7/2: Kate & Frida: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Books by Kim Fay (library, 2025) - Cozy book. I mean, one of the characters is in the middle of a war zone for some of the book and I'm still calling it a cozy book. 4.5/5 stars
7/6: Bonded in Death (In Death #60) by JD Robb (library ebook, 2025) - Why am I still reading these books? This was sort of boring and I'm over Robb trying to mine the pasts of Roarke and Summerset. The 4.62/5 stars on Goodreads is wildly out of pocket. When will I stop reading these less than mediocre books? 2/5 stars
7/12: Heartwood by Amity Gaige (library, 2025) - Character driven mystery about a hiker lost in the woods. Unputdownable. 4.5/5 stars
7/17: All Fours by Miranda July (library, 2024) - National Book Award Finalist or not, this was not a book for the likes of me. 2.5/5 stars
7/17: The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean (library ebook, 2024) - Delightful book I started and finished on a plane. I doubt I'll remember this book in six months, but I enjoyed my time with it. 4/5 stars
7/19: The Chosen (Reuven Malther #1) by Chaim Potok (library ebook, 1966) - Coming of age book about two Jewish boys in Williamsburg in the 1940s, complete with lots of daddy issues. I'm sure that this book has its lovers, but nothing happened in this book outside of a very long youth baseball scene. If you are into character-driven novels, this might be for you, but it was not for me. (I will say that the Nazi stuff, treatment of Jewish people, religious differences, etc. does hit a particular chord in 2025.) 3/5 stars
7/22: An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (library ebook, 1925) - Weird book. Is it a coming of age story? A story about toxic masculinity? True crime? Who knows? 3/5 stars
7/27: The Compound by Aisling Rawle (library, 2025) - Reality show book in a dystopian future. It's catnip for me, people. 4/5 stars
7/29: Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (library, 2001) - The writing was great. The way Brooks weaves historical details in is amazing. But I did not want to read this book about a plague. 3/5 stars
Total: 9 books
Average star rating: 3.39/5 stars
DNF:
A Visit from the Goon Squad (Goon Squad #1) by Jennifer Egan - The first scene was all about a woman getting drunk, shoplifting, and making poor choices. I don't need that in my life. This reminds me why I stopped reading it when it was first published.
Infomocracy (The Centenal Cycle #1) by Malka Ann Older - I do not care for spy books AND I don't think I'm smart enough for this book.
The Good House by Ann Leary - According to Libby, I listened to 69% of the audiobook! I have absolutely no memories of this at all. I'm pretty sure it was during one of my interminable and endless drives to and from Michigan. Maybe someday I'll come back to it.
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - I really hate being preached at. DNF at 7% and have no regrets.
Aw, I really liked A Visit From the Goon Squad. The first chapter isn't really a good indication of what the book is like. I'm not going to give you the hard sell, but just know that it gets a lot better!
ReplyDeleteI've now tried reading it three times and can't get passed this opening. I think I'm going to have to take your word for it that it gets better!
DeleteAfter I published my July reads post, I realized I left off Kate and Frida - I finished it on 7/1 so it somehow got lost in the shuffle when I was putting the post together. Kind of funny that we finished that book 1 day apart! What are the chances?
ReplyDeleteNot recalling that you listened to 69% of a book = "tell me you are going through something hard without telling me you are going through something hard." Hugs xoxo
I feel absolutely crazy about that audiobook. How did I listen to so much? Oh, well. Driving endlessly makes me crazy. I don't know how long haul truckers do it.
DeleteI read Fried Green Tomatoes a million years ago and really enjoyed it. Would I like it now? No idea. Subtle it was not.
ReplyDeleteI also loved Year of Wonders, probably a plague book is not the book for right now though.
Adding Heartwood to my list.
I can appreciate Year of Wonders on a technical level, but I will not be recommending it to anyone. Ever. LOL.
DeleteI read The Year of Wonders many years ago, and then for whatever insane reason, I decided to reread it IN 2021. What was I THINKING???? Bad, bad, bad idea.
ReplyDeleteI should have DNFed a book I read yesterday, why did I waste my time on it? I guess because it was a short book and didn't take much time BUT STILL.
I keep reading those JD Robb books because occasionally there's a spectacular one. But most of them have been misses for me lately, so I think I will have to stop. Sad news. Sometimes we keep reading because that's what we do! If we stop we have to make a decision about what else to read!
DeleteI, too, have DNF-ed both A Visit from the Goon Squad AND Fried Green Tomatoes. Twinning!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not alone. Those are such popular titles!
Deletei just finished Heartwood! Good book. The only other one on your list that I've read is American Tragedy, which I liked a lot- but i read it in high school, so not sure how much that opinion counts now.
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by how many of my readers read American Tragedy in high school. It was an absolutely new title to me!
DeleteI just looked at my bookshelf and see that I own ‘A Visit from the Goon Squad’. Will I ever read it? Will I give it away? Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteHey, if you can power through the first chapter, Sarah says it gets better. Read it and let me know!
DeleteHeartwood does sound good. I'm gonna add it to my list. (looks around for paper notebook, because i'm old school and if I don't add it right this instant - well, I'll probably forget). I didn't know Fried Green Tomatoes was a book. I just started Be Ready When the Luck Happens. I think I'm gonna have Coach and Reg put earbuds in while we drive to Omaha tomorrow, so I can listen to it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Fried Green Tomatoes was a movie, so we both learned about it!!
DeleteI have a couple of series I'm trying to quit right now too. There's a weird compulsion, and they're fast reads, but still...
ReplyDeleteAppreciate the rec on Heartwood, was considering it.
I started All Fours and the ebook returned and I did not feel compelled to re-borrow.
Liked Ellie Black, liked The Chosen. Liked Fried Green Tomatoes but I was much younger when I read it. Liked Goon Squad, but I was forced to read it for book club, so had to persevere until I liked it.
Loved the one book I read by Geraldine Brooks but for some reason have not read any more.
I feel like I respect Geraldine Brooks as an author, but don't really like her books. I don't know what that says about me - probably that I'm not smart enough to "get" her?
DeleteHeartwood by Amity Gaige is on my TBR and it sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI agree no time for mediocre books. Why do we keep reading the though? I want to believe it is because we are cheering on the author and believe it will be a good book. Sigh...
I keep reading series with the majority of meh books because occasionally there's a really good book and I like being able to sink into a world without having to do any worldbuilding or learning of new characters. I know what New York looks like in the In Death series and I know the characters and it doesn't take a lot of concentration for me to just read it, you know? It's mostly me being a lazy reader, but there you have it.
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