Show us your Books: August 2019

Does the new theme make up for the fact I’ve been a D- blogger? *grin* I need to tweak the fonts a bit but I like it – it’s simpler and I need that right now. I also created a process in Photoshop that automatically resizes my photos for the blog and I think not having to do that by hand anymore will help me write more because I won’t be dreading photo editing. No presets though, because my life isn’t a washed-out mauve color.

Here is my bleak Goodreads reading challenge status:

I’ll pick up some Chick Tracts and make up the difference. Onto the books! I use the Goodreads rating system which is:

Onto the books! I use the Goodreads rating system, which is:

• One star: did not like it
• Two stars: it was ok
• Three stars: liked it
• Four stars: really liked it
• Five stars: it was amazing

Evvie Drake Starts Over — Linda Holmes
I have loved Linda Holmes’s writing since her days at Television Without Pity. I cheered when she landed her job at NPR. I follow her on Instagram. I love her dog. And I’ve been waiting for her debut novel since she announced she was writing it. Can a book survive this fangirl hype? YES.

Dean is a pitcher who retires after getting ‘the yips’ — a very real psychological condition where pitchers can’t throw accurately anymore. Evvie is a widow. Both of them have their hangups. Dean moves into Evvie’s attached apartment.

What I liked best about this book is that the adults are adults. They talk about what is bothering them. And there are sentences like this which are beautiful works of art

Shelter bought with death, symphonies bought with broken glass, jars of peanut butter and cans of soup bought with the catered wedding she never should have had.

Evvie Drake Starts Over

Guh. Four stars, which I equate to a home run!

Daisy Jones and the Six — Taylor Jenkins Reid

In this work of fiction that seemed completely real, Daisy Jones and The Six were huge on the music scene in the 1970s. This book is the chronological tale of their rise and fall, based on interviews with the band members and other involved parties. The oral history format was a little jarring for me at first but it didn’t take long to gel. There is a small narrative twist which, even though I predicted, hit me right in the feels. My favorite characters were Karen – a genuine bad-ass – and Warren, the live-and-let-live drummer.

Four stars! This book was at my local library with a 7-day loan stipulation. I was worried I wouldn’t read it in that short of time. I read it in 2 days. I loved this book and kind of wish the band was real. I would love to hear that music. Instead I’ll go track down some Fleetwood Mac.

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life — Laura Thompson

This book was a beast and took most of the month for me to finish. I’m not a real Agatha Christie fan, but I thought she lived an interesting life and wanted to read more about it. This book is extremely well researched; however, the author chose to divide the book into thematic chapters and jump back and forth in time. A few lines after Agatha and her first husband marry, we’re told the marriage is doomed. Except we have hundreds of pages ahead detailing the first marriage. So, yay?

The author extensively quotes Christie’s works to corroborate what she thought Agatha was feeling through the years which added a lot of heft to this book. By the time Agatha writes a certain book, you’ve seen it quoted dozens of times. That threw off the flow for me. Finally, the author has academic beef with another Christie biographer and spends a lot of words taking down his 20+ year old book and discrediting his source, who is likely very dead. They’re all dead!

Currently reading: The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand, which will likely infuriate me in some way yet I will still be generous with the stars because I’m a sucker for beach books in the summer.

All of my book lists and reviews are on Goodreads.

This a part of the Show us Your Books linkup from Jana Says and Life According to Steph. If you want to read more bloggers gush about the books they’ve read this month, click the button below and have fun!

Other SUYB posts:

2021:
January | February | March | April | May | June | July
2020:
February | March | Spring/Summer | September | October | November | Year-end review
2019
January | February | March |April | June | July | August | December
2018
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December