July readings. I've nothing more pithy to use as a title

This month was pretty strong.  I decided it's time to just clean off the shelves of the ante-library (of which there is less than one of four currently occupied).  I promised myself I wouldn't buy new books until I got it below one shelf.  So read the stuff I'm not necessarily super excited about I must!  I read 9 books at a total of 2,646 pages.  That's an average of 85 pages a day.  So let's get to it!

Theodosia by Richard N. Cote (327 pages).  This was an autographed copy btw.  Other than knowing that she was named for her mother, that she was lost at sea and that her dad sings a song to her in Hamilton (you know, because they were truly unusually close), I knew very little about Theodosia Burr Alston.  I didn't know that she was quite possibly one of the best educated women in her age.  I didn't know that she had only one child because of a prolapsed uterus and lived in near constant pain because of that condition.  I didn't know that she lost her only child, son Aaron Burr Alston, at a young age and shortly before her ill fated sailing.  I REALLY didn't know that her father fully planned on installing her as the Empress of Mexico when he took over the Louisiana Purchase and declared it a separate country.  The book was quite fascinating.  I finished in 6 days.

The Spy by Paulo Coelho (174 pages).  As anyone who doesn't live under a rock knows, I LOVE Coelho.  Mata Hari was one of the most famous (and infamous) women in the world.  A shocking dancer and courtesan, she was also a sort of spy during World War I.  Germany asked her to be a spy, but she told France about it.  Then, her contact in France turned on her (turns out he was probably a spy himself).  The novel was a retelling of her last known letter to her attorney at her espionage trial.  After being found guilty, she was shot by a firing squad in France.  I finished in less than 1 day.

The Sound of Red Rising by Sue Duffy (288 pages).  Another autographed book btw.  Liesl Bower is a world famous, Harvard trained pianist.  15 years earlier, she saw a Russian agent kill her beloved mentor (who happened to be a double agent himself).  Now, the Russians and the CIA are after her, for something she may or may not know.  I didn't start out enjoying the book, to be honest.  It was a little hard to follow and kind of meh.  But then the story headed to Charleston.  And faith and God entered the picture.  I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would.  I finished in 4 days.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (518 pages).  I went for another "should've read it long ago" classic.  And another one that I felt like I knew before I actually read it.  Young Pip, orphaned and living with his older sister and her blacksmith husband, is invited into the home of eccentric Miss Havisham to be a playmate for her adopted daughter Estella.  Pip immediately and utterly falls under Estella's spell.  But Miss Havisham has raised her to be heartless in an attempt to seek revenge against all men because of the man who left her at the altar.  As Pip becomes a young man, he comes into great expectations- an unknown benefactor wants to turn him into a gentlemen and gives him money.  Turns out having great expectations isn't always the answer.  This edition actually had the original ending that was not liked and the published ending that was.  I finished in 6 days.

Cranberry Hearts by Lisa Harris, Lena Nelson Dooley and Elizabeth Goodard (347 pages).  3 little novels in 1.  All of them were Christian and love stories.  The first was about a woman who learned, upon the death of her mother, that the father who raised her had not been her biological father.  And that her biological grandfather actually wanted to meet her.  Her appearance does not please everyone in her grandfather's life, including his stepson.  The second was about a woman who left her fiance when she learns he wasn't the man she thought he was.  But a man who will give up everything to follow the woman he loves to her hometown and who will offer up evidence against his corrupt boss is a man worthy of a second chance.  The third is about a woman who returns home to the family cranberry farm to help her grandfather and raise her orphaned nephew.  But her deceased brother's business partner changes everything when he shares with her what he is scared has actually happened to cause her brother's death.  The novels were sweet and a little sweetly suspenseful.  I finished in 5 days.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (343 pages, including introductions and appendices).  I bought this particular book at the Ernest Hemingway House, like 6 years ago.  See, this is why I have to stop buying books until I've read what I've had for years!  Honestly, I don't get the Hemingway appeal.  I find his life fascinating, but I don't particularly enjoy his writing.  This book was (very loosely) based on Hemingway's own life.  Fredric Henry, an American who is a lieutenant in the Italian army during World War I, falls in love with British nurse Catherine Barkley.  Between being injured and an unexpected pregnancy (out of wedlock no less), the deck is stacked against this couple from the start.  The ending was horrifically sad.  But I just didn't love the novel.  I finished in 7 days.

Death by Petticoat by Mary Miley Theobald (125 pages).  This book was great.  63 American history myths that are debunked.  I'm embarrassed by how many of these I believed to be true!  Some of them I'd never heard of.  And some of them I knew to be myths.  Either way, it was kind of fun.  I finished in less than 1 hour.

Breakthrough by Joyce Smith (243 pages).  This book was the story of a miracle.  14 year old John falls through thin ice into a 40 degree lake in Missouri.  He is underwater for 20 minutes.  And clinically dead for an hour.  But his family is a family of believers.  When his mother arrives at the hospital, the doctor is ready to pronounce time of death.  But before he can do so, Joyce cries out to God to save her son.  And John's heart starts beating again.  Against all medical odds, John walks out of the hospital 16 days later in absolute perfect health.  As one doctor said, "there's science and there's God.  This was God."  The faith of this family was amazing.  They decided to only speak life in John's room.  And through God's healing power, life was there.  The book was turned into a movie recently.  I finished in 3 days.

Anonymity by Janna McMahon (281 pages).  I'm pretty sure this book has been in the ante-library for several years as well.  Emily is a bartender in her late 20's in Austin.  Through a series of events, she comes into contact with Lorelei, a homeless teenage girl.  Emily attempts to befriend Lorelei and several of the other homeless kids (as Austin has a large homeless teen population).  But Lorelei isn't looking for friends.  Or for help.  She's figured out how to make it on her own and she revels in that.  But she manages to affect Emily and her friends more than she realized.  The book was actually surprisingly sad.  I finished in 3 days.

This month's favorite.... a tie between Theodosia and Anonymity.  They were so drastically different that I can't choose which I liked more.