Summer’s here and the time is right for dancing in the street…

Well, not so much in my neighborhood but is a good time to read more books. Which is better than dancing anyway.

Before I get into what I read last month, did anyone else get a kind of shamey email from Goodreads about their book challenge? Because I did and I really didn’t need the reinforcement that I’m behind. It made me feel a little terrible. That kind of pressure is very unnecessary.

Anyway, here’s what I read last month. Somehow it included 4 NetGalley books. Interesting.

The Chateau by Paul Goldberg. Big fat DNF. I hated this book and I felt terrible because it was an ARC from NetGalley but what are you going to do? I wanted to keep reading because he insults trump A LOT but it wasn’t enough to keep me around.

The Suffering Tree by Elle Cosimano. If you are triggered by self-harm, do not read this book or proceed with caution. This is a very good, well-researched supernatural-ish YA thriller. I found myself vested in the characters and what happened in both the past and present but some parts felt rushed and incomplete -specifically the end- but I like her writing and her books are kind of their own genre which is cool. Not the best book but I do recommend. NetGalley ARC read very late.

Not a Crime to be Poor by Peter Edelman. If you want a meticulously researched, dry, statistics-driven, anecdotal book explaining why and how it is expensive and criminal to poor, you will love this book. This is perfect for a classroom setting but as a read for someone who is non-academically interested in this topic, both policy-wise and sociologically, I was hoping for something a little more…human. He discusses success stories and how they can be replicated but it’s all business. If you would like to discuss this topic, though, please let me know. Found this one in a bookstore and got it from the library.

Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman. This isn’t necessarily a bad book. Some might even love it. For me, though, it was all over the place, couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. A western? Thriller? Sci-fi? And why was the end more like chick lit? I don’t mind multiple layers but this was a messy, tedious read that didn’t work in some places. Others were great. I would have read a whole book about Smoke or Carol’s mother. He’s not a terrible writer but he’s not for me.I did like it better than Bird Box, though. NetGalley ARC.

Fair Shot by Chris Hughes. Another nonfiction. This book is to guaranteed basic income what Hillbilly Elegy is to understanding 45’s voter base. Well-researched, well-written, but so full of privilege and arrogance that it’s hard to take it seriously as a policy book. It’s a memoir that heavily relies on personal experience to make him “relatable” and explain why he feels and believes the way he does but, save for a few chapters, minimally addresses it. I really didn’t want to hear from him anymore how he has Facebook money (he’s one of the co-founders) and he comes across as kind of a dick. He has some good ideas, though. So there’s that. Bookstore find, requested from library.

The Rules of Half by Jenna Patrick. This is a sad, touching, mildly optimistic book about family, tragedy, secrets, mental illness, small town prejudices and what happens when they all intersect. It’s a well-written book, takes care and honesty when discussing mental illness, and the characters are sympathetic and strong. But it felt like there were plot holes and details that were built up and then left out or glossed over and that was annoying. Good book, though. NetGalley ARC.

TL;DR: Nothing this month was outstanding but The Suffering Tree and Rules of Half were my favorite.

Currently reading Free Fire and Off the Clock.

Don’t forget to visit Steph and some of the other bloggers joining us. Next one is on August 14.

And now it’s your turn! Link up and Show Us Your Books!

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Sigh.

I don’t know that my reading pace is going to pick up at all this year. I give zero shits about my Goodreads goal but there are too many unread books calling my name that I’m not reading. There’s not even a good reason for it. I’m just…not.

Anyway, the good news is that this month I read wonderful books. And like 3 of them were NetGalley books. That I read before their pub date! Who am I? I’m not sure.

Before we get to the reviews, just a quick reminder that my reviews are mostly copied and embellished from Litsy. Also, don’t forget to visit Steph, my co-host and friend, as well as some of the other bloggers joining us. We have an incredible booknerd community so if you’re looking for something new to read, one of these ladies can definitely help you out. And mark your calendars for July 10 for the next one.

Now, my June reads.

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris. This book definitely had the same structure and similar plot to The Breakdown but with a male protagonist instead. It reads like a very standard thriller but then it shifted and went in a direction I did not see coming. Even when I thought I figured it out, it continued twisting. I liked that. Especially the end. I really liked the end. I enjoy her books and will keep reading them but it’d be nice if she strayed from her formula a bit. Shake shit up. ARC from NetGalley.

Ohio by Stephen Markley. If you follow me on Twitter, you probably have already seen me raving about this book. I’m predicting it to be the best book I read all year. It’s crude, vulgar, political, violent, emotional, sad, and so gorgeous I was stunned by what I read. The storytelling is mesmerizing (even if I had to look up what some words meant. He uses REALLY big words sometimes) as well as meandering and time hops and uses multiple POVs, which I generally hate, but he does it in such as way that I actually enjoyed the different yet connected storylines. This book is magnificent and please read it. Although. It’s definitely not for everyone. He touches on addiction, murder, war violence, rape, and other very unpleasant topics. If any of those will trigger you, you might want to avoid. But if they don’t, read this book. ARC from NetGalley.

