Saturday, July 30, 2022

July 2022

Started the month with thirteen library books on my shelves (and one on library's shelf waiting to be picked up.) Let's see how I do? 
 
Of course I didn't finish them before I checked out more... (on the 13th, the 19th, 21st, & 26th) many of which will be carried over to Aug.

By the nineteenth of the month I had finished these (except for the three that I decided not to read).
I also finished the two I picked up on the thirteenth.
 
Time for another trip to the library!
 
I read a bunch, dumped some more & ended up with a very messy record! I'm marking the carry over to August with *.  (Also made a library trip on the 30th but am not listing those four check-outs here in July.)
 
As messy as this is I'm letting it stand as it shows how a typical reading month goes.
 
I also did some random Gutenberg searches and picked some pictorial works..
...and I read some from my large Kindle backlog.

Total read : 21 library books, 2 from my Kindle collection, 3 from Gutenberg
Rejected Library books : 6
 
Checked Out in June:  
The inheritance of Orquídea Divina : a novel by Córdova, Zoraida,
Due: Jul 9, 2022
Finished reading Jul 1.  Liked it very much.

2) The garden of broken things by Momplaisir, Francesca,
Due:Jul 11, 2022
Finished: Jul 6 A little bit better than just ok

3) Skye falling: a novel by McKenzie, Mia,
Due:Jul 11, 2022 
Finished: Jul 2 Liked it

4) Appleseed : a novel by Bell, Matt,
Due: Jul 15, 2022 (renewed to Aug 5)
Barely started when early boredom set in.
 
5) Everyone knows your mother is a witch by Galchen, Rivka,
Due: Jul 15, 2022(renewed to Aug 5)
Started but just couldn't get into it

6) The guide: a novel by Heller, Peter,
Due: Jul 15, 2022
Finished: Jul 12.  Sinister activities at a high end Colorado fishing resort. Heller does this so well!
 
7) Highway blue : a novel by McFarlane, Ailsa,
Due: Jul 15, 2022 
Finished: Jul 3 Not great, but not awful. Just OK and short.
 
8) How high we go in the dark : a novel by Nagamatsu, Sequoia, 
Yuck! Did not finish
 
9) Lapvona by Moshfegh, Ottessa,
Due: Jul 15, 2022
Finished: Jul 7. A lot of people didn't like the gore, etc. in this. I read it as satire and thought it worked

10) Pignon Scorbion & the barbershop detectives by Bleiweiss, Rick,
Due: Jul 15, 2022
Finished: Jul 8; Wasn't very good. It's the start of a series I won't be reading.

11) The woman in the library : a novel byAuthor: Gentill, Sulari,
Due: Jul 15, 2022
Finished : Jul 3 Loved it!

12) Filthy animals by Taylor, Brandon
Due: Jul 20, 2022
Finished: Jul 11. Surprised I liked the somewhat linked short stories. 
 
13) Moonlight and the pearler's daughter by Pook, Lizzie,
Due: Jul 20, 2022
Finished: Jul 13 Meh. Stuff about the pearl business was interesting  but the story...
 
To Pick Up  Picked up: Jul 6
1) The ocean in winter : a novel by De Veer, Elizabeth,
Due: Jul 20
Finished: Jul 12. three Sisters. 

Checked out: Jul 13
1) The angel of Rome : and other stories by Walter, Jess, 1965-
Due: Aug 3, 2022
Finished: Jul 17  Loved all the stories

2) The Baba Yaga mask by Spisak, Kris,
Due: Aug 3, 2022
Finished: Jul 15 Ukrainian/American sisters search for their grandmother in Poland and neighboring areas.
 
Checked out Jul 19 (all due Aug 9)

1) The harbor by Engberg, Katrine; translated from the Danish by Chace, Tara F.
Finished: Jul 28  Police in Copenhagen. Liked it.

*2) Hotel silence by Auður A. Ólafsdóttir

*3) A house among the trees : a novel by Glass, Julia

4) In sunlight or in shadow : stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper edited by Block, Lawrence. Illustrated with paintings by Edward Hopper. Contributors: Stephen King, Justin Scott, Jonathan Santlofer, Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Gail Levin, Kris Nelscott, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Olen Butler, Michael Connelly, Megan Abbott, Craig Ferguson, Nicholas Christopher, Jill D. Block, Joe R. Lansdale, Warren Moore,  and Lawrence Block .
Finished: Jul 22 It's rare that I like all the stories in an anthology, but these were all good.
 
