August reading list

A bit late...sorry!

Life is So Good--George Dawson: Touching memoir of the grandson of former slaves who learned to read at age 98.

A Tale of Time City--Diana Wynne Jones: Not my favorite DWJ. Nothing wrong with it, I just wasn't blown away like I usually am.

The King of Attolia--Megan Whalen Turner: I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about how much I love this series. But I love this series.

You Can Go Home Again--Gene Logsdon: Memoir of one of the sustainable agriculture types. Very interesting and some great thoughts. Mild language warning.

Sprig Muslin
Duplicate Death
Lady of Quality
Unknown Ajax
Beauvallet--Georgette Heyer: Again, I read too much Georgette Heyer. I'm trying to work my way through her books so that then I can just read the ones I know are good.

Fire and Hemlock--Diana Wynne Jones: Re-telling of the Tam Lynn legend. Very well done, I thought. It would be nice to read this and The Perilous Gard back to back.

Fragile Things--Neil Gaiman: Collection of short stories and poems. Some really great stuff in there, but MAJOR content warning for several of the stories.

Beauty--Robin McKinley: Not my favorite McKinley (and she wouldn't be hurt by my saying that) but a great comfort read.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow--Jessica Day George: Well done re-telling of "East of the Sun, West of the Moon." I'd never read a re-telling of that particular story until this year and now I've read two (East by Edith Pattou is the other.)

The Penderwicks--Jeanne Birdsall: Fun story in the tradition of the Bastables and Melendys, I'd say, although not quite as well done as either. Still, I'm glad to hear that there's a sequel.

Strong Poison--Dorothy Sayers: One of my favorite Sayers. I mean, how can it not be?

The Doors of the Sea--David Bentley Hart: This is a fascinating book written from an Orthodox perspective on the problem of God and suffering. It was recommended by Deb. I want to write more fully about it.

Betsy's Wedding--Maud Hart Lovelace: Another huge old comfort read.

Deerskin--Robin McKinley: This book is wonderful and I don't recommend it to anyone. The subject matter is very difficult to deal with and I had a very hard time with it. But it's a great treatment, IMO.

Keturah and Lord Death--Martine Leavitt: I must be somewhat morbid, because I like books with Death as a character in them. I read this some time ago and it was just as good the second time around. Highly recommended.

The Homeward Bounders--Diana Wynne Jones: Not my favorite DWJ, but nothing wrong with it either.

The Saturdays--Elizabeth Enright: If I have children, they will be intimately acquainted with the Melendys. That's all I have to say.

Spiderwick 2: The Seeing Stone--Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black: Meh. Not wild about these, although the illustrations are really nice.

Up a Road Slowly--Irene Hunt: A book that I always think I'm going to like just slightly more than I do. It's still pretty good though.

A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of Four
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
His Last Bow
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes--A. Conan Doyle: I'd never actually read any Sherlock Holmes and I decided this needed to be remedied.

Because of Winn-Dixie--Kate DiCamillo: You can never go wrong with Kate DiCamillo. A sweet story about a girl and her dog.

The Case of the Missing Marquess--Nancy Springer: A take-off on Sherlock Holmes. There was a bit too much Message for my taste. And I would love to have a novel set in the Victorian era where the heroine is fine with corsets and sewing. Seriously. Not everyone hated them and rebelled.

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie--Jaclyn Moriarty: This was tons of fun! I liked it even better than the first book, The Year of Secret Assignments, partly because I kind of identified with Bindy.

Pride and Prejudice--Jane Austen: For school, but it's nice to have an excuse to read Austen. :D