Puddin’ by Julie Murphy. Oh, how I adore Julie Murphy. She writes characters I wish existed when I was a teenager and it’s refreshing to know they exist now. More diverse, confident girls need to be in novels, loving themselves as-is instead of what other people want them to be. This one gets a little preachier than her others but that’s okay. Maybe we need that now. She is a role model, she writes role models, and I’m looking forward to my daughter being old enough to read her YA books (she has a MG one publishing next year).

Believe Me by JP Delaney. This book is a straight mindfuck. Even when I thought I figured out what happened, I doubted myself. That’s unusual. And they way Boudelaire is woven in reminds me of how Poe was integral to the first season of The Following and that connection is way too coincidental for my liking (although I only learned about it from internet research. I’m not actually that smart). I didn’t love the unreliable narrator trick or the way the dialog was staged like a play but at least it made sense in the plot context instead of being gratuitous. Excellent plane or vacation read. ARC from NetGalley.

Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden. This was a wonderful tribute to his son, and learning exactly why and the thought process behind why he decided not to run for president was interesting. The foreign policy stuff was boring to read (confession: I skimmed a lot of it) but crucial so to understand what he was dealing with alongside Beau’s cancer. The love he feels for his son is palpable, even through the pages of a book. Beau meant a lot to Delaware (I say that as a long-term resident) and I wish he’d touched on that a little more. It would have given an even bigger picture of who he was.

For instance, several years ago, a doctor who’s name I won’t write, was convicted of over 500 counts of child sexual abuse. Beau was our attorney general at the time and it was also around when Joe was picked to run for VP. It was sort of…expected that Beau would fill his dad’s senate seat. He didn’t because he wanted oversee the prosecution of this person. He wanted to see this job to the end, regardless of his own political aspirations. He was heir apparent and he turned it down. That’s not something you see often, especially not in this political climate. I think anecdotes like that would have given a more well-rounded picture. However, in the book he talks about eulogizing people for who they were and not what they did so I sort of understand why those kinds of stories were left out. Anyway, it’s a good book and while it’s not required reading, I do recommend it.

Currently reading The Chateau by Paul Goldberg

TL; DR. All of the books I read this month were excellent and you should add all of them to your TBR. Especially Ohio. That was my favorite.

Now it’s your turn! Link up below and show us your books!

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Four.

That’s how many books I’ve read since the last SUYB. I genuinely have no clue how or why that happened, except that I had zero reading time on any of the weekends and during the week…well, there’s no reason for it. I guess I needed a break. So I own it and move on.

Also, can I just say that I’m super pissed at the head librarian at my local library? She’s really unnecessarily rude to me. ALL THE TIME. It’s fine to hate me, I can deal with that, but seriously. Try to hide it at least A LITTLE. It makes me not want to use the library and I’ve been reading more eBooks as a result. But holy fucking hell are the wait times long for some of them!

Life is hard for a book nerd sometimes.

Anyway.

Here’s what I thought about the four books I read. Well, three that I finished. One was a stinker and went right on the DNF list.

Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao. Initially I thought I was going to love this story about female friendship and the depth and strength of the bonds. My heart absolutely BROKE from the abuse and violence these two women endured. Then it became repetitive, plot-wise, the abuse, the loneliness and longing to find each other and I skimmed some parts. The ending made me furious because sometimes you want a solid conclusion, not a choose-your-own and I felt that’s what we deserved this time. The writing is gorgeous, though, so that’s good. ARC from NetGalley that I learned about from IG. Liberty Hardy, most likely. 

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer. I couldn’t even make it past the first chapter. I wanted to but it just didn’t connect for me. This is one of those rare times where I’ll just watch the show adaptation and it’ll be good enough. Because I can see how this will make good TV. On my TBR for awhile, I think someone read it last month and it reminded me to check it out. Also, not linking to it because if you haven’t read it yet, just don’t. 

Five Minutes Alone by Paul Cleave. I love him and I love how his books are right in my wheelhouse. This one wasn’t my favorite but it did mention Joe Middleton quite a bit so that made me happy. I also like how he spins the whole threiller thing on its head by telling you the who, how, and why up front and then the rest of the book is watching the characters figure it out. That has the potential to make for a terrible book but he knows how to do crime fiction right. It’s equal parts graphic, funny, and intriguing. It had some annoying plot points but that’s okay. From my TBR and my personal library collection when I bought it during Amazon’s Cyber Monday sale. 

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. My review is best summed up in this tweet:

Roughly 30 years ago, I read my first true crime book (I was a weird kid). Today I finished I’ll Be Gone in the Dark and I think I might be done with true crime books now because I don’t know how it gets better than this one. Michelle McNamara did good.