5) Mary Coin by Silver, Marisa
Finished: Jul 22. Three points of view, three eras but unifying events set mostly in Central California depression era. I really enjoyed this.

6) The paper wasp : a novel by Acampora, Lauren
Didn't get very far with this one. The first person direct address narration just didn't work for me in this case.

7) Rush : revolution, madness, and the visionary doctor who became a founding father by Fried, Stephen
Finished: June 26  Excellent!

8) The sea garden by Lawrenson, Deborah
Lost interest about a quarter of the way through...

9) Snap by Bauer, Belinda
Finished: Jul 23 Good thriller

10) This house is mine by Hansen, Dörte; translated from the German by Stokes, Anne
Finished: Jul 28 Loved this. German village through a generation or two.

11) You made a fool of death with your beauty: a novel by Emezi, Akwaeke
I'd like to forget I even read the first page of this!

Checked out Jul 21 (all due Aug 11) 

*1) I Hotel by Yamashita, Karen Tei

2) In the great green room : the brilliant and bold life of Margaret Wise Brown by Gary, Amy
Finished: Jul 27

*3) Obabakoak : a novel by Atxaga, Bernardo.

4) Tales from the cafe: a novel by Kawaguchi, Toshikazu; translated from the Japanese by Trousselot, Geoffrey
Finished: Jul 25 (I didn't actually check this out--my housemate did) Liked the first of the series better.

Checked out on July 26 (all due Aug 16)
*1) Castaways : a graphic novel by Pérez Granell, Laura and Monforte, Pablo: translated from the Spanish by Labayen, Silvia Perea: Letterer Gil, Joamette
*2) The Empress and the English doctor : how Catherine the Great defied a deadly virus by Ward, Lucy
*3) Fellowship point : a novel by Dark, Alice Elliott


From my Kindle Collection:
Happy Dreams by Jia Pingwa; Nicky Harman (Translator)
 So, so.  Neat characters. Chinese trash pickers.
Jerkwater by Jamie Zendt 
 not bad...
 
From Gutenberg:  
I went here for some pictorial relief...

Phil May's Gutter-Snipes: 50 Original Sketches in Pen & Ink by Phil May. Original Publication McMillan, 1896. Gutenberg has other works by this noted cartoonist.

The shasta route along the southern pacific—the road of a thousand wonders: A scenic guide book from San Francisco, California, to Portland, Oregon on the road of a thousand wonders
Original Publication     United States :Curt Teich & Co.,1920. 
 
The charm of Reynolds by James Mason. Original Publication United Kingdom :T.C. & E.C. Jack,1911. 


Elsewhere in the Internet: 



Friday, July 01, 2022

June 2022

Some pretty good reads for June--all from public libraries. No really bad ones on the lists below though I was a bit disappointed by the Ali Smith. 
 
 (I tried to read  On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Its blend of fiction/memoir and poetic prose seemed forced and pretentious. I read about a third of it and gave up.)

Fiction:
When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Solà, Irine; translated from the Catalan by Lethem, Mara Faye
Build Your House Around My Body by Kupersmith, Violet
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Roffey, Monique
Go, Went, Gone by Erpenbeck, Jenny; translated from the German by Bernofsky, Susan
Metropolis by Shapiro, B.A.
Thy Children's Children by McCain, Diana Ross 
 Local--Lyman Family of Middlefield CT 
A Dream Life by Messud, Claire 
 Short but nice. American ex-pats in Australia.
The Foundling by Leary, Ann 
Hotel Magnifique by Taylor, Emily J.
And By Fire by Hawtrey, Evie
You Have a Friend in 10A, Stories by Shipstead, Maggie
Companion Piece by Smith, Ali 
 
Nonfiction:
Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir by Yovanovitch, Marie 
The Artisans; A Vanishing Chinese Village, by Shen, Fuyu; translated from the Chinese by Tiang, Jeremy 
Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle by Rosen, Jody
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Millard, Candice