Show Us Your Books July 2024

July was a great reading month for me. We were away for a week, and then my kids went to Ohio for a week. All of that added up to some quality reading time.

Here are the best of the best:

Five Stars:

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore - Whew, what a ride!

An excellent summer read about a brother and a sister who disappear from camp 12 years apart. I loved it- couldn’t stop reading.

My Own Country by Abraham Verghese - Verghese wrote two of my favorite works of fiction so I had to read his memoir about his time as an infectious disease specialist in Johnson City, TN during the early days of the AIDS crisis. His perspective as an immigrant was really unique, and I thought and the stories of his patients were very touching. This was another Verghese five star read for me.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver - This was a re-read for me, but it hit much differently in my 40’s than it did in my 30’s. I loved the three stories of women breaking the mold in Appalachia and how they came together at the end. I forgot how funny this book was too. Truly some laugh out loud moments.

Four Stars:

The Suspect by Alexander Kent - I heard about this book a year or two ago and I bought it the same day, but it took to Paris Olympics to actually pull it from my TBR.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. It wasn’t just about Jewell although he certainly features, but also about the reporters and FBI who investigated.

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali - I loved this book about two young women growing up in Tehran. A really good read about friendship and life under a totalitarian regime.

Thanks for reading!

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Show Us Your Books March 2022

A picture of a green mug and a book sitting on a ledge by a lake on a sunny day.

The vibe I’m going for doesn’t exactly resemble real life!

Two days in a row I’ve overslept and I’m running behind on everything. Here’s my slap dash Show Us Your Books post for the month of March!

Five Stars:

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng -- I stayed up way too late reading this book. It was heartbreaking in all the best ways, and completely changed how I reacted to one one my kids’ less than stellar report cards.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn -- I really loved this WW2 code breaking novel. The ending was perfect. This was the first book I read last month, and a great way to get things started.

Four Stars:

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson -- A book about a woman who wrote a book about a woman writing a book. This was just so clever and unexpected. I really enjoyed it.

A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson -- I‘m really loving this series about vegetarian biologist badass Alex and her adventures defending wildlife. I can‘t wait for the next one.

And The Band Played On by Randy Shilts -- This book about the AIDS epidemic was a powerful read in its own right, but absolutely infuriating when read against the backdrop of everything we‘ve gone through in the past two years. I was under the gun to get this finished for a work book club- I will come back to it in a few years for a more careful read.

Three Stars:

I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell -- This book was a little uneven, but the first and last chapters took my breath away.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell -- This got mixed reviews from my book group. I thought it was fast paced and it kept me guessing even if there wasn’t much to talk about with the group.

Life According to Steph

This post is linked to Show Us Your Books and Quick Lit.

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