Book Nook Cafe discussion

Here is the Folder and thread to tell us what your monthly reads for July
2023 were.

Please provide:
~ A GoodReads link
~ A few sentences telling us how you felt about the book.
~ How would you rate the book

Here are my July reads.

Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick by Viola Davis
Non Fiction memoir
Rate: 3/5 - A honest solid memoir
Audio Book Read by author
The actress, Viola Davis, was an excellent narrator.

Her story is harrowing to say the least. Beware there are many trigger alerts for sensitive readers.

Viola grew up in extreme poverty. And I do mean Extreme with a capital E. There was a lack of food and living in squaller with rats. Her father physically abused the mother. There is drug abuse. There is sexual abuse. There is much profanity, and there is a lifetime of dealing with racism. Honestly, how she not only survived but thrived is simply incredible. It's truly a testimony to her strength and her intelligence. That she survived this and still was able to forgive also testifies to her generous spirit.

Davis doesn't sugar coat this memoir. It's raw and honest. That takes a lot of courage.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Fiction
I read the eBook as I listened to the audio
Rate 3/5- Good read
I listened to the audio as I read along with the eBook. I have to say the narration by Nicholas Guy Smith is simply outstanding !

Unfortunately, I found the plot lacking. Not a lot happens. I also didn't get a good sense of Russia during that period. The story was plodding and I kept looking at the page numbers, never a good sign. The book comes in at a hefty 500.

The plot is pretty simple. The book begins around 1922. The main character, Count Alexander Rostov, is an aristocrat sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol. The Metropol is a grand hotel in Moscow. He is told if he leaves the hotel he will be immediately shot. So 95% of the book takes place in the hotel.

The narration and the writing are very good. The plot didn't engage me very much.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Fiction
I listened to the audio as I read along with the eBook

The narrator is Charlie Thurston. He does an excellent job. I wasn't quite sure if I liked it at the start but he grew on me.

The writing is top notch. I can see why it won the Pulitzer.

The story is about a boy, Demon, who is in foster care, the opioid crisis, poor educational system, and grinding poverty. All are important topics to be discussed for sure. My only problem was the book is 560 pages long. The audio is 21 hours. After awhile I just felt worn out by all the never ending trauma. I think the book needed a serious editing down.

I gave the book 4 stars for the audio and writing.

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Fiction
Rate 1/5
The book is a very quick read. However, I thought the writing was sophomoric.

The plot made absolutly no sense. All the main characters are unlikeable. The author constantly repeats herself.
We are told repeatedly about how handsome the husband is. How muscled the gardener was. Every time they talk we are told about their gorgeous eyes. Ugh. Honestly, it read to me like a YA romance in sections. The novel had nonsensical plot holes you could drive a truck through. The book also contained some really gruesome scenes, which are just something I don't like to read about. For example, torturing someone by making them pull their own teeth out with a plier. I really couldn't root for any of the loathsome main characters. Needless to say I won't be reading the follow up, The Housemaid's Secret. That is one secret she can keep to herself !

The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku
Non Fiction - memoir
Audio Book
Rate: 4/5
This is a powerful thought provoking memoir by a Holocaust survivor. Against the odds, Eddie survives. He promises to smile and give thanks every day to honor those who did not survive. Eddie was a remarkable man and I think many will find his story inspirational.

This memoir was published in 2020 when Eddie was 100 years old. He passed away is 2021.

The audio is narrated by Raphael Corkhill who does a very nice job.

Alias Reader wrote: "Here are my July reads.

Finding Me: An Oprah's Book Club Pick by Viola Davis
Non Fiction memoir
Rate: 3/5..."

Great job, Alias! The Davis memoir reminds of Stephen King's story ... he may be wildly successful now, but as a kid he had a job in a laundry dealing with maggots in restaurant linen. Not exactly the same, but still .... I have a couple of one-stars out there, sorry to hear yiu hit one.

