i promise i do have a life, people, but somehow this july i've surpassed (with 40 books total so far this year) my totals for all 12 months of even my best year. a couple of these books were really excellent, and i knocked out another 5 categories in my book challenge. this month i read:
half of a yellow sun, by chimamanda ngozi adichie (this is my "book with a protagonist who has your occupation," as one main character is a professor and another becomes a teacher partway through the novel. i really really liked the book, despite not really knowing where it was going for the first half of the book. i also didn't know anything about biafra, whose flag had half of a yellow sun on it (hence the title), so it was really interesting to read this book about nigeria post-independence. adichie is a beautiful writer, and this is worth a read.)
lila, by marilynne robinson (this, plus gilead, is going to fulfill my "book and its prequel." loved this book, even more so after going to my nerdy seminar in santa fe to spend the week talking about gilead and lila with other smart and interesting people. marilynne robinson is a brilliant writer whose books are so rich. highly recommend!)
the worst hard time, by timothy egan (this is my "book that takes place during summer." i listened to the audiobook of this one, about the dust bowl, told through the stories of a few people who lived through it. i learned a ton about what caused the dust bowl and how truly horrible it was in parts of the west. tons of rich details. history nerds: add this to your list.)
attachments, by rainbow rowell (this is my "book that's guaranteed to bring you joy," because i love rainbow rowell and this was the only one of her books i hadn't read. i'll repeat myself: if you haven't read any rainbow rowell, you must, and you're welcome to start with this one.)
the handmaid's tale, by margaret atwood (this is my "classic from the 20th century" because i get to define "classic" however i want. i remember reading this in college, probably, but it had been so long that i didn't remember much of the plot. from the queen of dystopian literature, this is a must read if you missed it along the way. parts were totally creepy.)
excellent sheep, by william deresiewicz (this was one i had to read for work; the author's premise is that the quest for the ivy leagues leads kids to become sheep - fitting into a cookie cutter model of a college applicant - and the ones who make it to the ivy leagues are just the most excellent of the sheep. he has a lot of suggestions of how to change the college admissions game and how that might affect what students are able to do in college. if you have a kid in middle school or high school, you might find this a useful read.)
the serpent king, by jeff zentner (oh, i love a YA novel. this author is the new john green - great characters, compelling storyline, and i got a little teary in the middle. i really liked this book, set in rural tennessee and now i have 9 months or so to wait until his second novel is scheduled to come out.)
