July 2020 Reading Wrap-Up
Each month I share short and sweet reviews of the books I’ve been reading lately. July was a pretty good month for me, with nine finished books including three about loveable curmudgeons.
FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven
This book was propulsive but also really gory and lots of swears. It’s sort of like Lord of the Flies but set in a theme park. Teenagers killing each other. I couldn’t put it down but I also can’t really recommend it.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel by Rachel Joyce
This was a really sweet grumpy, lovable curmudgeon book. Not as sad as A Man called Ove. Almost a coming-of-age story, but for the elderly. It’s about a man who walks hundreds of miles and the processing of his life he does along the way.
Ghost by Jason Reynolds
I love basically everything Jason Reynolds does. His writing is fantastic. His characters are awesome. I really love this book.
An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good Helene Tursten
This was a fun, light book, despite it being about an 88-year-old woman who murders people that bother her. Another curmudgeon story. I guess I like curmudgeons? What does that say about me?
The Nickel Boys by colson Whitehead
This was a difficult read. It took me a long time to get through, despite it being a short book. I just kept imagining my sweet son in a position like this. It’s a fictionalized story based on a factual “reform school” that was more like hell on Earth. And went on for a shocking number of years. An important read and beautifully written. Eye opening and heartbreaking.
Britt-Marie was here by Frederick Backman
This is a follow up to ‘My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry’. We get to see more of Britt Marie’s story, and it’s so delightful to get to know her better. Now that I’m thinking about it this is another curmudgeon story. And there’s a lot of soccer which was a fun bonus!
How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind by Dana White
This one was just okay. I don’t feel like I learned a lot and maybe that means I’m not the intended audience. I do think the book could have been cut down by 50%. There was a lot of repetition which I found annoying.
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (Young Readers Edition) by William KamKwamba
Loved this book! An inventive brilliant young man living in Malawi. We see his journey to become an engineer from his childhood on as well as his project to bring electricity to his small town. Being married to an engineer as well as the mother of a very inventive little boy it was fun to see their characteristics throughout this book.
The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown
A super sweet sequel and a great family read aloud about adoption and family. We loved it!