I know technically it’s still summer until the 21st, but in my heart fall begins on September 1st and I will be sweating in my sweatshirts as I’m in denial that it’s still 80 degrees out. My reading in August was…fine. But that could be because I read what will probably be my book of the year in July.
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson — This was one of my tbr “assignments” from July that I had to carry over to the first of August because I was on vacation to see my family in Pennsylvania at the end of the month. Coincidentally, it was voted the tenth best book of the 21st century so far by the New York Times, so I’m glad I got to read it so soon after that article was published. This book, an epistolary novel of letters from a minster to his young son, has been on my radar for many years and I felt very underwhelmed by it. I enjoyed the front half, where the main character recounts events from his life as well as those of his family members, more so than the sermon-y parts of the latter half.
Lit by Mary Karr — This was the first pick on my backlist project. I can’t tell you where I heard about this book for the first time, but it has been kicking around on my StoryGraph, and before that my GoodReads, for at least five or six years. This is often heralded as an achievement in memoir writing, with Karr recounts her experiences and recovery as an alcoholic, but much like my experience with Just Kids earlier in the year, I found this overrated. It seems unfair to critique someone’s lived experiences, but on a technical level the prose did nothing to me. I’m glad I finally checked it off my list, but I won’t be reading any other of Kerr’s memoirs.
Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo — I have conflicting feelings about this family drama. The pacing was slow and the main character made many frustrating decisions in the beginning of the story, but the latter half was beautiful. I don’t know if it warranted the almost 500 page count, but I liked how realistic everything felt. I can’t say one way or another if I would recommend this one and I’m not sure if I will remember anything about it come next year.
Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna — I’ve loved stories that follow interconnecting characters ever since I saw “Love Actually” almost twenty years ago. This story takes place over one summer weekend in London in 2019 (aka modern day without having to deal with COVID). In the background of all the interpersonal stories, there is a story involving a whale getting stuck in the Thames river that was heartbreakingly beautiful.
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue — The jacket described this as “Fleabag” meets “Office Space,” and I would say that’s pretty accurate. The main character definitely felt Fleabag-esque and the writing was quite humorous, even during the heartbreaking moments. Jolene, an admin worker for a Canadian big box store, accidentally gains access to her colleagues’ private emails and DMs and decides to use this intel to save her job. There is also a cute romance in this that I wasn’t expecting. My favorite book of the month.
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie — My bi-monthly Christie was a Marple novel this time. Miss Marple gets a call early in the morning from a friend, who has been alerted by her maid that a body was discovered in her husband’s library. Of course suspicion initially falls on the husband, but Marple knows he did not do it. As has been my experience so far with her books, Christie masterfully interwove the clues to this so well that while I didn’t guess whodunnit, everything made complete sense. This would be a great Marple to start with if you’re looking to get into Christie because the mystery is straightforward and it’s basically novella length at 215 pages in my edition.
Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger — This was one of the oldest books on my tbr. I didn’t keep track of when I purchased books until 2019, but I know I bought this copy used before my husband and I moved into our first apartment together, which was in 2015. So I feel really accomplished that I finally read it. Like almost every short story collection I’ve ever read, there were stories in here that I loved and others that didn’t work as well for me. My favorites were “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” “Just Before the War with the Eskimos,” and “For Esme — With Love and Squalor.” However, I did not like these short stories more than Franny and Zooey and Catcher in the Rye.
What was your favorite book you read in August? I’d love to chat about it in the comments.
I've had Nine Stories on my shelf forever and may have read it at some point but I honestly don't remember. Maybe I'll pick it up after I reread The Catcher in the Rye. Franny and Zoey is a fave so it's nice to see you rank them in this post!