As I look back over the books I read in July it makes me feel like July was a really long month. Maybe it is because so many things took place including my husband being away for several days and a visit from a good friend. Actually these were the two things that framed a month of lovely weather, very hot weather and hours of reading on the screen porch both at home and in our cottage.
My favorite book of the month is Sing Them Home by: Stephanie Kallos. Three siblings struggle through their grief over the death of their father and the long ago death of their mother who disappeared in a tornado that occurred several years earlier. A touch of magic helps make this book even more special. I was amazed at how quickly I felt pulled in by these characters.
Philip Roth books will be showing up on this list for a while. I will work my way through the long list of his books even rereading ones I have read before. This will be a journey full of tears and adventure. This month’s recommendation is Nemesis. This is the last book he wrote in 2010. He is one of the few great writers who wrote well into his later years. This book takes place in 1944 during a serious Polio summer. A young man who works hard to keep a public playground going during a very hot summer worries as he sees children catching the deadly disease. He takes a job at a summer camp to be with his sweet heart and carries polio with him. He can never forgive himself for the tragedy he thinks he caused.
he Whole World Over by Julia Glass. This is a companion to Three Junes. So, if you have not read Three Junes you are actually getting two wonderful books and there is a third one as well. I have not yet read the third one In The Dark Sacred Night. This book takes place mostly in New York with New Mexico also playing an important part in the story. Pour yourself a nice glass of wine or cup of tea and settle in to fall in love with Julia Glass’s writing all over again.
Summer would not be summer without a good mystery. If you are spending time on a lovely sandy beach or a glamorous resort or just your back yard here is a book for you. Something In The Water will heave you wondering who you can trust. Catherine Steadman creates a story that has a surprise ending. I don’t like those surprise endings that come out of nowhere. There are actually pointers along the way but they are easy to miss.