— Jana (@saysjana) May 7, 2018

With the exception of In Cold Blood, which I have never read, I don’t see myself reading a true crime book for a long time because this is the gold standard. Everything else will be terrible. And it was weird reading it immediately following the arrest of the Golden State Killer suspect because you learn just how close she got to figuring it out. It makes me sad to know that she isn’t around to see what she did. I’m a true crime nerd so there’s no way I hadn’t heard about this book. Not sure of the exact source. 

Currently reading A Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille

TL; DR: All of the books are good. Read them. Except The Interestings because it sucked.

Now it’s your turn! Link up and show us your books! Don’t forget to visit my co-host Steph and some of the other fabulous book nerds joining us today.

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I feel like I’m almost back to my regular reading pace, having read 7 books since last month. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I read better books or I’m finding more time or what but it feels good to be back to normal.

For this month, I tried to do a thing where I kept track of where I got my books from. Not so much the physical location but where I got the recommendation: this linkup, my TBR, Instagram, the brainwashing NetGalley emails. Things like that. I think I kept track for like 2 books and then forgot. But I’ll indicate where when I do remember. For those who are curious.

As always, reviews are copied and/or embellished from Litsy. Don’t forget when you’re done here to visit my cohost, Steph, and some other bloggers who joined us. And happy National Library Week! I could go on and on about why I love the library but you all know why. You’re readers, too.

Now, the books:

Providence by Caroline Kepnes. A book without Joe does not make for a very good book, tbh. I was THRILLED when I found out she wrote a new book and even more thrilled when it became available on NetGalley. I scooped that shit up faster than black licorice jelly beans on clearance. However. While I still love her writing, this book didn’t connect for me. I don’t generally care for the supernatural and I’ve never read Lovecraft (I only know who it is from listening to Welcome to Night Vale) and the book felt flat because of it. I didn’t particularly like the characters or the plot, either. Did like the epilogue, though. I can see why some might flip over this book but not me. ARC from NetGalley. Learned about it from Caroline Kepnes’s IG or Twitter.

The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez. This is a beautiful book about family, love, community, and friendships and it’s set in the Latinx community of Delaware (which is awesome since that’s where I live and the references are ON POINT). I love how she wove the stories of the families with the stories of the supporting characters, humanizing people we tend to ignore or forget. There were some plot holes and underdeveloped parts but nothing to detract from the rest of the story. On my TBR, reminded of it from someone who reviewed it last month for SUYB

Still Me by Jojo Moyes. Much better and less busy than After You but I am done with Louisa. She’s quirky and interesting but for me, her story is complete. I don’t need any more books about this woman trying to find herself both in and out of relationships. I like the way she struggles; it’s real and honest but it’s turned into rom-com at this point and it’s frustrating and annoying. Me Before You was excellent and it’s not fair to hold the other books to that standard but here we are. Moyes is a great writer but I can’t do this series anymore. I think I got this one from Goodreads. 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. The only thing I have to say about this book is that it is magnificent. All other words will not do it justice. Was on my TBR, reminded of it by many SUYB friends including Steph whose rave reviews were dead on balls accurate.

Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha. This book started off strong and then became terrible, tedious, and tiresome. I thought it was going to be a quirky personal finance memoir but instead it was an annoying, self-involved, self-important bougie snobfest filled with WAY TOO MUCH detail on goat mating and chicken raising. The author comes across as pretentious and overbearing and while she is a good writer, she mentions that she teaches composition writing so often the book felt like a job application. I actually have nothing nice to say about this book at all and I’m kind of angry at myself for finishing it. Found it on Libby when I was putting some books on hold. It’s the Great Library Read. Don’t be fooled by the advertising because it is a great title. 

Crimes in Southern Indiana by Frank Bill. A mediocre collection of graphically violent short stories. Not like horror graphic. More like thriller/real life graphic with shooting (LOTS of shootings) and drugs and fights and that kind of stuff. Some of the stories were good. A lot were just okay. But what I like about short story collections is that if one isn’t connecting, you don’t finish it and move on to the next. Some of the characters were connected in several stories but nothing so intense you had to keep track. I don’t know where I got this one from. Maybe IG. 

The Walls by Hollie Overton. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it’s a pretty intense thriller, reminiscent of Sleeping With the Enemy. On the other, it’s an insane revenge fantasy book. It also needs to have a big fat trigger warning for domestic violence because that, and the justice system and death penalty, are the main focus of the plot. I did like it and read it fairly quickly but if you choose to, proceed with caution. ARC from NetGalley. And sorry for the Amazon link. I typed this review from my phone since I finished the book 10 minutes ago and Goodreads wouldn’t cooperate.

TL; DR: Homegoing and The Book of Unknown Americans are must-reads. If you want goats, do goat yoga instead of reading the piece of shit book I read. Still Me was a solid conclusion to Louisa Clark’s story. The Walls was a tough read but good. The others are okay. 

Currently reading: Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao (NetGalley ARC) with a Paul Cleave book and another backlogged ARC on deck.

Now it’s your turn! Link up and show us your books!

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