June: What I Read

I read SO MANY books this month.  I think I am up to 59 for the year.  And you know what?  Almost everyone of these books was awesome.

15.  Let's Just Say it Wasn't Pretty by Diane Keaton:  This book was kind of horrible, but also interesting in a rubber-necker sort of way.  I read it cover to cover in less than 2 hours, and you know what?  It was a pleasant poolside read.

14.  Missing You by Harlan Coben:  Totally serviceable thriller, but I couldn't get into the characters-- very flat and stereotypical.  Irish cop's daughter with a drinking problem?  REALLY?

13.  Doing Harm by Kelly Parsons:  Another serviceable thriller.  Clumsily written but an interesting plot.

12.  The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls:  Really entertaining but totally shlocky. 

11.  Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell:  I really liked this despite myself.  Made me want to see the movie for sure.  He blames the whole thing on the liberal media, BTW.

10.  Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler:  I really want to get drunk and go on vacation with her.

9.  Turn Around Bright Eyes by Rob Sheffield:  So good you guys!  A great social history of karaoke that made me nostalgic for the music I used to love in college and high school.  Downloaded a lot of Nirvana.

8.  Love Is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield: This book is great.  Tragic love story AND a wonderful soundtrack.

7.  Euphoria by Lily King:  What a charming, haunting little story of an anthropologist and her husband in the 1930s.  Suspenseful, wistful, touching-- a great afternoon read.

6.  Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King:  A wonderful interpretation of the old detective novel-- more thriller than horror, but really great characters and a good plot.  LOVED it.

5.  The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd:  This was so great!  A fictionalized account of Sarah and Angelina Grimke's political awakening and a lovely story of a slave girl growing up alongside them.  A must read.

4.  Now I See You by Nicole C. Kear:  A wonderful, touching, hilarious memoir of a woman with a degenerative retinal disease who is slowly going blind.  If you love this book, check out the author's blog A Mom Amok-- hilarious!

3.  My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff:  Such a great memoir about working for Salinger's agent in the late 90s.  I loved this book and read it in a day-- it was THAT good.

2.  Guests on Earth By Lee Smith:  This is a wonderful, beautiful novel about the Highland Hospital fire of 1948 that killed Zelda Fitzgerald.  It is about Zelda but told from the perspective of Evalina, a girl who is also a frequent patient at Highland.  This book is haunting, lyrical, beautiful, AND a  suspenseful page turner.  This unlikely combo is my new favorite.  You should read this.  Probably right away.

1.  The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez: OH MY GOD this book!  I read it in a poolside sitting, and I was criyng at the end, which is always kind of awkward at the pool.  It's about a community of immigrants in Delaware and it is just so wonderfully, perfectly written.  The story is tense and sad, and the people!  The characters!  Are really great and complex.  In a month of great reads, this one was exceptional.