Summer reading

My perfect reading nook, temporarily occupied.

During all our adventures this summer, I made time to read (or listen) to some good books, both kidlit and grownup. (One of the places we stayed had the PERFECT reading nook. Sigh. I miss that nook.) I came home with even more books, which I look forward to reading here at home (nook or no). Here’s a list of some of my summer reading with short reviews from Goodreads:

Ginny’s bookshelf: read

Marvel 1602
really liked it
Fun, especially for Marvel fans. It’s a cool puzzle to figure out which 17th-century character represents which current Marvel superhero. Beyond that, the story is enjoyable, especially as it gets weirder toward the end when All Is Revea…
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
it was amazing
Every so often, I return to the classics. So perfect, so right on, so clever and hilarious. I was inspired when my 6th grader read this in school, which I thought was a little odd–it seems a bit old for 11-year-olds and so particularly …
We Were Witches
really liked it
Stayed up all night reading this. Totally compulsive. I’ve been a fan of Gore’s for years, and this new version did not disappoint. Although the cover refers to the book as a novel, I’d consider it speculative memoir, based on nonfiction…
The Valley of Amazement
really liked it
Immersive and addictive. In a highly patriarchal culture, in a profession designed to cater to men’s whims, the female characters of this book make themselves known as fierce, independent, complicated people surviving and thriving as bes…
Eternals
liked it
Fun, cleverer-than-average, summer superhero read.
The Mad Mask
it was ok
Read this with my kid, and we missed the first Archvillian book. Nonetheless, the story was easy enough to follow and had a fun premise: a kid who doesn’t see himself as the bad guy, even though he’s out to destroy the town superhero and…
Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing
it was ok
To be fair, I listened only to about half of this memoir, and I haven’t read any of her fiction, so I’m not a big fan. It sounded like something I could relate to, and indeed I found that parts struck close to home. Yet other parts felt …
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman
it was ok
I tried listening to this on a long road trip, but just couldn’t get through it. Although Ephron’s movies and essays are often hilarious, and there are some good laughs here, the essays felt meandering and obsessed with surface vanities….
Calypso
it was amazing
Wonderful. Listened to this on a long road trip, and was not disappointed. Sedaris’s humor is both wacky and sharp, and he always brings his subject home to a deeper place of contemplation. This book in particular seems more contemplativ…
Wintersong
liked it
Engrossing, yet a certain repetitiveness in descriptive passages and the heroine’s ambivalence pulled me out of the narrative more than once. When it’s rolling, though, the romance and the horror merge in intriguing ways.

 


goodreads.com