July Wrap Up -- My July Books

 

MONTHLY WRAP UP

Do your reading habits change in the summer? I’m drawn to lighter and shorter books in the summer, although a few darker mysteries and more serious novels sneak in. 

Here are the 11 books I read in July, in the order I read them, not the order they are stacked up in this picture. Please keep in mind that my ratings reflect my own reaction to a book, not its artistic merit.

MY JULY BOOKS

A Little Book of Japanese Contentments: Ikigai, Forest Bathing, Wabi-sabi, and More by Erin Niimi Longhurst, illustrated by Ryo Takemasa, a lovely introduction to a Japanese culture and traditions of living well. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny, not pictured because I read it with my ears. This, the 9th book in her Chief Inspector Adam Gamache series, was excellent and makes me want to continue through the rest of the 17. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture by Ross King. What’s the line? Writing about music is like dancing about architecture? I’m not sure writing about architecture is any more engaging. I had a hard time getting through this one, although my husband loved it. 🌹🌹🌹

Jolie Blon’s Bounce by James Lee Burke. I’ve read most of his Dave Robicheaux series but missed a few here and there. It was fun to visit the series again. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker is the first of the series, set in a French village. I loved it! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater by Alan Richman is a collection of his restaurant reviews and food writing from when he was the food critic for GQ magazine. What a delight! 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar has been on my TBR shelf for too long. It was excellent. 🌹🌹🌹🌹

What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind by Debra Ollivier. I loved her later book, Entre Nous, but this one didn’t come together for me. Entre Nous inspired me to make my French Connections list of books about or set in France. 🌹🌹🌹

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon was his debut novel. I’m not one for coming of age novels, so this wasn’t my cup of tea. 🌹🌹🌹

Foxed Quarterly, the Spring 2021 issue. Here so I can keep track of which ones I read. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The Shape of the Journey is a collection of over 120 of Jim Harrison’s poems. Harrison once quipped that to draw attention to poetry "you would have to immolate a volunteer poet in an 751 BMW." I keep a book of poetry on my bedside table and try to read one each morning. I started this one late last year and just finished it this month. I love Harrison's prose writing and appreciate him even more now that I read his poetry. 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

MY FAVORITE COVER OF THE MONTH