Thanks, John. I have to say the writing talent saved my July. The writing by Barbara Kingsolver and Amor Towles can't be denied. Even if the stories didn't completely grab me, the talent these two have is undeniable. They also don't pump out books yearly. Much work and effort is evident. As a reader, I really appreciate that.

I don't recall that about Stephen King. Did he mention that in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (A Memoir of the Craft ? That was a wonderful book. I read it a number of years ago, so I don't recall. Though I can understand why I would have block out the maggots episode. Yikes !

ABSALOM, ABSALOM! is all I read in July, I think because writing was taking up most of my time. Oh, I read The Bone Tree and Mississippi Blood, too, both by Greg Iles, the second and third books of his "Natchez Burning" trilogy. Very well written except in the third book, no one ever "looks," "glances," "gazes," etc. They all "cut their eyes." Sometimes Iles would use that phrase three or four times on a page and he must have used it 50-60 times in the book. It because groan-worthy and disappointing. I thought Iles was a better writer than that. It was something that's so easy to remedy.

Kiki, I'm surprised that an author of his statue wouldn't have had an editor catch something like that.

Deb and I read a bunch of William Faulkner as Buddy Reads quite a while back. While I can't say I'm a Faulkner fan, I did enjoy reading the books with someone. I may still one day read The Hamlet by William Faulkner as I enjoyed the movie. It was a TV movie with Don Johnson in the lead. Funny, even though I am a Paul Newman fan, I haven't seen the the one where he played the lead.

Alias Reader wrote: "Kiki, I'm surprised that an author of his statue wouldn't have had an editor catch something like that.

Deb and I read a bunch of William Faulkner as Buddy Reads quite a while back...."

I would have stopped reading the trilogy if I hadn't wanted to know who really killed Viola Davis and Tom Cage's ultimate fate. (Not spoilers, the trilogy begins with Viola's death.) I actually rolled my eyes at "cuts his eyes."

Faulkner is my favorite author by far, and I've read Absalom, Absalom! several times. I never tire of it or any other of Faulkner's books.

Here are my reads for July:


