Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane

This book has the distinction of being one of the oldest books on my TBR Pile. It's one of the few remaining (maybe even the last?) books from the Borders Last Day Sales, way back when, when I was like the proverbial kid in a candy store grabbing books left, right, and center for a steep discount. 

I have no idea why I have been putting it off this long. This was quite the page-turner! I read it at a steady clip. The writing is good and the story moves along, and keeps you guessing and wondering. This would be a great read on a longish airplane flight as it would keep your interest. Also a great beach / vacation read. Recommended. 

Raising Hare - Chloe Dalton

What a lovely book. The author's amazing account of her life with a wild hare is a joy to read. As an animal lover, it always brings me joy to hear about a human that protects animals, that respects animals, and that can have a positive close encounter (or in this case, ongoing encounters I guess) with wild animals. And I even added a new word to my vocabulary: leveret, a word I don't ever remember hearing before reading this book. This book would be a great gift for an animal lover. Recommended. 

Real Americans - Rachel Khong (Spoilers?)

I have mixed feelings about this Book Club book. The writing was good but I am not sure what I am supposed to take away from it. The two main characters are so .... meh, so negative, so conflicted, but it's hard to know exactly why in some cases. From the title, I assumed the book would be some kind of exploration of what it means to be a first generation American, or how it feels to grow up in a place where you are in a minority group. Or even what it's like to be "white passing" in the U.S. But ultimately it really wasn't about any of those things? Not sure what to make of this. 

DNF - The Moonlight Runner

Oh dear oh dear, my July reading is not going well. Reader, I did it again - I invoked the "life's too short" principle and didn't finish a book. This one was a real trial. It was basically Twilight without the supernatural creatures. The writing was super clunky and I just couldn't get into it. It's a shame because the premise seemed interesting. Wish me luck for my future reading!! 

DNF - My Dear Hamilton

Well, this is a first for this blog! 

So this book was this month's book club selection, and it sounded promising from the description. 

It did not keep the promise LOL 

I seriously couldn't finish it. The writing was terrible. It was repetitive and long winded and the entire book could have been 1/3 of the whopping 600+ page length. I resorted to skimming here and there just because I HATE to give up on a book, but life is WAY too short to waste on this dreck. I should have just rewatched Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton musical. I also wouldn't mind reading the Hamilton biography that evidently inspired the musical. This book was a total waste of time, but it does have the distinction of being the first book that I didn't really finish that I am blogging here. Just watch the show Turn: Washington's Spies instead. LOL

The Rose Field - Philip Pullman

The back of this book states: "The breathtaking conclusion to The Book of Dust" - and so it was! Is it wrong to be greedy about books, in that I really want to spend more time in this world? I am also still thinking about a lot of the content. Fingers crossed we get more in a few years' time. Highly recommended. 

Hannah's Forehead & Other Horror Stories - David Thorne

Finally got around to reading this special-edition book that I got myself as a holiday gift last year. It came in a package with a bunch of cool and random items, which was fun, and it is numbered - although knowing the author, I wonder if all the books have the same number LOL Although it's described as being random musings that were not suitable for previous books, some of them really made me laugh. If you like this author, you'll like this as well. 

Threads of Empire - Dorothy Armstrong

How much thought do we ever give to carpets? I can honestly say I used to give them little thought, but after reading this book I will definitely pay more attention! I really liked the structure of this book, where we learn about the history of carpets and carpet weaving by looking at 12 separate carpets from various points in history, as described in the book's subtitle: "A History of the World in Twelve Carpets." A well written book that has opened my eyes to something I took for granted. 

Every Child Counts - Deborah D. Proctor, M.D.

This book's subtitle, "breaking the cycle of poverty by educating one child at a time" summarizes the contents nicely, as this book is both the recounting of the author's work with an orphanage in Costa Rica and her attempts to reconcile a really important question - do our attempts to help others actually help them? How can we best measure success? How can we provide help without disrupting a community? All important things that are easy to overlook or cast aside when we want to feel like we have "done something." And very timely. I enjoyed this book, for both this debate and seeing how it played out in real life over the years in the lives of some of the children. 

Four Treasures of the Sky - Jenny Tinghui Zhang

This was a seriously heavy novel. The subject matter is disturbing, even more so because it's based on reality. What is wrong with humanity? I really want an answer. As a species we are just awful in general. The writing is good and the topic is timely, so I am happy to have read this book and to have learned more about something I only knew a little about. So I would recommend this book, because we can never forget the past - we have to try to improve. Please tell me if you know how, I am out of ideas.