Everything I Read in June, 2024

June:

65. 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith - Finn calculates time's passage in miles. Every second, the Earth travels 20 miles in space. When a dead horse was thrown off a bridge and fell 100 sideways miles, landing on top of Finn and his mother, everything about his life changed. Now, Finn's a baseball player in high school with a best friend named Cade and his name in a book his father wrote. Finn has a lot of questions. How can he ever escape from the pages of his father's book, where he feels trapped? Who is this gorgeous creature named Julia who has shown up in his California neighborhood and what compelled her to escape her home? Is Finn really seeing ghosts? What will happen when Julia inevitably has to return to her home in Chicago? Andrew Smith writes for a teenage male audience brilliantly. If you don't like a lot of talk about sex and some teenage stupidity (heavy drinking, going places one shouldn't, etc.), his books might not be for you but I find them surprising and meaningful. I love Finn and the way he thinks.

66. Upgrade by Blake Crouch - Logan Ramsay's mother was a genius, but she made a big mistake that caused a famine worldwide and billions of people died. Years later, Logan works for a government agency that is tasked with stopping people from manipulating DNA, as his mother did. But, when he goes on a raid and things go wrong, he's infected with something that's causing changes to his own DNA. To prevent a second worldwide catastrophe, Logan will have to escape from his own agency and track down the one person who must be stopped to prevent further disaster. OK, hmm. I would say this was my least favorite Blake Crouch book but even so, I rated it 4 stars out of 5 and the reason I didn't love it as much as all the others (he's been a pretty consistent 5-star author for me) is that I found the science less interesting. DNA manipulation is just blah, in my humble opinion. Otherwise, it was fast-paced (for the most part) and I liked it. The ending was a bit sappy but I think it had a full circle feel so I didn't mind that it was a bit saccharine. 

67. Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo - The memoir of a Native American poet, Crazy Brave tells about author Joy Harjo's early years, from childhood to young woman. Beautifully written and harrowing, she tells about her father's abandonment of the family, how her mother struggled to keep her four children fed, and then the excitement when the entire family fell for her stepfather, who turned out to be not just abusive but so dangerous that when he threatened to kill them all if her mother attempted to leave, they believed him and instead tried their best to never get on his bad side. She also tells about her years in an Indian art school during the 60s and her eventual marriage. Because Harjo grew up in Oklahoma and considered attending Chilocco Indian School (which was right outside my hometown and now is in ruins), there were a lot of familiar locations described and I enjoyed the armchair travel back home, even though most of her early life was shockingly brutal. I also found that I loved her talk about "the knowing", which is her name for her 6th sense. My premonitions are very similar in character to hers so I really enjoyed reading about her internal warning system, how it sometimes worked and sometimes failed as mine has. I feel like I read with focus on the specifics of place, time, and premonitions and I'll probably return to this book with a pencil and flags because there's more to it than I absorbed.

68. Color of the Sea by John Hamamura - The story of a Japanese-American from 1930 to 1947. Isamu, also known as "Sam" Hamada, is 9 years old when his father comes to Japan to bring him back to Hawaii, leaving his mother, brother, and sister behind in their small Japanese village. In Hawaii, he becomes the student of an old Japanese man. The first third or so of the book is about his training and schooling, plus the work he does to send money home to Japan. Around 1/3 of the way in, Sam falls in love and the character of the story changes a bit. I wasn't sure I was going to like the book, at that point. But, then a lot of things happen that make the whole romance aspect much more complex. Eventually, Sam moves to California. There, he teaches and tries to get into Berkeley. You know, by this point, that war is coming and most everyone he knows will end up in a camp, eventually go to war, and possibly die. Much of the tale of the war years rang so accurate that I looked up the author's bio and discovered that Color of the Sea is apparently a fictionalized telling of his father's story and for the last 1/4 of the book I had tears streaming down my face. They just wouldn't stop. So much courage and death. A five-star read. I'm going to loan this one to my eldest but will probably then hang onto it for a reread. It's that good. 

69. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto - Vera owns a tea shop that has seen better days. Now, she has a single customer who can only stay for 15 minutes to drink his tea, each day. Her son Tilly resists her advice for how to live his best life and find a future bride and her husband has passed away. So, when a dead body turns up in Vera's tea shop, you could be forgiven for thinking she's a little excited to have a new challenge to fill her days. The police are convinced that there was no murder. But, Vera knows better. Vera knows best about everything. She begins by finding suspects, the people who return to the scene of the crime. That's easy enough, since nobody ever comes to her tea shop, anymore. What Vera isn't expecting is to find a new family in the process. As much a story of found family and a character study as a cozy mystery, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is an absolute delight. You can't help but love Vera, who is both intrusive and wise. This book makes me want to break my book-buying and library ban to read everything the author has written. Alas, I'm now also on a challenge not to buy anything at all but necessities and I have enough books to open a shop, so . . . not happening. Highly recommended. I'm glad I bought this one before my buying ban started.

70. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 9 by Kousuke Oono - As usual, there are lots of chuckles in this 9th volume of one of my favorite manga series'. In one story, Tatsu is hanging out with a little girl who refuses to eat vegetables and she is a pro. She can even spot finely chopped veggies mixed into things. Can Tatsu convince her that smaller is better? In another story, two children are arguing about which kind of beetle would win in a match, then Tatsu and his friend decide to take up the challenge but the beetles have another idea. There's another story with an insect (the kind that survives nuclear bombs). I have nightmares about those monsters, so I knocked a point off for too much insect content but I laughed so much reading this book that it can't go below a 4/5. I think one of my favorite stories was the one in which Tatsu shows a local Yakuza gang who refuse to take off their suits how to keep cool during a heat wave. Hilarious. What a fun series. 

71. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green - Aza has serious anxiety issues. She has a callous on one finger that she's constantly breaking open and bandaging back up and a fear of C. Diff infections. Her best friend and her mother are perplexed by her anxieties and do the best they can but even Aza knows she's a wreck. When the wealthy father of Davis, a friend she met at "sad camp" (for children who've lost a parent) goes missing and there's a large reward, Aza and best friend Daisy decide to try to find him for the reward money. Meanwhile, Aza is reaquainted with Davis, who is filthy rich but now parentless and dealing with a little brother who can't cope with his father's abandonment. When friendship turns to sort-of dating, Aza's obsession with her microbiome leads to some very awkward situations and she begins to spiral out of control. I love John Green's writing and enjoyed this book but I admit that I had trouble wrapping my mind around the level of anxiety Aza experiences. Having said that, I recall reading that this is Green's most personal book and that he's experienced crippling anxiety so I was thinking about that as I read the book and I think that made it slightly more real to me, just knowing that what his character experiences is a fictionalized version of his own reality. 

72. The Summer Book by Tove Jansson - Sophia, her father, and her grandmother are spending the summer at their island home. Grandmother is 85 years old. She's tired and stiff, a little crotchety, and likes to take naps and read but also has occasional wild bursts of artistic creativity, like the time she and Sophia recreate Venice using rocks, pieces of marble, driftwood, and watercolors. Sophia is 6 years old. She's a bit precocious but also temperamental. She and her grandmother spend most of their time together and they sometimes get along, sometimes argue. They worry together when Sophia's father goes to town on the boat and the weather turns bad. Each of the interconnected stories tells about a small part of their summer. What a fascinating book. It's about nothing and everything, the beauty of the island and the way Finnish islanders live, age and youth, creative ways to spend time. It's very everyday and yet it makes your mouth drop a little if you've written. Why didn't I think to write like this of my childhood home? Ugh. I loved this book, for the most part, but there is a bit of unsettling cruelty to cats. 