by Kirsty McManus
4 Stars

This was a fun read. I enjoyed references to the 90's and the time travel aspect of it. I'm looking forward to reading the next one, 1997.

~~~~~~~~~~


by Natalie D. Richards
3 Stars

I realize this is a YA book, but it just really fell flat for me. I was expecting more suspense and a bigger "reveal" at the end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


by Fiona Davis
5 Stars

This was my favorite read of July. I really like historical fiction and I enjoyed the historical aspect being set in NYC.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


by Clémence Michallon

This was a different twist on a serial killer story, told from the viewpoints of the killer's teenaged daughter, a woman in town who is falling for him, and the woman he's currently holding captive.
I enjoyed it being a different view point.

Here are my three books:

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Harvest: An Adventure into the Heart of America's Family Farms by Richard Horan ⭐️⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises from the Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle ⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

~*Kim*~ wrote: "Here are my reads for July:


by Kirsty McManus
4 Stars

This was a fun read. I enjoyed references to the 90's and the time travel aspect of it. I'm lookin..."

That sounds interesting, Kim. I've often thought it would be fun to be able to go back in time but know what I know now.

Thanks for sharing your July reads with us !

Thanks for sharing your July reads, John.

I think the abridged version of The Power of now is the way to go.
I read it many years ago. I enjoyed it but it does get repetitious.

John wrote: "Here are my three books:

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[book:Harvest: An ..."

Good review of Drive Your Plow. I didn't realize it was a Pulitzer winner.

Lots of interesting reading in July!

Alias, good to hear that Demon Copperhead is a good audio. I'll add it to my audio list at the library. The book has been on my radar for awhile.

Kiki, I've wondered, too, why some of the good books are written in such difficult ways. I like the works of writers such as Faulkner, Woolf and Joyce (some of their works, anyway) but wonder why they write in a manner that could turn readers away.
That said, these writers live on, so we are reading their works and not being turned away.

Kim the concept of time travel is an interesting one. It's fun to think about such an experience.

John, nice reviews! I've heard Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead mentioned quite a bit. That's an interesting title.

My July Reads:

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

This is the prequel to Follet's Kingsbridge historical fiction series and details the founding of the town at the center of the series. There's lots of political intrigue, some action, a bit of romance, and tons of memorable characters. 5 stars

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

This is the first book in Burroughs's John Carter series. John Carter is magically transported to Mars, meets a wide variety of characters, gets involved with the political struggles and wars on Mars, and falls in love. Classic pulp fiction sci-fi, not always believable, but fast paced and action packed, and it was interesting reading something that was written over a hundred years ago and continues to inspire sci-fi stories. 3 stars

Dune by Frank Herbert

This is the first book in Herbert's Dune series. Paul Atreides and his family become the ruling family of the planet Arrakis, which produces a special drug known as spice. The novel details the struggles for control over the planet between a few different groups. I enjoyed this one, although the action slowed down a bit in the middle and there are a variety of words invented for the series that can be hard to understand at first. There's a ton of political intrigue, lots of action, a small bit of romance, and tons of drama. 4 stars

Arrow's Flight by Joel Scott

This is the first book in Scott's Offshore novels series. The main character Jared is a fisherman and former convict who inherits Arrow, a 48 ft sailboat. He and his buddy Danny are planning to leave on a long trip down the coast from their hometown of Vancouver.

However, Danny is involved in a crime and ends up paralyzed in the hospital. Before long, Jared, the injured Danny, and Danny's grandfather Joseph are fleeing on Arrow in an epic trip down the Pacific coast in an attempt to get away from the criminals trying to kill Danny.

There is a lot of bending the law to discover who the criminals are, quite a bit of action, tons of sailing scenes, a bit of romance, and a wide variety of amazingly described characters. I loved Joseph, Danny's ancient Haida grandfather who always seems to come through in the clutch and Sinbad, an unruly mutt who eats fish and sea birds and becomes the sailboat's living alarm system. 4 stars only because the usage of sailing vocabulary without explaining it made some scenes hard to fully imagine in my mind.

Dru83 wrote: "My July Reads:

The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

This is the prequel to Follet's Kingsbridge historical fict..."

Very nice month, Dru. Thank you for sharing with everyone.

As to Ken Follett, I enjoyed his
novel Night over Water

Gosh when I was looking for the GoodReads link, I didn't realize he was such a prolific author !

Hello everyone! So I read about four books in the month of July.

