An AUGUST showing of readings this month

This month, I finished 11 books.  A total of 3,691 pages.  An average of 119 pages a day.  I have a feeling I’m going to crush my Goodreads challenge.  I might even need to up it.  But we'll see.  But let’s get on to what I read.

 Don’t Get Arrested in South Carolina by J.B. Simms (250 pages).  Popsicle handed this book off to me after he finished it.  He said I’d find it interesting because I would know most of the players involved (which I did).  He also said it was one of the most poorly written books he’d ever read (again, he was correct).  In 2000, Dr Harry Sunshine, a pediatric dentist in Columbia, was killed by a hit and run driver while he was riding his bicycle very early one morning.  JB Simms was the private investigator for the defense.  Or rather, for one of the defendants.  And what he found was a little frightening- that the couple charged with the crime were innocent and had been set up to take the fall for the real criminals.  The facts are pretty strong for his case.  If that’s true, then shame on everyone involved.  Because that means innocent people went to jail.  If it’s not true, it’s quite a conspiracy theory.  I finished in 4 days.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (671 pages).  So I accidently purchased the large print addition.  While my eyes appreciated it (ugh, I’m getting old), it made for a LONG book.  But it was a great book!  In 1940, 19 year old Vivian Morris arrives in New York City.  She’s been expelled from Vassar, so her parents send her to live with her aunt.  But her Aunt Peg is eccentric and fun.  She owns a slightly rundown theatre with a slightly motley crew.  And Vivian’s world gets turned upside down.  Showgirls, playboys and bad decisions fill her life.  Until one huge scandal almost destroys it.  When Vivian finally figures out the life that she wants rather than the life that she’s been told she should have, she finally achieves success and satisfaction.  And finds the love of her life.  The novel is a letter from Vivian at age 89, reflecting on her life and her choices.  I finished in 3 days.

Invitation to the Classics edited by Louise Cowan and Os Guinness (365 days).  Popsicle got me this book as well.  The contributors are all Christians (many of them professors at Dad’s alma mater of Wheaton College) and they examine classics (over 50 of them discussed) with an eye to who the author is, why it is considered a classic and what can be taken away from a reading.  Many of them I’d read, a few of them I’d never heard of.  Certainly not a page turner (2-3 columns per page makes for a tough read), but a very good reference point for classic literature.  I finished in 7 days.

The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence by Alyssa Palombo (296 pages).  Yes, historical fiction!  Simonetta Cattaneo was 16 years old when she married Marco Vespucci (cousin to Amerigo) and moved with him to Florence.  Florence of 1469 was a Renaissance city- full of art and music and poetry, thanks to the patronage of the infamous Medicis.  Marco is close to the Medicis and Simonetta, with her beauty and love of the arts, is immediately swept into their inner circle.  But of all the politicians and artists she meets, the one who intrigues her the most is Sandro Botticelli.  Simonetta quickly becomes his muse (and allegedly the inspiration and model for one of his most famous works, The Birth of Venus).  While Simonetta only lives to 22, succumbing to tuberculosis, her beauty lives on.  I finished in a day.

The Last Piece by Imogen Clark (305 pages).  This was my Book Club Box book.  One Monday morning, 66 year old Cecily, matriarch of the Nightingale family, up and goes to a Greek island.  With no explanation to anyone but her husband.  Daughters Felicity, Lily and Julia are completely at a loss.  Felicity relies on Cecily for childcare for her one child; Lily relies on Cecily to keep her sane as she cares for her own brood of 5 sons; and Julia, well Julia is unfulfilled with her life.  But Cecily got an invitation to go to Greece.  And she will return with the culmination of a story 50 years in the making.  It was a great chick lit book.  And the gifts were perfect.  The only thing I found a little weird was that the Greek portion took place at Hotel Aphrodite, which just made me picture Mamma Mia.  I finished in a day.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon (306 pages).  Madeline Whittier is 17 years old.  And has never been out of her house.  She has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease, which means she is allergic to literally everything.  But when new neighbors move in next door, Maddy’s world is completely rocked by the appearance of Olly, the teenaged son.  And Maddy begins to wonder if life is worth living if you aren’t really living.  The chapters were short and easy to read.  And the story was sweet.  I finished in 3 days.

The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston (386 pages).  From a young age, Xanthe Westlake has found that antiques speak to her- literally, they sing to her until she learns their story.  When Xanthe and her mother leave London and purchase a small antique shop in a small town, Xanthe finds herself drawn to a Victorian chatelaine.  And the chatelaine itself draws her back in time to the seventeenth century.  She quickly learns she must correct an injustice or else the spirit inhabiting the antique shop will harm her mother.  While back in the 1600’s, Xanthe must rely on a new acquaintance, an acquaintance who makes her question returning to her own time.  I really liked this one and immediately put the other books in the series on my list.  I finished in a day.

Tru  & Nelle by G. Neri (323 pages).  This was more of a children’s book.  But enjoyable nonetheless.  Truman Capote and Nelle Harper Lee became best friends when he moved in with his family right next door to her.  As children, they had adventures and stories galore.  This was loosely based on some of those adventures and woven into one great story.  Tru and Nelle’s friendship has always intrigued me- two phenomenal writers growing up next to each other in a very small town in Alabama?  What are the odds?  This book was very sweet and wholesome.  I finished in a day.

The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Emerson Wood (335 pages).  Historical fiction again.  Y’all know it’s my jam!  Emily Warren met Washington Roebling when he was her brother’s aide de camp during the Civil War.  A whirlwind romance quickly led to marriage.  Emily learned that Wash’s family business was building bridges.  And he and his father have the ultimate goal- the Brooklyn Bridge.  When Emily and Wash moved to Brooklyn to begin the project, Emily filled her days with caring for their son, befriending PT Barnum, marching as a suffragette, and helping out in her husband’s office.  But when Wash develops an extreme case of caisson disease and is unable to complete the project, Emily must step up and become the lead engineer on the project.  It wasn’t easy for her- she was a woman in a man’s world and didn’t have the necessary qualifications (although she certainly had the on the job training).  After complete of the bridge, Emily went on to law school (unheard of at that time) and continued her suffragette work.  I’ve never one given any thought to who designed and built the Brooklyn Bridge.  But never would I have imagined how large a role a woman would have had in its completion.  Fortunately, Emily’s name is listed with her husband and father-in-law’s on the plaque on the bridge.  I finished in  6 days.

 The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (298 pages).  When Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993, he left behind a legacy of unrest in his native Colombia.  He also left behind 4 hippopotamuses, among other animals.  Those hippos eventually escaped his derelict zoo and began procreating.  This novel begins with lawyer Antonio Yammara reading about the death of one of those hippos.  And the memories that it brings up.  Namely, the death of his friend Ricardo Laverde.  Antonio wants to learn why his friend was killed and so begins a journey to learn the truth about his friend.  I didn’t enjoy this book too much.  I finished in 5 days.

The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (198 pages).  In 1959, widowed Florence Green decides to invest her inheritance in something she feels her little town needs- a bookshop.  But after she buys the Old House and converts it to a little bookshop/lending library, she soon learns that just because YOU want a bookshop doesn’t mean your town does.  This book was turned into a movie, which I haven’t seen.  If the movie is as unenjoyable as the book, that would explain why I’ve never even heard of it.  I finished in 2 days.

This month’s favorite was……The Engineer’s Wife.  Historical fiction for the win darn near every time.  City of Girls came in a very close second though.