Review of Reading for Month of July
Hellur Luvlies! July is finally over. Heatwaves and provincial fires didn’t stop me from being enlightened. I read begrudgingly through some titles, and devoured others. Out of all the books I read this month, 2 will stay with me forever. I have not sobbed or rejoiced as much as I did over the written word in a long time. Kinda feel sorry for the books I read after these epic titles, because they had big shoes to fill.
This month had the most DNF’s in my history as a reader. Not because the books were bad, but because they were BIG books that would need my full attention and 5+hours each evening. I decided I would have to wait for the audiobooks. Also, I swapped some for books I had on hold for a while through Libby.
Anywho, here are my mini book reports for each title. Please take my pinion with a grain of salt.
Enjoy!
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July Reading List – Reviews
LUVED
My Friends by Fredrik Backman. This reminded me of why I can’t always read books with my eyes. I was either bawling from grief, or bawling from laughter. My eyes refused to stay dry so I could get through this book with ease. I loved it. Genuinely loved this story of empathy, friendship and unconventional expressions of love & patience. I will read it again, just for Louisa’s trolling and Joar’s wit.
Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt. A non-fiction, science-backed book on why humans are born to create, and how actively participating in the Arts (in whatever artform you choose) changes the brain’s structure, and heals the body in the process. It’s a must read for anyone who is feeling doubtful about the creative journey they’re on, for young students, and for every ignorant politicians who wants to defund the Arts.
YAY
A Guardian and a Thief: A Novel by Megha Majumdar. OMG this was sad. Just so sad. Everyone was a villain in the story, except for sweet little Mishti. But the biggest villain was global warming and the effects it’s having on communities around the world. The book wasn’t even that on the nose about this topic, but the story takes place over two weeks of literally hell on earth.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab. It was good. I never expected to read a lesbian vampire story, but I thought it was worth my time.
Friends & Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan. Awful book cover. Superb writing. I wanted to throw the book across the room at least 3 times, because the characters were unnerving. But after reading Miranda July’s All Fours, I’ve learned that patience and space can help one hear the message of the writer. Also, if a book gets under my skin this much – and the characters are not actually doing anything horrible – that says more about me the reader, than the author. The jist of the story is how ill equipped for modern life we are, and how entitled we can all be.
Girl: A Novel by Edna O’Brien. Yup, this is an important title. I was captivated by this tale. I got through it in an evening. O’Brien is an excellent storyteller and immerses the reader into the mind of the young narrator beautifully. Girl had the essence of The Diary of Anne Frank, but told from the perspective of a small girl, who was kidnapped and tortured by Boko Haram in Nigeria in 2014. Highly recommend.
The Devil Three Times by Ricky Fayne. The devil and his wife are intertwined with families from the deep South, from the time of their enslavement in Africa to present day. A Black magical realism saga about Southern families, told without swimming in trauma. I liked it a lot.
SORTA OK
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. I loved Babel and Kuang’s writing of epic tales of adventure and anarchy. But Katabasis felt like rehashing the magical environment of mythical UK academia, but setting it in hell. Like, actual hell. As in The Underworld. I was bored with the insecurity and fragile constitution of the two scholars trying to get their old professor out of Hades for an academic recommendation (huh??). The end of the book redeemed itself with the message though… sort of. I dunno. I’m still processing how I’m supposed to feel after reading this.
The Explorer by Katherine Rundell. I’m an absolute fan of Rundell, but this book was lost on me. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t good either. Who was it for? What was the message? Who were these people/ children in the jungle?
NAY
Annihilation: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1 by Jeff VanderMeer. Absolute snore of a book. While I love sci-fi, I just could not get into the world the author created.
The City Changes Its Face by Eimear McBride. Firstly, I didn’t realize this book was a sequel. 100 pages in I was annoyed. Secondly, I have no interest in reading about inappropriate age-gap love stories of the most boring people to ever live. Do not recommend.
The Damage: A Novel by Caitlin Wahrer. It read like a bunch of white nonsense characters dealing with a very serious topic of sexual violence. The plot twist didn’t hit like the author wanted it too.
The Housemaid Is Watching by Freida McFadden. While I read this, I had the strong feeling that this book was written under pressure of the publishing house, trying to squeeze out another banger from this completed series. It was unbelievably bad, and so poorly written. I am genuinely shocked, because books #1 & #2 were the perfect mindless reads.
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller. Boo, tomato-tomato! First chapter grabs your attention … but it plummets downhill from there. Mom dies and leaves adult children in poverty and in homelessness. Secrets revealed that aren’t that interesting at all.
RENEWED
Against Everything by Mark Greif
DNF
The Great Mann: A Novel by Kyra Davis Lurie. Subject, setting, characters, everything totally gripped me. 80 pages in, I just couldn’t read it with my eyes anymore, and I will wait for the audiobook.
Herland By Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I have to wait for the audiobook on this one too. I love the idea of a world lead by women though.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. Again, good story but no time to read with eyes. Waiting for the audiobook.
Great Black Hope by Rob Franklin. Waiting for the audiobook
In The Upper Country by Kai Thomas. The only true DNF for this month. I was confused for the majority of the time. Too many characters to keep track of.
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xoxo Luv Laney Luv
No Ai used to write these reviews, so forgive the occasional error, k?
