Everything I Read in July, 2025

July:

75. Wonder by E. J. Palacio - Well, that was a surprise. I have been aware of this book for many years but I never thought to pick it up until I happened across a copy at the local Goodwill shop, a couple years ago. August Pullman was born with a host of problems and even after many surgeries, his face is quite badly deformed. He's been homeschooled but at 10 his parents have decided it's time for him to go to school. At the new school, his face shocks almost everyone. But, as his fellow students get to know him, Auggie goes from being bullied and only having a few friends to being admired and loved. I laughed, I cried. You can't help but fall in love with the Pullman family. What a great book. 

76. Generation X by Douglas Coupland - I have probably had this book since the 90s (blushing). Published in 1991, it tells the story of 3 friends who have gone to live in California to find themselves, having rejected more lucrative but dull jobs (Andy and Dag) and an annoying, rich, somewhat vapid family life (Claire). This book is an absolute time capsule. MTV and CAD! Stereo consoles, K-cars, and leftover decor from the Sixties! Memories of Space Food Sticks! The most fascinating thing about this book, for me personally, was that my Millenial eldest son has the same complaints as the Gen X characters. Life was so much easier for their parents and they screwed it up for us, Andy thinks. You Boomers and Gen X had it easy and screwed it up for us, says my kid. Some things never change. I enjoyed this book mostly for the blast from the past. 

77. The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech - Naomi and Lizzie are both orphans living in Blackbird Tree (no state named, but in the US). When a boy named Finn falls out of a tree, both girls go out of their way to try to figure the boy out. Where does he live and where did he come from? As summer break begins, the two are roped into spending time with the elderly, swept up in tragedy, and transported to another country when unexpected connections lead to a huge surprise. This is a book I found while cleaning the shelves (another one!). It's got some issues. It's apparently contemporary, but the clothing descriptions, the way people talk, and the fact that there's a boarding house all make it difficult to tell whether the book is contemporary or historical. And, the connections in the end are wildly implausible. Having said all that, I read The Great Unexpected in an afternoon (something that seldom happens) because I just couldn't put it down. And, I smiled a lot. I'm glad I didn't discard this book based on the unenthusiastic reviews. 

78. Bluets by Maggie Nelson - "Lyric essay or prose poetry" says Wikipedia about the unique writing style of this thin volume of vignettes about or with some connection to the color blue. I listened to the audio while reading the book (a first) and discovered in the process that my eyeball reading and listening ear don't coordinate. I am, by nature, a contemplative reader who latches onto words or sentences or paragraphs, rereading them till I'm ready to move on. Yep, it was a Contemplative Reading Project selection. Eventually, I got tired of backtracking when the two reading methods didn't sync up and just listened. While the author's delivery is flat, I think audio is a great way to read Bluets.What I disliked was all the sexual references. In the book, Nelson says she applied for many grants for this writing project and she described the book as "hedonistic and horny." But, the literary references, the thought-provoking connections to a single color . . . there were a lot of interesting moments. I would have preferred essays so she could have taken some of those thoughts further. There's definitely plenty to contemplate and Buddy's notes were extremely helpful. 

79. Thieves' Dozen by Donald E. Westlake - Long ago, during my mystery-gobbling phase, I read an anthology that contained a story about John Dortmunder, a hapless thief. I've never forgotten it. Westlake had a delightful, comedic touch. I came across Thieves' Dozen (a collection published in 2004) while working on my huge, ongoing book purge and the writing is every bit as entertaining as I remembered. Apparently, this book contains every Dortmunder short story ever written, plus a final one in which all of the characters are basically meant to be the same thieves but they have different names as the author was exploring how name changes made the characters different in his mind. Tremendously fun reading, highly recommended. 

80. Eight of Swords by David Skibbens - The first in the Tarot mystery series, published in 2005, you will not be surprised to hear that I found this during the book purge. I sense a theme, here. Warren was a member of the Weather Underground during the 60s (a socialist terrorist organization) and he's been on the run for 30 years. Now, he's a tarot reader in Berkeley. When a teenage girl asks for a reading and he doesn't warn her of how ominous her reading is, he feels guilty and begins investigating after she's kidnapped. I thought this book was average; I enjoyed it but felt that it tried to be about too many things at once. Still, I'm glad I read Eight of Swords because I'm always here for changing things up a bit. 

81. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume - Tony loves basketball, has some great friends and a paper route, and is starting to notice girls. When his father sells an invention hoping to get extra money to help Tony's big brother, whose wife is expecting, the family is suddenly wealthy and everything changes. They leave their modest neighborhood for a fancy house on Long Island, Grandma is replaced in the kitchen by hired help and takes to her room, and Tony is stuck hanging out with a rich neighbor who is not a person Tony can respect. I really enjoyed Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Tony is a great character. He's annoyed by the wealth and social climbing and knows right from wrong. 

Favorite line: 

The three of us stick together. That way if we have trouble finding the right classrooms we look stupid as a group instead of three individual stupids.

82. Count by Melvin Burgess - A middle grade book found on Hoopla when I was looking for a dystopian book by the same author (unfortunately not available on Hoopla or in the US, for that matter), Count is a very silly book about a boastful boy who decides to count to ten million, can't stop, and becomes a sensation until it all comes crashing down. A clever and fun read. I'm glad my British friend Rebecca led me to this author. 

