The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

Weird story about this book - I actually read it for the first time many years ago on a friend's recommendation and I thought it was OK, but I wasn't impressed enough to read the next 2 books. My husband got the set of 3 books as a gift a couple years ago and I have enjoyed the HBO series, so with the world in complete and total disarray these days I sorely needed a distraction and figured I'd read the series, starting with a re-read of this book. 

For whatever reason, this time I really enjoyed the book, and it became a really fast and enjoyable read. One thing I really like is that it deals with some dark themes that are food for thought. And these days in particular it seems valuable to read stories that show people can fight back against the forces of evil. I'll definitely be reading the next 2 books in quick succession. Recommended. 

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

Hmm. I truly don't know what to say about this book. I picked it up at the library because I loved The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go but I'm sad to say I just couldn't get in to this one. The setting and premise seemed interesting but unfortunately the style of writing just didn't connect for me. 

The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson

Like many kids, I had a love affair with Ancient Egypt - I even wanted to be an Egyptologist when I grew up. Sadly that never came to pass, but I did take classes here and there, including learning to read hieroglyphs at a beginner level. So when I stumbled on this book at the library I couldn't resist bringing it home. This book would be an invaluable reference for anyone who is interested in Ancient Egypt or in ancient religions. It's a beautiful book, filled with photos of the stunning artwork in tombs and temples and  decorative objects. It definitely made me want to break out my Dictionary of Middle Egyptian and read the inscriptions shown. Recommended. 

The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shafak

June's book club choice was a deceptively fast read. I'm still thinking about some of the events in this book. I really liked the semi-magical-realness element of the story; it helped to bring some life and some hope amidst a lot of conflict and turmoil. Why do people have to endlessly fight? I'll never understand it. The discussion of the book should be fascinating. 

The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie

When I was a kid 10000000 years ago, I loved the Hercule Poirot novels, but I never really read any of the other books by the same author, like the Miss Marple books, etc. It recently occurred to me that a fun project might be to read all of Agatha Christie's books in the order in which they were published, so on a recent trip to the library I grabbed this, the first book, first published back in 1920. 

Cue the flashback to this book. SIGH. 

Once again, I get it, the n-word was used a lot in those days, people (well, white people, of course) didn't think of it as particularly offensive, it's not used against someone but as a descriptor of a costume (which in some ways is way worse), but I just can't. I can't erase or change the past but it really sucks to be reading merrily along and get slapped in the face like this. I guess I might be able to overlook it if things today were very different but ..... I just can't. 

Overall, this was a good mystery, although to be honest I had trouble keeping track of the characters. It was fun to meet M. Poirot for the first time and try to puzzle out the solution to the mystery, which is clever. But I think I will work on other books. 

View from a Hill - Mark Burgess

Another favorite band is The Chameleons (sometimes called The Chameleons UK in the US). Weirdly enough, I don't remember where or how I first heard them, I just have this impression that I have always really liked them. This autobiography tells the story of the band from the perspective of one of the band's founding members/lead singer. When I was a lot younger I wanted to be in a band, and this book made me both wish I could have made it happen and also feel thankful that it never did. Wow, record companies are some of the shadiest "businesses" out there! However, being in a band seems to consist of like 75% getting drunk/taking drugs/fighting with bandmates, 20% fighting with record companies, and like 5% playing and writing music so who knows, maybe I got the better end of the deal after all. This book was very well written and was an enjoyable, illuminating read. 

The main takeaway: if you are ever wondering about what the lyrics to your favorite song mean, it's most likely something to do with alcohol/drugs. LOL

Don't worry, there are more Joy Division books coming soon too, ha ha!

Reading Behind Bars - Jill Grunenwald

The closest I have ever come to being in a prison is a visit to Folsom Prison, which has a cool museum for visitors who like the Johnny Cash song but have no other business being there. Having watched shows like Oz, Orange Is the New Black, and even Prison Break, I can honestly say I have no desire to ever get a closer view of what goes on behind the walls. Luckily people like the author have more courage than I do, and can provide first-hand accounts, in this case from the perspective of a prison librarian. This book covered the importance of libraries in general to society, and the importance of information access to everyone, including people who are incarcerated. I imagine having access to a library could really make a difference to someone who might be trying to get their life back on track. I do have a question for the author - did the young man she recommended The Great Gatsby to like it? A fascinating look at a world most of us will never see for ourselves. 

Deadlines Don't Care If Janet Doesn't Like Her Photo - David Thorne

If you aren't familiar with this author, I suggest you start here to get an idea of his comedy. I happen to find him hilarious and this book was more of the same. Recommended. 

The Family Upstairs - Lisa Jewell

Readers, this book was a serious page turner. Recommended to me as a cool spooky novel, I have to say it lived up to the recommendation. I think I read this in a total of like 6 hours over 2 days and didn't want to put it down. It kept me guessing too. Recommended 

The Five Wounds - Kirstin Valdez Quade

Another book full of people that make it soooooooo hard to want to like them LOL This author really has a way of providing just enough information about characters to make the reader simultaneously want to root for them and also grab them by the shoulders and give them a good shake. I suspect there is much to be made of the symbolism in this book's title and the events that unfold. In the end I guess we are all wounded in some way, and it's what we are able to achieve despite these wounds that matters.