July 2015 Reads

34	Bream Gives Me Hiccups	Jesse Eisenberg
35	My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry	Fredrik Backman
36	This Raging Light	Estelle Laure
37	The Invention of Wings	Sue Monk Kidd
38	The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs	Matthew Dicks
39	Pretty Girls	Karin Slaughter
40	The Cartel	Don Win
41	A Man Called Ove	Fredrik Backman
42	Your Heart Is A Muscle The Size of A Fist	Sunil Yapa

I read two books this month by Swedish author Fredrik Backman.  I read his second book first, that's how I found him.  I picked up My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry and couldn't put it down.  It's a charming story about a seven-year-old who is tasked to deliver missives to her neighbors, after her passes away.  Elsa is "different", and her grandmother was "crazy", (not my words).   Grandmother was her only friend and they survived by believing if fairytales, which managed to come true.  Backman tells wonderful tales.

Backman's debut novel is A Man Called Ove.  This is another can't put down novel.  Ove is not happy, he's a lonely widower, who feels his life is empty and he wants nothing more that to join his wonderful wife, whom he was very sure he never deserved.  But, life keeps getting in the way, despite his best intentions to do himself away, there seems to always be one more thing, person or cat that needs his attention.  I'd recommend reading this one first, only because that's the order they were written.  I'm like that.

I read everything, and I like to read YA, occasionally.  This month's YA is This Raging Light.  I really think it's mislabeled as YA, anyone can relate to this tale.  Here's a quote from the publisher, "Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she’s about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend’s brother. With blazing longing that builds to a fever pitch, Estelle Laure’s soulful debut will keep readers hooked and hoping until the very last page."  Laure's writing is both powerful and lyrical.

Pretty Girls is a stand-alone phycological thriller.  Slaughter is a great author and she doesn't disappoint with this one.  Lots of twist and turns, hold on to your seat moments.  Well worth the ride.

I strongly loved and strongly hated Your Heart Is A Muscle The Size of A Fist.  I'm not being wishy-washy, here.  What did I love about this story?  First, I loved the great writing.  The story is about the protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization.  It's told from all sides, the protesters, the politicians, and the policemen, a remarkable accomplishment.  What did I hate about the story?  I really hated Yapa's portrayal of police brutality and incompetence.  Perhaps Seattle police are that way, but I don't think so.  This bothered me because my late husband was LAPD for almost 30 years, and he was one of the good guys.   This is Yapa's debut novel, it'll be published in January.  Read it, and make up your own mind.

What are you reading?