Books Read July 2021: 166-188

July was more chaotic than we expected so I didn't read as much as I expected!

A gentle reminder that all reviews can still be seen on my Goodreads profile (the review will be with the book; the format will be specified unless it's in print.) And the books with green outlines are my 5-star reads for the month!

 

166. The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
167.  Bewilderness by Karen Tucker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
168. We Are the Baby-Sitters Club edited by Marisa Crawford ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
169. That Summer by Jennifer Weiner ⭐️⭐️⭐️
170. American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera, narrated by Sean Crisden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
171. Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen, narrated by Natasha Soudek ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
172. Easy Crafts for the Insane by Kelly Williams Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
173. The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
174. Panorama by Dušan Šarotar, translated by Rawley Grau ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
175. Sweet Tooth, vol. 1 by Jeff Lemire  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
176. The Divorce by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
177. Nobody Somebody Anybody by Kelly McClorey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
178. A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
179. Come Together, Fall Apart by Cristina Henriquez, narrated by Kyla Garcia, Luis Moreno, Frankie Corzo, Roxanne Hernandez ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
180. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson ⭐️⭐️
181. The Startup Wife by Tahmina Anam ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
182. The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
183. The Heiress of Water by Sandra Rodriguez Barron ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
184. Toddler Adoption by Mary Hopkins-Best ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
185. Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi, read by Akwaeke Emezi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
186. Hot Under His Collar by  Andie J. Christopher ⭐️⭐️⭐️
187. Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler by Jamie Glowacki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
188. Finding Freedom Erin French  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

 

 

Total Books Read:23

Reread: 0

audio: 4
eBook: 13
print: 6

borrowed: 1 
library: 6
personal copy:  2
review copy: 13
subscription: 1

Around the World: 5
Erin & Dani's Book Club: 0
Europe 2021: 1
Read the World 21 (Central America): 2
Tournament of Books: 1
Upstate International Book Club: 0
Work book club: 0

Graphic Novel/Comic: 1
Memoir: 4
Music:
Nature: 0
Poetry: 0
Translated: 1
Women in Translation:

 

Reading Envy 226 - Cucumber Sandwiches with Lindy Pratch

Lindy joins me to talk books, where we discuss Canadian lit, vignettes and white space in writing, and what really makes a monster.

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 226: Cucumber Sandwiches

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play
Or listen via Stitcher
Or listen through Spotify 
Or listen through Google Podcasts

Books discussed: 

 

You're Eating an Orange. You are Naked. by Sheung-King
Everyone Knows Your Mother is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
The Centaur's Wife by Amanda Leduc
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
What Willow Says by Lynn Buckle

Other mentions:

Shadow Giller Prize
How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Giller Prize
Kuessipan by Naomi Fontaine
Tournament of Books
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Jeanette Winterson
Atmospheric Disappearances by Rivka Galchen
The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager
Disfigured by Amanda Leduc
LitFest Alberta
The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
2019 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal report about Indigenous children
When the Light of the World was Subdued.... edited by Joy Harjo
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep by Jocelyn Saucier
Come Together, Fall Apart by Cristina Henriquez

Related episodes: 

Episode 095 - Lose the Outside World with Lindy Pratch
Episode 124 - Mush Creatures with Lindy Pratch
Episode 159 - Reading Doorways with Lindy
Episode 196 - Miscommunication with Lindy
Episode 221 - Joint Poetry Readalong with Book Cougars
Episode 223 - Cicada Season with Rachel Mans McKenny

Stalk me online:

Lindy Reads and Reviews (blog)
Lindy on Twitter
Lindy is @Lindy on Litsy
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy
Follow ShadowGiller on Twitter


All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Reading Envy 225: Books About Libraries and Librarians

I'm joined first by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss their joint novel, and decided to ask my co-workers for their favorite books on libraries and librarians. The episode finishes up with a few reading recommendations based on questions I've answered from listeners.

