July Book Report and a Look to August

Thanks to vacation at the beginning of the month, and an impulse towards introversion at the end of the month, I read a ton of books in July — 13 in total! And I have to say, aside from a couple that were just average/good, everything I read this month was very satisfying. Here’s the list:

1. The Ensemble by Aja Gabel (fiction)
2. Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis (nonfiction)
3. Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl (fiction)
4. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (fiction)
5. Don’t You Ever by Mary Carter Bishop (memoir)
6. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (fiction)
7. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou (nonfiction)
8. Never Caught by Erica Armstrong Dunbar (nonfiction)
9. From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein (memoir)
10. The Power by Naomi Alderman (fiction)
11. The Book of Dust by Phillip Pullman (fiction)
12. The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee (fiction, audiobook)
13. The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind by Barbara K. Lipska (memoir)

I reviewed the top six — my vacation reads from the first week of the month — shortly after I get back, but of course I am way behind on sharing thoughts on the rest. My favorite nonfiction read of the month was Bad Blood, an account of the rise and fall of a Silicon Valley bio-medical startup that is an absolute page-turner. I also very much enjoyed From the Corner of the Oval, a memoir by a former White House stenographer that was more about relationships than politics (but in a good way). Never Caught, the story of a slave who escaped from George and Martha Washington, was also just stellar. There are so many good books to read!

On the fiction side, I loved returning to the world of His Dark Materials with The Book of Dust, a story that takes place in the same world about a decade before the events of The Golden Compass. It was maybe 50 pages too long, but overall such a satisfying diversion. And then all of the fiction I read on vacation was excellent, all books that I’d be comfortable recommending to the right people if they asked. Yay, books!

A Look to August

As a treat to myself, I bought a Kindle Paperwhite. I have a Nook, but I wanted the Kindle because it’s a lot easier to read library ebooks and electronic galleys on the Kindle than it is with a Nook — both things I’m trying to do more. Since my Kindle arrived, I’ve been placing holds on Libby and digging through catalogs on Edelweiss. Here are a few of the library books/galleys that I’m looking forward to reading:

• The Class by Heather Won Tesoriero (Sept. 4) — A year in the classroom of a “visionary” high school science teacher and his students competing in the science fair circuit.
• I Should Have Honor by Khalida Broni (Sept. 4) — “A fearless memoir about tribal life in Pakisan — and the act of violence that inspired one ambitious young woman to pursue a life of activism and female empowerment.”
• The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre (Sept. 11) — The history of the Myers-Briggs personality test, and the story of the two women who developed it.
• Eliza Hamilton by Tilar J. Mazzeo (Sept. 18) — Finally! A biography of Eliza Hamilton! I have been waiting to read one of these since I first saw Hamilton last spring.
• These Truths by Jill Lepore (Sept. 18) — I’m not entirely sure that I am ready to read a 960 page history of the United States, but I am still excited about it. Lepore looks at the three truths of the republic — political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people — from our founding to today.
• All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung (Oct. 2) — A memoir about a Korean woman adopted by a white family in Oregon, and her search for her roots when she becomes a mother.

And that is that. So many books, so little time. What are you looking forward to reading in August?