I can't believe it's July already -- June dragged on and on and then suddenly was over. I managed to read 8 books, for a total of 51 so far for the year, but I could easily have read 10 or 11 if I hadn't gotten bogged down several times. The book I was listening to on CD went back to the library unfinished, another book went back half read, still another went back barely started. Other books I finished but didn't like.
I have decided that next year, REGARDLESS of what happens the rest of this year, I am not going to try to read 100 books. I'll have some other goal, like "finally read Moby Dick" or "read all of Dickens" or something like that. But not 100 books. It's horrible.
That said, here's the list for June.
44. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. This received glowing reviews but it didn't work for me. I just didn't buy this young Irish guy's take on prostitutes and priests and rich people in New York in the 1970s. BUT the sections about the guy who walked on a wire between the two World Trade Centers were spellbinding. As a result we Netflixed the documentary on the same subject, Man on Wire, and found it captivating.
45. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. The second Flavia mystery. OK, but did not like it as much as the first (which I didn't like that much either).
46. Winter Dreams: An American in Moscow by Jay Martin. This was one of my father's books. He liked books about Russia, and I grabbed several when we were emptying my parents' house, but they've just been sitting on a shelf in my house since then. Finally I picked one up and read it. Published in 1979, it's a series of linked stories about the author's time in Moscow as a visiting professor. I was in Russia for a few days in 1986 and this book was very evocative of that experience for me. Enjoyed it.
47. Welcome to My Country by Lauren Slater. Confession: this is a re-read. I first read the book about 10 years ago, but wanted to revisit it, and I had forgotten a lot. It's about her experiences as a young psychotherapist, working with patients with schizophrenia and other disorders. Since I now have a brother-in-law with schizophrenia, the book means more to me than it did back then. Slater writes beautifully.
48. Fugitive Colors by Margaret Maron. One of her mysteries featuring her "other" detective. Didn't like it as well as her more recent books, probably won't read any more with this detective.
49. The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane. A novel about Irish people who come to America in the early 1960s. Recommended by sister Barbara, but it didn't work for me. (I'm not doing well with recommended books right now, obviously.) I didn't like most of the characters, so didn't enjoy following them through their lives. And the only one I did like developed Alzheimer's, which was upsetting.
50. High Country by Nevada Barr. A mystery set in Yosemite National Park. Enjoyed it very much and will look for her other national park mysteries at the library.
51. Love Works Like This by Lauren Slater. I like Lauren Slater's writing, but not this book. It's about her first pregnancy and first year of motherhood, with a focus on how her own mental illness affected the pregnancy. She doesn't bond with her daughter until the daughter is a year old, and right there, she lost me. Kind of a weird little book.
OK, onward into July. I've started 3 different books already, but I'm not in love with any of them. Need to read 8 or 9 books per month for the next 6 months to reach 100. We'll see.
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