73. Apartment 713 by Kevin Sylvester - No dates or ages are given in this time travel book (although there are plenty of hints that the past in this book is the 1920s, post-"Great War" and prior to the stock market crash). I have no idea how old the hero and heroine, Jake and Beth, are. I presumed the book was middle grade. Jake and his mother have fallen on hard times. His mother has lost her job and split with her partner so they've had to leave their nice house, sell most of their possessions, and move into a crumbling apartment building called the Regency. Jake is frustrated and bored till he meets Danny, the superintendent. Danny introduces Jake to some of the building's secrets and gives him odd jobs. Gradually, Jake is beginning to befriend the building's occupants and finds out the building is in danger, but then one day he steps into Apartment 713 and falls back in time. There, he meets Beth. While their friendship develops, they seek out clues in the hope of finding a way to prevent the building from being torn down in Jake's (present) time. I loved everything about this book: the relationships, the imaginative design of the Regency, the unfolding of clues, even the way Jake met famous people from Beth's time. I usually kind of dislike scenes in which people meet the famous from another time in time travel because it's so unrealistic but this time it felt like there was a higher purpose. It's only 231 pages but I honestly didn't want this book to end. 

74. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - This is a hard book to summarize but the main character is Toru. Toru is a bit of a loner, a lover of music and books. From his high school days with two friends who happen to be dating each other, through his college years, Norwegian Wood describes a young man who is trying to figure out who he is while navigating school, work, and life with the people in his small circle. While I'm not massively in love with the story, the craftsmanship of Norwegian Wood is stunning. I had to keep stopping to read particularly beautiful sentences several times before I could move on. I think this is just the second full novel I've read by Murakami and so far I still prefer his short stories and nonfiction to his longer works but I'm so impressed with his writing that I'll keep challenging myself to read his longer fiction. 

75. Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (reread) - I suggested Moon of the Crusted Snow for our June read in my online book group because it was the book I most wanted to read (and I needed an excuse to buy it). Then, I read it to make sure it was discussion-worthy. Yep, it's a good one. I've already written about it but I have some further thoughts from the reread. It's always fascinating what you forget or notice on a second reading. In this case, there was a part I had totally forgotten -- something the main character, Evan, does in case things get worse in his little village. As a reminder, Moon of the Crusted Snow is post-apocalyptic and set in an indigenous community in Northern Ontario. I think the indigenous spin, with bits of native language and tradition makes this a particularly interesting read but I also think it's just a good post-apocalyptic story with a nice, creepy undertone and I'm hoping I'll manage to read the second book, eventually. 

76. Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida - Clarissa's father Richard has died, her mother ran off years ago, and now she's discovered that Richard was not her biological father . . . and her fiancé knew. Upset by the news, she hastily decides to uncover her father's identity. She travels to Lapland, where her mother's first husband lives. But there are buried secrets that will change the course of her life. This was my latest stationary bike read. It worked well in small chunks but the main character is unlikable so I finally decided I wanted to finish up the book. The story is a good one, well-written and with a map and descriptions that will make you want to hop a plane. Also, the setting is certainly one I've never experienced. So, I enjoyed the novel in spite of its salty heroine. And, I really would like a vacation in Lapland. 

77. The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward Fitzgerald - I was flipping through postcards with book covers on them, looking for one to send to a friend, when I came across a cover of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. I've had a copy of that book since the 1990s, probably purchased in Publisher's Outlet, where I used to work. So, I figured it's about time to read it, thanks to the nudge from that postcard. How entertaining! Some of the poems meant little to me but what I got out of it was that Omar really liked wine, didn't believe in Heaven or Hell, and had a bit of an eye for beauty and a touch of wit. I particularly like the fact that most of the poetry in my copy is repeated in a second section (with a few more added) so that you get a second shot at understanding something you already read. Also, the Quality Paperback Club edition that I bought has some beautiful color plates. A book I will likely return to many times. 

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