love this. I want to write like this. The third book in the series comes out this week (I think) and I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: I somewhat enjoyed this book, but I’m kind of surprised it is a best-seller. It’s rather long and slow. Kind of Meh. Good, yes, but rather overdone. I didn’t really care about the characters much or what was happening to them. A good book I think about in between reading and can’t wait to get back to. This one I had to make myself read. It was rather dense and detailed. Not to say that is bad, but it doesn’t strike me as the kind of book that the masses would read. I would be interested to find out how many people bought the book for the hype and never finished reading it. There are plenty of people who love it but you should know, by the way, if you get to page 100 and still don’t like it just give up. It is not any different in the other 600 pages.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan: I read this as part of Kristin’s NovelTea Book Club and really really liked it. I love books. I love the idea of mystery. I love totally normal people finding themselves on a quest of some sort. It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling it – so I’ll just say that I immediately added it to Andrew’s to-read book pile.

(and others… including MOST of a John Quincy Adams biography. I love him)

Read anything good lately?

July Book Report is a post from: Lemon and Raspberry | Amy T Schubert

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