I read exactly 50 books from June 1 - August 31, which is pretty fun.
I thought Iโd highlight the 5 star reads out of those 50 titles โ which coincidentally was exactly 10 books, or 20%. Not too shabby!
1. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride โ Both poignant and quotidian -- Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is ultimately a story of small kindnesses in a racist town
2. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson โ Anytime I read anything about Lincoln, it makes me slightly weepy to think about how much better the state of our nation might be had he not been assassinated (because Reconstruction would've gone so differently). But reading this actually made me feel a little better. The long story of secession (which tends to be just a few sentences in history books -- "and then the south seceded" -- but which Larson explores slowly as it happened) shows how different southern culture was, and how 'the Chivalry' influenced them so much that I think secession / war/ cultural divide would've happened no matter who was president.
3. Olivetti by Allie Millington โ Absolutely precious. Clever, funny, sad โ we listened to it on audio as a family (parents, 14yo, 10yo) and we all LOVED it. CW: cancer
4. Unruly by David Mitchell โ If you love British history, and don't mind a lot of swearing, this is the book for you! For example, when discussing the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism in the middle ages, "People on their deathbeds, when contemplating their interview at the pearly gates would've been thinking, "I'm a bit worried all the wanking will get mentioned, but at least I was consistently horrible to Jews, so that should count in my favor."" Hahaha.
5. Black AF History by Michael Harriot โ Incredible! Harriot retells the history of America from early colonization through to the Obama & Trump era through a Black lens. Witty, tragic, and powerful, itโs a fantastic way to revisit history and realize how truly our nation was founded on white supremacy. And I CACKLED every time he referred to the Jamestown settlers as โwhite welfare recipientsโ (bc of aid from Native Americans).
6. Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by Brigitte Knightley โ Gosh this was a fun reading experience! If you were a big Potterhead and love a slow burn romance; hurry up and read it! I devoured almost 600 pages as fast as I could -- and finished it in less than 48 hours in spite of work, children, etc. :)
7. The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackfoot โ Excellent, and depressing. By centering Native stories, and the atrocious ways they were treated by the English, Spanish, Americans, etc, Blackhawk shows clearly how white supremacy was one of the founding principles of our country. I also really enjoyed how he showed the interior influences of the Revolutionary War โ that it wasnโt just an Atlantic seaboard thing.
8. The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh by Claudia Gray โ My favorite yet in the series! Lady Catherine de Bourgh suspects someone is trying to kill her, so she calls in Jonathan Darcy & Juliet Tilney to investigate. This leads to several very satisfying alternate endings for the lives of the Pride & Prejudice characters.
9. The Last Emperox by John Scalzi โ A satisfyingly epic and profane ending to this super fun space trilogy. And I do enjoy picturing everyone who did not do the audio rhyming this with ox the whole time. Haha. (Itโs pronounced emper-oh.)
10. Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston โ Harrowing, but beautiful too. Itโs a brief amalgamation of Zora Neale Hurstonโs interviews with the last living person to arrive by slave ship from Africa. Cudjo - the last โBlack cargoโ โ was around 90 in 1928. The poetic way Cudjo describes the deaths of his children made me cry. โHe donโ laugh noโ more. Lorโ Lorโ, he never come back. My boy is gone. Cudjo is lonesome for him.โ ๐ญ๐ญ
So there you have it โ my typical mix of heavy nonfiction and fluffy fiction to balance it out; although the James McBride was a bit of an outlier in that it was heavy fiction!
What were YOUR highlights from your summer reading??