Best of the Bunch: June 2019

Today I'm sharing the best book I read in June.

Of the 7 books I read this month, I had two 5-star reads:

The Trespasser by Tana French

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart

Each of these books is loosely connected to a series but could be read as a standalone. Still, I think The Extraordinary Education... is best enjoyed by those who have already read the Mysterious Benedict Society series, whereas the other is the only one of the Dublin Murder Squad series I would strongly recommend to something — so that will be my best of the bunch!

As with the previous books in the series, I did not want to put this one down. Her writing is just so good. I knew I was not going to be able to figure out the killer, and I was happy to go along for the ride. The characters feel real, so even when they're doing things that are a bit out there, it's believable. Each of the Dublin Murder Squad books focuses on a different detective, and while they do reference events from earlier books, it's not necessary to read them in order. If you don't mind having an ending that's unresolved or where justice isn't fully served or the main character isn't someone you can root for, then by all means, start with the first book, In the Woods. But if you like your mysteries wrapped up at the end, with a narrator who isn't a horrible person, then your best bet is to read this one.

What is the best book you read this month? Let me know in comments, or write your own post and link up below!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Orphan Master's Son and Eragon
Five years ago I was reading: The Namesake, Love in the Time of Cholera, and A Suitable Boy
Ten years ago I was reading: Beloved

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Top Ten Books on my Summer TBR

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

It's time to share our reading plans for the next few months! I read everything on my spring TBR list except The Warmth of Other Suns, which I'm almost done with. Here's what's on my list for summer!

1. Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day by Nikki Giovanni
One of my book clubs chose "poetry" as the theme for July, and this is the poetry book that received the most votes of those that were nominated. I don't think I've read any poetry by Nikki Giovanni before, and definitely not a whole book, so I'm looking forward to it!

2. Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain by Zaretta Hammond
My work has been doing a series of professional development sessions around this book, so I want to read the source material to get a greater context for it.

3. Guardians of the West by David Eddings
It's finally time to start tackling the Malloreon series on audio! That was one of my goals for the year, so I'd better start now.

4. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
My friend and I are making steady progress through The Chronicles of Narnia; this one's up next.

5. How to Be a Perfect Stranger ed. by Stuart M. Matlins and Arthur J. Magida
This book has been on my to-read list for a long time! I want to finally read it this summer.

6. Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie
I've been reading my way through the Tommy and Tuppence books in chronological order, but I accidentally skipped this one, which isn't a novel but a collection of short stories about the married detectives.

7. Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie
Here's the final Tommy and Tuppence book, which will round out the series.

8. Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by Dr. John Gottman with Joan DeClaire
This is another book that's been on my to-read list for a long time. Now that my son is finally at a stage where he's starting to have some control over his emotions, it seems like the best time to read this.

9. There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz
This is another one off my to-read list that I'm interested to pick up!

10. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
A lot of people at my work are reading this, and they've started several different book groups to discuss it. I'm late to the party but want to eventually get caught up!

What do you plan to read this summer?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Orphan Master's Son
Five years ago I was reading: The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Breadwinner, and A Suitable Boy
Ten years ago I was reading: Beloved

Top Ten Reads of 2019 So Far

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is "Most Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of 2019" but as usual I have no idea what's going to be published in the future. We're not quite halfway through the year, but I saw there was no mid-year check-in topic scheduled for July, so why not do it now? I've had exactly ten 5-star reads so far in 2019, not counting rereads of old favorites. Here are those ten!

1. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
I could not understand exactly how two decades of correspondence between a woman in New York and a bookshop in London could make for a compelling read, but now I understand. Hanff is a hoot! The book is under 100 pages and made up entirely of letters and postcards that often don't fill a page, so you can get through it quickly. It's worth the read.

2. Becoming by Michelle Obama
I knew very little about Michelle Obama's life going into this book, so I appreciated getting a greater understanding of her family of origin, her school experiences, and her career prior to becoming First Lady. In clear, engaging prose, she helps the reader understand both why she was often made to feel "not enough" and how she had the support of many others who lifted her up and kept her going.

3. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
This book is great at both a plot level (action-packed, unpredictable, with a satisfying plot arc) and a metaphorical level, about the pointlessness of long-standing enmities, the challenges of being an outsider, and the difficulties of doing something without a role model to lead the way. I was left satisfied but still with enough questions to want to continue the trilogy!

4. The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart
Although this prequel tells the story of The Mysterious Benedict Society's founder, it is essentially a standalone story, but either way it gave me the same enjoyment as the original series. Nicholas Benedict, 9-year-old orphan, must outsmart bullies and incompetent adults while following the clues of a treasure hunt.

5. Home by Nnedi Okorafor
I enjoyed this as much as Binti, although it ends with a cliffhanger. I love the way Okorafor took a real-life people (the Himba) and layered in futuristic elements like mathematical meditation and space travel.

6. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Through Gottlieb's stories of being a therapist and being in therapy herself, this is both a celebration of the power of therapy and a recognition of its limits — that all of us, therapists included, are just doing our best. But you come away feeling that if we were all willing to be a little more vulnerable and put in a little more effort to look at how our own decisions affect ourselves and others, we'd be much better off as a human race.

7. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
It's hard to follow up something as stellar as The Hate U Give, but Thomas managed to pull it off. Set in the same neighborhood, this book follows a new character, Bri, as she tries to make it as a rapper. When it seems like she's finally getting a chance to have her voice heard, she has to decide what she's willing to do, and who she's willing to lose, to make that happen.

8. Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber
I have loved all of Nadia Bolz-Weber's books to date, and this one is no exception. What I love most about this "sexual reformation" is that, while she illustrates how many destructive ideas about sex originate in the church, she advocates for a sexual ethic that is not separate from the Christian faith but rather deeply informed by it.

9. The Trespasser by Tana French
Tana French has finally done it — written a Dublin Murder Squad mystery that didn't make me want to throw the book across the room when I was done. Her writing is just so good and I did not want to put the book down, and this time the main narrator isn't a horrible person and justice is, more or less, served. Hooray!

10. Weird Parenting Wins by Hillary Frank
The whole first half of the book had me laugh-crying over some of the ridiculous things people (myself included) do out of desperation to get babies to sleep, toddlers to eat, and preschoolers to get out the door fully clothed. The second half of the book I did a lot of highlighting of the excellent tips for life with siblings and older kids. I definitely recommend it for all parents of young kids — if only for the laughs!

What have been your favorite reads so far this year?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Garlic and Sapphires, Inspired, and Feeling Good
Five years ago I was reading: Island Beneath the Sea and A Suitable Boy
Ten years ago I was reading: Metaphors We Live By

What I've Been Reading Lately (Quick Lit)

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy's Quick Lit to bring you some short and sweet reviews of what I've read in the past month. For longer reviews, you can always find me on Goodreads.

This month I got away for a week of vacation, so my book count is much higher than it has been since I started my new job!

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis: By now I can see Lewis' pattern of writing a children's adventure story and then haphazardly weaving in both Christian elements and societal commentary. It helps me understand why people seem to most love these books who read them as children, whereas I find these latter books to be fine but not great.

There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon: As with Menon's other books, this was a sweet YA romance with secondary friend drama thrown in to add more plot. I enjoyed Sweetie and Ashish's relationship, but felt like the writing was weaker in this book, like Menon just had an anti-fat-shaming message she wanted to get across and filled in the plot around it.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson: Because this book is over 50 years old, reading it is a different experience than reading most nonfiction today that's aimed at raising awareness about modern-day situations. What struck me in the early chapters was just how much Carson sounded like today's conspiracy theorists and pseudo-science peddlers, like the people who believe vaccines cause autism. In the end, though, Carson really does make an irrefutable case about the dangers of mass applications of chemical pesticides.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie: Not one of Christie's best, but I do so love Tommy and Tuppence. I'd recommend reading the other Tommy and Tuppence books first and continuing with this one if you like them.