The first was called Midnight's Choice by Kate Thompson. It's part two in the Switchers series. If you want my full thoughts on Switchers (the first entry) and Midnight's Choice, I recommend reading my very long review on the former and the latter. Basically, the series is about Irish kids who can shapeshift. Antics ensue. Though this series does have some neat ideas and moments, they're completely overshadowed by a complete disregard for continuity and consistency, a very thrown together power system, and characters not utilizing extremely obvious solutions for absolutely no reason. For those of you who may be wondering, yes, I do plan on finishing the series, but only to find out why the characters just don't turn into mythological creatures that can shapeshift to get around the 'Lose your switcher power at age fifteen" thing. So, in short, if you want to know how not to write a shapeshifting story, just read this series and you'll be good.

Rating for Switchers: D+
Rating for Midnight's Choice: F

The second one I read was called What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe. I would give a summary, but I think the title speaks for itself. Non-Fiction isn't normally my thing unless I'm really interested in the topic the work covers to tell you the truth. But, to make my somewhat long review short, I actually found it to be a lot of fun and the gargantuan amount of thought and effort put into it really shines through.

Rating: B+

The third one I read was called You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose. Oh boy. To be honest, this novel is so bafflingly awful, that I don't think I can do it much better justice than my review could.

Rating: D+

The final one I read in July was called The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This one is about a murder mystery that takes place during a wedding on an isolated island complete with a castle. Bought a copy of this at a second hand store for about five bucks and, let's just say, it was more than worth it. Great characters, wonderful setting, the works. My full review can be found here if you want more detail on my thoughts.

Rating: B+

Overall, a very mixed bag for me, but the ones that were good were really good.

Hailey wrote:
The final one I read in July was called The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This one is about a murder mystery that takes place during a wedding on an isolated island complete with a castle. Bought a copy of this at a second hand store for about five bucks and, let's just say, it was more than worth it. Great characters, wonderful setting, the works. My full review can be found here if you want more detail on my thoughts.

Rating: B+."

Sorry to read you had some real clunkers, Hailey.

As to The Guest List, I see it's a Reese's book club pick. I've had mixed results with her picks. I'm glad to see this one was good. I'll check it out.

Thanks for doing the What I Read thread. I always enjoy these monthly recaps.

Hailey wrote: "Hello everyone! So I read about four books in the month of July.

The first was called Midnight's Choice by Kate Thompson. It's part two in the Switchers series. If you want my full thoughts on Sw..."

I've thought of reading The Guest List so glad you liked it, Hailey.

Alias Reader wrote: "Hailey wrote:
The final one I read in July was called The Guest List by Lucy Foley. This one is about a murder mystery that takes place during a wedding on an isolated island complete with a castl..."

You're welcome Alias. There was another novel I read a while ago that was also a Reese's Book Club Pick. It was called Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean. I wrote an insanely long review on it, but to make a long story short, it was not very good at all. The sequel, surprisingly, was much better.

For me, I like to view every piece of media I consume as not only something to pass the time, but as a learning opportunity as well, no matter how good or bad that piece of media is. By doing this, it helps me further my craft as an author and makes me feel like I didn't waste my time.

Hailey wrote:For me, I like to view every piece of media I consume as not only something to pass the time, but as a learning opportunity as well, no matter how good or bad that piece of media is. By doing this, it helps me further my craft as an author and makes me feel like I didn't waste my time.."

I'm sure Stephen King isn't the only author to say this. I recall him saying, if you want to be a writer you need to be a reader.

Alias Reader wrote: "Hailey wrote:For me, I like to view every piece of media I consume as not only something to pass the time, but as a learning opportunity as well, no matter how good or bad that piece of media is. B..."

I'm in full agreement with that quote, Alias. From what I understand, this seems to be a common piece of advice and I think it's for a good reason.

By reading a lot of different works, you become better at recognizing common tropes and cliches, techniques that are effective, techniques that aren't effective, and so on.

The last few months prior to our cruise, it almost seems all i accomplished was reading. Yet on the ship i read almost as many books. I’m not listing all because several were cozy mysteries not worth mentioning. lol.

Obelists at Sea—C. Daly King, appropriately enough, set on a sea voyage. Two murders are committed and the captain asks 3 psychologists and one psych professor to help solve the killings. Each professional has his opportunity, so we learn plenty about the state of this craft in the 1930s. Not a thrilling book, i must say, but in his day, King was a prominent murder mystery author.

Whiskey Sour—J.A. Konrath, the first in a series about “Jack” Daniels, a female Chicago homicide division lieutenant. All the series titles are named for mixed drinks, i must add. In this initial outing, a serial killer’s murders have been uncovered. Because some chapters are from the killer’s point of view, i found the book disturbing. Frankly, this doesn’t usually happen with me, so perhaps too graphic? I won’t be reading further in the series, although i know a couple of folks here like the books.