83. Musical Tables by Billy Collins - Poetry! In this case, Collins focuses on short poems. I wondered, at first, if he was following some particular type of poetic style or meter but nope. He just has a fascination with short poetry and in the author's note, he quoted two very short poems that he found particularly outstanding. There's a very harsh Goodreads review in which the reviewer makes some very good points about why he gave it a single star and I kind of agree with him in some ways. But, I mostly base my opinion of poetry on feelings. Does it resonate in some way? Did I nod or laugh or smile or feel it like a gut punch? I marked a half dozen poems that made me laugh or smile and took a snapshot of one about insomnia, which I can relate to all too well (below) So, Musical Tables was a winner for me. 

84. High Wages by Dorothy Whipple - In 1910, Jane Carter needs a job that pays well and she knows Chadwick's has the best wages, so she applies. As a shop girl in Chadwick's, she helps customers select fabric, ribbon, buttons, and such for dressmaking and home decoration. Jane's boss has a tendency to cheat her out of her commissions and he's not interested in updating his shop to reflect the new, ready-made trends. But, Jane has big ideas. When she's unable to convince her boss to lease a nearby building to open a shop for ready-made clothing and hats, a friend steps in to help. Will Jane be able to make it as a shopkeeper? Jane is a great character. Men have a tendency to try to take advantage of her because she's pretty and innocent, but Jane has strength, determination, and can stand up for herself. Then she falls in love with the wrong man. Her life as a shopgirl and then shop owner is not without challenges but I loved her grit and focus. I adored High Wages. It's definitely my favorite by Whipple, so far. 

85. Walking Words by Eduardo Galeano, illus. by José Francisco Borges - Walking Words is Eduardo Galeano's take on folk tales. I had some particular favorites and some I didn't care for, but overall I enjoyed the book. The block print illustrations are wonderful. A find during my book purge. Yet another book I've had since the 90s. Yikes. Took me long enough. 

86. Take Me With You by Andrea Gibson - I bought a copy of Take Me With You after hearing the author (who was nonbinary and preferred the pronouns they/them) read from the book in a video clip sent by my friend Susan after Gibson's death. The reviews for this book are wild — quite polarized; most either love the book or hate it. It didn't feel like poetry to me, at first; it felt more like reading Hallmark sentiments. I couldn't relate to a lot of it. But, sometimes I laughed, sometimes I got a little teary. I adjusted to the style. I occasionally cringed at confessional bits (never a favorite). Sometimes the writing was profound or pithy, sometimes just a bit of clever wordplay. Most importantly, I feel like Andrea Gibson has helped me to finally understand what it means to be nonbinary. I'm sorry this tender soul has left the Earth. 

87. A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice by Rebecca Connolly - I bought A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice for discussion with one of my online groups. It tells parallel stories that intersect. First, Kate Connolly is a 3rd class passenger from Ireland, traveling on the Titanic to the United States with friends. You get to see what it's like to travel in steerage and the camaraderie between passengers, most of whom were not from the U.S. The other storyline is about Capt. Rostron of the Carpathia, the ship that came steaming to the rescue when they heard that the Titanic was sinking. The first part of the book is slow but when the Titanic begins to sink, the pace picks up with Rostron organizing the rescue and pushing the Carpathia to its limits while Kate is rushing to find a lifebelt and escape the sinking ship. It then becomes a story of how class didn't matter, everyone mixed and even some of the survivors helped others. It's also very focused on trauma and emotion. So . . . the bad. The book is not overly well written. The author has some quirks of language and mannerism that I would expect a good editor to help eliminate. However, I still gave it 4 stars, probably a slightly too-high rating but I liked the different viewpoint of a steerage survivor and the Carpathia captain, having read many books that were mostly told from the Titanic side only. 

88. Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill - I read about Sea of Rust when friend Carrie posted an update on Goodreads and immediately added it to my wishlist. Then she encouraged me to read it right away, so I ordered a secondhand copy (which looks good as new, actually). Described as a "post-apocalyptic robot western," it tells the story of Brittle, a Caregiver robot who survived the war between humans and AI (both robots and large databases that have become sentient). Brittle collects and sells parts from dying robots. But, Caregiver parts are becoming scarce. And, when another Caregiver decides to poach Brittle's parts by shooting her, a journey across a desert filled with rusting parts leads to a final shootout in a quest to save the remaining independent robots from CISSUS, a massive Artificial Intelligence mainframe that seeks to turn robots into facets, mindless parts of the whole (much like the Borg of Star Trek: Next Generation). Quite a wild ride, this one. Thanks for the rec, Carrie!

OK, then! This was a pretty terrific month. Of the 14 books I read, 8 were books I've had on my shelves for at least a year, 5 were recent purchases, and 1was checked out via Hoopla. Progress getting through the books I own!

There is thunder and lightning nearby, so I'm not going to dash off to open another window so that I can see how I did on my annual goals, but I did clearly read a Persephone book and plenty from my shelves, so I'm happy. On to August!

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