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: I could not understand exactly how two decades of correspondence between a woman in New York and a bookshop in London could make for a compelling read, but now I understand. Hanff is a hoot! The book is under 100 pages and made up entirely of letters and postcards that often don't fill a page, so you can get through it quickly. It's worth the read.

The Trespasser by Tana French: Tana French has finally done it — written a Dublin Murder Squad mystery that didn't make me want to throw the book across the room when I was done. Her writing is just so good and I did not want to put the book down, and this time the main narrator isn't a horrible person and justice is, more or less, served. Hooray!

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery: What a sweet little book! I'm glad this lesser-known work of Montgomery's was recommended to me. I found the plot extremely predictable, but if you don't mind predictability and a neat and tidy happy ending, then it's worth the read.

The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vineyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wild World by Brian Doyle: I'm not a person who enjoys wine and I might have liked the book more if I was, but also Doyle's style (with long sentences and tangents, and uncomfortable references to sex and women, and lots and lots and lots of lists) is not my favorite. That said, by the end of the book I did know substantially more than I did before about pinot noir and winemaking, which I suppose is what this book was intended to accomplish.

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart: Although this prequel tells the story of The Mysterious Benedict Society's founder, it is essentially a standalone story, but either way it gave me the same enjoyment as the original series. Nicholas Benedict, 9-year-old orphan, must outsmart bullies and incompetent adults while following the clues of a treasure hunt.

What have you been reading this month? Share over at Modern Mrs. Darcy!

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Garlic and Sapphires, Inspired, and Feeling Good
Five years ago I was reading: Island Beneath the Sea and A Suitable Boy
Ten years ago I was reading: Metaphors We Live By

Ten Books I Hated that Goodreads Loved

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is "unpopular book opinions." I decided to find the ten books where my rating on Goodreads differed the most from the average rating for that book. These all ended up being books I had given 1 star where the average rating was 3.8 or above. Here are my top ten!

1. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (Average Rating: 3.85)
This was mind-numbingly boring. They do a lot of walking. There are a lot of outdated scientific discussions. And then they don't even make it to the center of the earth. I'm sure in 1864 it was thrilling, but I can't understand why so many modern readers love it.

2. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Average Rating: 3.98)
I did give David Sedaris another chance later on and enjoyed one of his other books, but I spent most of this one cringing. He awkwardly makes fun of himself, he unkindly makes fun of other people, and he describes certain things that are disgusting or disturbing. Not the kind of humor I enjoy.

3. I Am an Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler (Average Rating: 4.01)
I thought this book was frankly terrible. It read like a checklist of issues (eating disorders, abusive relationships, human trafficking, FGM, etc.), for each of which Ensler tried to put herself inside the head of, say, a child factory worker in China with minimal research. The writing wandered and the audience was unclear, unless it is "middle-aged women who think this book would be really great for teens," which seem to be the people rating it highly on Goodreads.

4. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Average Rating: 4.01)
I do not understand the appeal of noir fiction or film, full stop. Philip Marlowe is devoid of emotion, and he and the other characters talk in so much slang, sarcasm, and hints I didn't know what they were talking about a good part of the time. Add that together with a lot of murders no one seems to care much about and a bunch of ridiculous female characters, and yeah, not my cup of tea.

5. The World According to Garp by John Irving (Average Rating: 4.08)
This book was so radically different from A Prayer for Owen Meany that I couldn't believe they were by the same author, though evidently plenty of people love both books equally. It's a mess of gratuitous sex and gore and offensive stereotypes mixed in with some attempted commentary on feminism and fame that was too convoluted to follow.

6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (Average Rating: 4.08)
Reading about two grown men taking lots of drugs and then causing immense property damage, running up bills they don't pay for, and terrorizing innocent people, told amid a massive amount of racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia, is not my idea of a good read. Most of the positive reviews I read reference how groundbreaking his particularly style of writing was for the time, which is fine, but what exactly makes it such a must-read for today's readers?

7. A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon (Average Rating: 4.11)
I am genuinely baffled how this book has such high ratings. The writing was overly complex, the authors made constant unfounded generalizations, and the "theory" seemed to be that children need to be with their mothers 24/7 or they will be doomed for life. Maybe people are only reading this if it supports beliefs they already hold about parenting?

8. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks (Average Rating: 4.16)
Perhaps I'm biased because I saw the movie first, but I thought it was infinitely better than the book. So many of the things I enjoyed about the movie were absent in the book, in which the writing felt flat and the characters unrealistic. But then I don't usually read these kinds of fluffy romantic books anyway, so maybe it's good for people who like the genre.

9. This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl (Average Rating: 4.17)
My negative review of this book has more "likes" than any other review I've written on Goodreads, so clearly I'm not alone in my opinion, though I'm outnumbered by all the people rating it highly. My only guess why the ratings are so high is that people primarily picked this up right after it came out if they were Nerdfighters and/or fans of John Green, and so they were predisposed to feel positively about it. I should have been, too, but I was disappointed by the fact that it was just a poorly edited document dump of what could have been the source material for a good book.

10. Love Does by Bob Goff (Average Rating: 4.29)
This is my second-most "liked" review on Goodreads. Many of the things Goff "does" in the book are not so much evidence of his love as evidence of his lawyerly wealth and he seems oblivious to how much of what he "gets away with" is evidence of his privilege, not just a cute metaphor for being a Jesus freak. There were good lines throughout, but the book just encapsulated everything I hate about American Christian Culture as a commercial entity.

Which beloved books did you dislike?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Alienist, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and Feeling Good
Five years ago I was reading: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, A Fine Balance, and A Suitable Boy
Ten years ago I was reading: Metaphors We Live By

Ten Books with Girls Coming of Age

I'm linking up with That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.

This week's topic is ten books in our favorite genre, but I feel like I've covered my favorite nonfiction plenty here: favorite journalistic nonfiction, favorite social science research, and recommended self-improvement books. Instead, I started thinking about a couple of books I'd read recently that included a female character still experiencing (at least at the beginning) the wide-eyed exuberance and innocence characteristic of pre-teens and young teens, reminiscent of the girl I remember being. I decided to come up with ten books that have this kind of girl in them.

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
I haven't read this since middle school, but it's a classic example of a sweet but feisty girl who gets into plenty of trouble but doesn't yet have any adult-size problems.

2. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Definitely much darker than most of these, this is one of the best books I've read that shows how grade-school girls can bully and manipulate one another.

3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Anne Frank's diary captures the voice of a young teen caught between childhood and adulthood (which she, of course, sadly never got to reach). She's starting to think profound thoughts about the world, but she is also self-centered and self-conscious like all girls her age.

4. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
It's been a long time since I read this book, but I remember being around her age (11) and loving the thrill of making secret plans and finding ways to be master of my own life.

5. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
This book follows the lives of several characters, the youngest of whom is Mick Kelly. She starts out the book full of childish enthusiasm coupled with a desire to be seen as an adult, though by the end she's had enough hard experiences to have lost her innocence about life.

6. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
One of the two main characters in this book, Alma Singer, is a 14-year-old girl who concocts a plan to help her mother find love after her father's death and then ends up on the trail of a mystery.

7. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This was the recent read that solidified for me how much I love characters with this specific kind of voice. Cassandra, our main narrator, is trying on different identities as she tries to figure out how she fits into her family and what she wants out of life.

8. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
As a kid, I enjoyed both the mystery aspect of this book and seeing how 12-year-old Claudia strategizes the details of running away from home to live in a museum.

9. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
This was my favorite book in 5th grade because I could relate so strongly to the main character, Patty Bergen. She's smart and curious and gets herself into trouble asking too many questions, thinking out loud, and stretching the truth to try to win others' approval and affection.

10. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
In this classic coming-of-age story, we see Francie Nolan grow from age 11 to age 16. It's a quiet book but captures well the experience of growing up and learning about the world.

Which books would you recommend with this kind of character?

Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Castle of Wizardry and Disunity in Christ
Five years ago I was reading: Predictably Irrational and The Remains of the Day
Ten years ago I was reading: Metaphors We Live By