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 225: Books About Libraries and Librarians

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play
Or listen via Stitcher
Or listen through Spotify 
Or listen through Google Podcasts

Books discussed:

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Other mentions:

My review of The Personal Librarian
An Illuminated Life by Heidi Ardizzone
Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Lirael by Garth Nix
The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai
A Hidden Fire by Elizabeth Hunter
American Dreamer by Adriana Herrera
Bear by Marian Engel
Kitsy Babcock: Library Assistant by Joan Sargent
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
The Library by Sarah Stewart
Penelope Popper, Book Doctor by Toni Buzzeo
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library by Eth Clifford

Related episodes:

Episode 138 - Shared Landscape with Lauren Weinhold

Stalk me online:

Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Review: The Startup Wife

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"No one wants to be married to the guy everyone thinks is going to save the world."

Asha is a skilled coder and drops out of a PhD program to start an app with her high school crush, at the same time they decide to marry on a whim. Cyrus only wants to be involved if they can "do things differently," and goes on to be the guru-CEO of their company that helps people create rituals and connect outside of a traditional religious background.

I like the combination of start-up culture with marriage dynamics, the guru persona and what it's like to be connected to it, and then the author even writes in the pandemic (which works perfectly with this start-up!)

You may recognize the author from historical fiction novel A Golden Age which is set in 1971 East Pakistan; I read that at the end of 2019. Both books include women who are in a high-stress situations but they have very different feels and sensibilities.

I had a copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss, which I sought out after seeing it on The Millions' list.

View all my reviews

Review: The Personal Librarian

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Belle la Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian (and rare books and art collector) who went on to run The Morgan Library after his death, converting it into the public serving institution he always planned. Her story is fascinating, having to pass as white to live/work/move in the circles she did, how this issue separated her parents, etc. The authors did a great job at blending research with imagination; Belle may have burned her personal papers but all the people she wrote to and did business with over the years did not!

An interview with the authors will come up on the podcast but in the meantime I can recommend this book of historical fiction!

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 224: School's Out with Elizabeth

Elizabeth is back, and on a school break, when she can read more of the books she has been meaning to get to. We also solve a literary mystery before the end of this episode.

Download or listen via this link:
Reading Envy 224: School's Out

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play
Or listen via Stitcher
Or listen through Spotify 
Or listen through Google Podcasts

Books discussed:

 

The Push by Ashley Audrain
The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein (Knight)
Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle

Other mentions:

The Overstory by Richard Powers
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Tides by Jonathan White
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Hex by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight
Helen Keller
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Nick by Michael Farris Smith
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mink River by Brian Doyle
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
How to Carry Water by Lucille Clifton
Rememberings by Sinead O'Connor
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter

Related episodes:

Episode 033 - An Undulating Thrum with guests Ruth and Elizabeth
Episode 051 - Dreaming in Books with Karen
Episode 061 - Never Do That to a Book with Elizabeth
Episode 136 - Six Pack with Elizabeth
Episode 160 - Reading Plays with Elizabeth
Episode 201 - Wrestling with Complexity with Elizabeth and Laurie
Episode 202 - Jacket Flap with Chris and Emily

Stalk us online:

Elizabeth at Goodreads   
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors. I link to Amazon when a book is not listed with Bookshop.

Review: Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my last read for the Tournament of Books Camp ToB, and I think this is my favorite, although none were five-star reads for me.

Johannes Kepler is known for his astronomy discoveries but the context of that work is the era of the plague, and people not understanding disease, much less the universe. His mother Katharina is accused of being a witch in her old age and this is the (fictionalized) story of the trial, largely told through testimonies of her neighbors, who looking back now blame all ailments, failures, and deaths on her. There are also letters from Katharina to her son and others. It is historical fiction, recentering a female character, with some humor and conjecture. The ending was rather fun.

The audiobook is narrated by Natasha Soudek she does a lot of different voices for the characters.

And kudos to me for making it through a historical fiction novel, which is just usually not my thing. 🥴

View all my reviews