Hello! It is book day. And yes, I hear the combination cheers and jeers. But for those of you who aren’t readers just think….you can read these little summaries and then be able to participate in any bookish conversations that come up at your summer cookouts and backyard barbeques. Hmmmm…..do people talk about books at summer cookouts and backyard barbeques???? Well they should. They absolutely should.
Here’s what I read this month
My favorite for the month was Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. What can I say it was another Patchett winner for me. This was one of her early works and actually the one I heard most mentioned when she was spoken of, so I had to go read it. It was such an interesting story line. An important political is invited to a birthday party in another country along with many other important people. But terrorist invade the party and take hostages. But the real story comes about as these terrorist and these hostages are stuck in this home together for weeks while negotiations are happening. This is about the people from both sides, their pasts, their newly formed relationships and all the interactions that happen. I loved this one!
Next I read Good People by Patmeena Sabit. This is also such a good story. If you do audio books this, in my opinion, is best listened to. A young girl is accused of bringing shame on her family. While others view her as the victim. The story is told through the eyes of their family, the neighbors, clerks at convenient stores, hotel operators and so on. That is the beauty of listening to this one. It is an ensemble cast and is done wonderfully. I think it really helps with the flow of the story….which is very good. I was totally invested and couldn’t wait to get back to it to find out what was going on with everyone.
I also enjoyed If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair. This is a bit spicy Hallmarky. Josie’s brother tricks her into taking a job nursing a grumpy hockey player back from an injury. He nor she is happy about the arrangement but over time they come to understand each other and straighten out a lot of wrong assumptions. It was predictable but a cute story all the same.
Okay, this last one One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus was an absolute doozie. It came up on my “suggested for you” feed. So I gave it a whirl. It is based on a historical event but fictionalized. Basically the government makes a deal with Native Americans to exchange 1000 white women for horses. Well where to get such women….jails, insane asylums and other institutions became their solution. I will say it was a hard read at times. There’s nothing held back in here so some of the encounters and some of the language although probably accurate are hard to take at times. This book has stayed with me. It definitely left an impression. But just buckle in and go for it.
Well there you go…I can just hear the conversations around the pool right now.
Hope you are reading good things too!
See you back on Friday.
Leave a Reply