It was another light reading month for me, though I did finish two chapter books with my older kid this time. Looking forward to when my life settles down a bit and I can get back to more regular reading!
Dog Man: The Scarlet Shredder by Dav Pilkey: This was fine. I'm never going to say no to a book that my 9-year-old will voluntarily read independently. Plotwise, like some of the previous books, it's a weird mashup of silly jokes, heartfelt life lessons, action sequences, and social commentary mainly aimed at adults, among other things.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed: This was overall good. I definitely highlighted a lot of individual lines and passages. I appreciated Strayed's balance of compassion and tough love, and I didn't mind all of the memoir-ish stories, even if they didn't always seem fully relevant. It didn't really move me emotionally as much as I expected, but I think it was a good collection of advice on the whole.
To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer: The two words that come to mind first for this middle grade epistolary novel are "sweet" and "madcap." Two girls from opposite coasts try to break up their dads' new relationship after being sent to the same summer camp, but things quickly go off the rails on all fronts. It's a big-hearted story about family, love, theater, summer camp, and second chances that asks you not to take its plot too seriously while taking its themes very seriously.
Cat Kid Comic Club: Influencers by Dav Pilkey: We started with number five in this series due to it being available at the library, but it didn't seem to matter much and we were already familiar with the characters from the Dog Man series. Like many of the later Dog Man books, this one tried to be entertaining while delivering Big Life Lessons, and it didn't quite stick the landing, but it was fine.
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Parker Pyne Investigates, The Guncle, and McDonald's
Five years ago I was reading: There Are No Children Here
Ten years ago I was reading: A Suitable Boy, The Virgin Suicides, and Love in the Time of Cholera
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