Time Shelter—Georgi Gospodinov could be considered science fiction but, for me, it was more a cautionary tale about those politics today which features a yearning for the past. Initially, rooms are created with various decade themes, such as the 1940s, ‘80s, but only in the 20th century. They are used by families whose members have Alzheimer’s because such rooms trigger clear-minded memories and conversations the loved ones are missing. The popularity expands and soon nations are voting on which decade the citizens will settle into. Clever premise.

The Water is Wide—Pat Conroy. In this book, the well known author writes about his year of teaching poor black students on an island off the coast of South Carolina. His approach was unique and improved the knowledge of many students but was unwelcome by those in charge. Apparently, at different times in his life, Conroy claimed this as nonfiction and as a novel. Who knows? I appreciated the work…and i’m not generally a fan of his.

Mystery in White—J. Jefferson Farjeon, published in 1937. A plan is afoot to reissue mysteries by authors from the ‘30s and 40s, of which this is one. In this case, a British train becomes stuck on the rails by a blizzard. For various reasons several people decide to walk to the next station. The place they land (separately) is what appears to be a just-vacated home, where a murder has occurred. What a Christmas Eve!

My Soul to Take—Yrsa Sigurdardottir. While this is the first book i read by Sigurdardottir, it is second in the series, set in Iceland. The main character is an attorney, who is asked to investigate a real estate deal in an isolated part of the country. I really liked learning about some Icelandic ghost stories and proverbs. The mystery itself was good, as well. The author is an a leading Icelandic civil engineer, directing one of the largest hydro construction projects in Europe.

Yrsa Sigurdardóttir is an award-winning author of five children’s novels who is also a leading Icelandic civil engineer directing one of the largest hydro construction projects in Europe, as well as an award winning author of children’s books!

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead—Olga Tokarczuk, mentioned elsewhere on our boards by John, i believe. What a fascinating and unusual novel. The main character finds a body of a neighbor, then tries to solve the mystery. Her character is like none i’ve previously seen in print and i wondered where the story was headed. Good journey, with slides into folk tales and religious beliefs.

The Colour Of Lightning—Paulette Jiles. This is the second Jiles novel i’ve read, both full of solid descriptions of post-Civil War north Texas. Loosely based on a true story, one of which is about the raid by Native tribal land owners, including killing and abductions. While on my TBR for years, i finally read it for our 100 challenge, four word titles.

As always I enjoyed reading your eclectic monthly reviews, deb.
Thank you for sharing. I'm glad to hear your vacation included a lot of relaxing reading time.

Thank you, Alias. Kicking back with a book was my favorite nighttime activity onboard. :-)

Still behind on typing out books read on here so hopefully within this week I can get caught up. :)

July Reads:

Toric's Dagger by Jamie Edmundson - 5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dark Corner by Brandon Massey - 3 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Paradise Club by Tim Meyer - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Dream Reaper by Alistair Cross - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The House on Cold Hill by Peter James - 5 stars.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Manrattan by Hunter Shea - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ghost 19 by Simone St. James - 3 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Bolivar's Sword by Jamie Edmundson - 5 stars.
My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

That is my wrap up for July books. :)

You had a very nice July, Marie. Thanks for sharing.

Nice list of books, Marie. I must say the fact the cover of Dream Reaper called to you sent shivers up my spine. It creeped me out. You are such a trooper!


I was amused by the line, "Giving this book three 'No Answers - Only Questions' stars!" in the review for Ghost 19. Cute.

I must admit to surprise when you wrote in your review of Toric's Dagger, "Normally I read two or three books at once but so much was happening within this story that my focus stayed within this book only..."

That you could read more than one book at a time in many of the genres you read amazes me. I get my fiction & nonfiction confused in my mind when i try to read two books at a time. Well done, Marie!

Alias Reader wrote: "You had a very nice July, Marie. Thanks for sharing."

Thank you! You are welcome, Alias! :)

madrano wrote: "Nice list of books, Marie. I must say the fact the cover of Dream Reaper called to you sent shivers up my spine. It creeped me out. You are such a trooper!


I was amused by the line, "Giving this ..."

You will be interested to know, Deb that I was reading five books up until this morning when I finished one. lol Now I am reading four. :)

I try to keep them all straight - lol. Only one time I have had a problem and that was when I was reading two books that had the same theme in horror - almost wrote the wrong review for the wrong book! lol Which that would have been a disaster especially with me running a blog website! LOL

So now I use notes and highlights a lot on my kindle to keep track of things. It has helped me immensely. :)

Marie wrote: "You will be interested to know, Deb that I was reading five books up until this morning when I finished one. lol Now I am reading four. :)..."

Amazing!

Even with markers, i just don't think i could keep track. To be fair, i sometimes forget characters when i'm reading only one book, so this is clearly about my issues. :-)