Book of the Month
This month, I was most impressed by The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. It’s a fantastically-written revisionist view of the American War of Independence, largely from the point of view of a slave who has grown up as the subject of experimentation by his white masters. I’ll be sharing more after I finish the second volume.
Here’s the rest of what I reviewed and read this month, which took me all over the map both geographically and emotionally…
[divider]
Reviews
- I reviewed my Classics Club Spin book, Lucky Jim, widely acclaimed as one of the funniest books of all time.
- From hilarious to heartbreaking: Edith Wharton’s relentlessly gloomy Ethan Frome was my next read.
- After that, it was a relief to celebrate Paris in July with four French delights: The Sun King Conspiracy, Constellation, Girl in the Afternoon, and The Life of Elves.
Other Books Read
- Christianity and Islam by Rudolf Frieling
- Roses and Rot by Kat Howard – Reading New England
- Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell – Reading New England
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling – Reread
- The Shimmers in the Night by Lydia Millet – Reading New England
- Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell – Reread
- The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell – Reread
- The Sibyl in Her Grave by Sarah Caudwell – Reread
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Part One: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson – Reading New England
- Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes – Reading New England
- Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome – Classics Club
- To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis – Reread
Other Features and Events
- I praised once more the marvelous Slightly Foxed, the appearance of which in my mailbox is always cause for celebration.
- After noticing that male writers dominate in the usual lists of comic masterpieces, I had to make a list of my favorite funny books by women just to balance things out a bit.
- In my discussion post this month, I asked Do we need genres? My somewhat incoherent rant produced some interesting responses.
- We got to take a trip to Amesbury, MA with author Edith Maxwell, visiting locations from her new historical mystery Delivering the Truth.
- And I got to take a trip to Washington, DC, and shared some pictures of my favorite bookish locations there.
- Throughout July I participated in the Summer Comment Challenge, paired up with Kathryn of The Book Date. Thanks, Kathryn, for visiting and commenting on my posts this month! I enjoyed checking out your blog and getting to know you a bit.
Shared in the Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer, the Month in Review linkup at The Book Date, and the Monthly Wrap-up Round-up hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
I liked your “somewhat incoherent rant” about genres!
LikeLike
Oh good, I’m glad something came through in spite of my babbling.
LikeLike
Interesting post on genre fiction. Thanks for sharing your reading for July…you had a great month!
LikeLike
Every month is different, yet has its own memorable reads. I’m glad you enjoyed the discussion too.
LikeLike
Lory thanks for partnering me in July, I really enjoyed it too and so nice to see what someone else reads. We are quite different but still readers! And I liked learning something of those New England reads.
LikeLike
There are so many wonderful New England books – now I would like to read something from New Zealand too!
LikeLike
You had a busy month, that’s for sure. Happy August!
LikeLike
Thanks Freda, I hope you have a great month too.
LikeLike
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing sounds really interesting, I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts on it. You read a lot this month Lory, I hope August is just as productive!
LikeLike
It is a book that has to be read to be appreciated, but I hope sharing my thoughts may pique some interest. Thanks for good wishes, I wish you happy reading in August as well.
LikeLike
Hope August is great for you!
LikeLike
Thanks, Kailana. I might not have as much time to read but it will still be good.
LikeLike
The Astonishing Life is literally one of the first books I logged on Goodreads when I joined the site 8 years ago. I loved it, but have never picked up the sequel.
It’s also mentioned frequently in Gary D. Schmidt’s book, Orbiting Jupiter.
LikeLike
I’m finding the second book harder going than the first, perhaps because battle scenes tend to bore me. But I shall persist.
LikeLike
Wow, you’ve read loads of books! I have now finished my result for the Classics Club Spin feature, Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne – I hope to have my review up soon. I wish you more happy reading in August 🙂
LikeLike
Yay, good job finishing your Spin book! I look forward to your review.
LikeLike
Lots of ideas… I’m very intrigued by Octavian Nothing.
Lory, you do a lot of rereading. Could you tell me how long between rereads?, what books you like to reread, etc?
I also liked your genres post.
Thanks
LikeLike
Oh, I forgot to mention that, since my sister was coming to see us all the way from Spain, I asked her to bring me The Life of Elves in Spanish, and she did! I know I’m going to love it (I love books even when I don’t know very well what’s going on, as long as the writing is poetic and captivating).
LikeLike
I did a lot of rereading this month but I do not really have a system at all. The ones this month were actually inspired by a list I did of ten funny women authors. I then wanted to reread some of the books I mentioned! That’s where the Caudwell and Willis rereads came from. And I picked up the illustrated copy of Harry Potter that I got my son for Christmas and enjoyed reading that again. But there are some months when I don’t reread anything.
LikeLike
Thanks for your explanation, Lory.
LikeLike
What a busy week! I am curious about your big read this month. Happy reading!
LikeLike
Thanks Charlie – this was a whole month’s worth of reading, but still a lot to pack in!
LikeLike
I was a fan of your incoherent ranting so… 🙂
I’m off now to go check out your Washington DC pics! This is why I love monthly wrap-ups – even when I miss things the first time around, I get a second chance!
LikeLike
I know, there are so many posts coming through my feed that it’s really helpful to have a summary once in a while. I’m something caught your eye to visit!
LikeLike
What a marvelous reading month! You’re going great guns with your Reading New England challenge. I haven’t thought of Johnny Tremain in years. I quite liked it when I was young.
LikeLike
I think I actually liked it much more as an adult than I would have as a child. The initial detail of the silversmithing apprenticeship would have bored me, whereas now I find it fascinating.
LikeLike
lots of good things here! I plan to read your last 2, and am also working on my classics. Right now, am “in Paradise” with Dante. my July recap is here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2016/08/02/2016-july-wrap-up/
LikeLike