This was a pretty good reading month! Not much in the way of 5-star books, but almost everything was 4 or 4.5 stars, which is a solid track record for the month.
Big Jim Begins by Dav Pilkey: Most of the story was pretty good for a Dog Man book, but then it kind of ran out of steam at the end with a lightning-fast resolution (besides the dangling plot threads that the characters themselves call out and name are an indication of an impending sequel). I'll happily continue listening to my kid read these, though!
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall: This was a sweet and charming children's book that might have been 5 stars for me at another point in time, but I wasn't quite in a space to have things resolve as neatly as they did each time a challenge arose throughout this book. I enjoyed it enough to continue with the series, though!
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong: Yong clearly communicates his key theses, from the small percentage of microbes that are true pathogens (and how difficult/inaccurate it is to label most microbes as "good" or "bad") to the ways that microbes work in tandem with other organisms in a multitude of ways. It's a dense work of nonfiction and I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but I found it both interesting and valuable for better understanding the world around me.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall: This was a sweet addition to the adventures of the Penderwicks. Predictable? Yes. But not in a way I minded. I didn't quite buy some aspects of the plot but the rest of the book was lovely and sweet, with everyone getting slightly embroiled in plots of deception, but not in a way that gave me anxiety like it normally would.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett: This was well done, though I don't think I caught whatever it was that led multiple folks I follow to rave about this one. The world-building here is excellent and the Scandinavian winter can be felt through the words, with a plot that hangs together well but in the end is a vehicle for showcasing the world more than an end to itself, or at least that's how it felt to me.
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers: I enjoyed spending more time with Mosscap and Sibling Dex and revisiting this gentle vision of community. It has even less plot than the first book, but then plot is somewhat antithetical to the message of being able to just be and have intrinsic value for existing.
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall: This was another charming installment of this series about the Penderwick sisters and their loved ones. There was a plot reveal near the end that stretched the limits of my suspension of disbelief, but outside of that, I greatly enjoyed spending more time with these characters.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler: Much has been made of what Butler did or did not "predict" about our present day, but like any good dystopia, I think the more important accomplishment is what it said about the time period in which it was written and how those elements are still relevant today. I'm glad to have finally read this, and I'll definitely read the sequel when my library hold eventually comes in.
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: Elevating Child Care, Elatsoe, The Secret Keepers, and The Bad Guys in The Others?!
Five years ago I was reading: The Boys in the Boat and Dreams from My Father
Ten years ago I was reading: Jesus Calling, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, A Letter to My Congregation, and All-Of-a-Kind Family
