July Discussion Post

[siberian_angel]

It's time for our monthly discussion post! This post will remain open for you to contribute at any time, so no pressure. Even if you didn't get around to reading any of your selected books or opted out of participating for the month, you're still more than welcome to take part in the discussion.

Please copy and paste this in the comments!
<b>Who was your buddy this month?</b><br /><b>What books were chosen for you?</b><br /><b>Did you manage to read your books? Which ones?</b><br /><b>If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite?</b><br /><b>Would you recommend your chosen book(s)?</b><br /><b>Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books?</b>

Comments

[badfalcon]

Who was your buddy this month? monkiainen
What books were chosen for you? Colin Elford - A Year in the Woods: The Diary of a Forest Ranger, Natalie J Case - Thanátou & Milly Johnson - The Teashop on the Corner
Did you manage to read your books? Which ones? I read A Year In The Woods, and I'm about 30% of the way through Thanátou
If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite? I absolutely loved A Year In The Woods and read it in a couple of days. Elford wrote some beautiful descriptions of the woods, so evocative it felt like I was right there and seeing, hearing and smelling everything he was.
I've been slogging my way through Thanátou for... a while. I want to like it because the author is a friend but it's not my kind of thing, sadly
Would you recommend your chosen book(s)? Definitely
A Year In The Woods does come with a cw for animal culling - never explicit but often, as deer management is part of his job as a ranger
Thanátou would be good for people who like fantasy
Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books? I have finished 6 other books this month - Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, Love Heart Lane by Christie Barlow, The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis, Foxglove Farm by Christie Barlow, Touched by AJ Aalto, and Look Up! by Nathan Bryon
I'm currently reading Staying Out For The Summer by Mandy Baggot and The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow (I'm taking my time and really savouring this book because it's so damn good!)

[maevedarcy]

Who was your buddy this month?: vickysg1

What books were chosen for you? Feminismos desde Abya Yala - Francesca Cargallo; Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen; Décimas - Violeta Parra

Did you manage to read your books? Which ones? I started Sense and Sensibility and I'm about 20% through Décimas.

If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite? God I'm too early into Sense and Sensibility to tell, but so far I like it. I don't think it'll get finished this month though. As for Décimas, it's always nice to read poetry, but it's difficult to compare it to other books to know if I liked it better or not.

Would you recommend your chosen book(s)? YES! Décimas is a wonderful compilation and I think it's been translated to other languages. As for Sense and Sensibility, I always recommend Jane Austen. If only because her storytelling is so rich and captivating. Maybe if less IRL issues stopped me from reading, I would've devoured it.

Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books? I did! Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, which I'm rereading for sentimental reasons

[colls]

Who was your buddy this month? siberian_angel
What books were chosen for you?
Choice 1: "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo (Fantasy/Female Author)
Choice 2: "Island Queens and Mission Wives" by Jennifer Thigpen (Non-Fiction/Female Author)
Choice 3: "The Keeper of Lost Things" by Ruth Hogan (Female Author)

Did you manage to read your books? Which ones?
I read "Island Queens and Mission Wives" by Jennifer Thigpen and the library audiobook for "The Keeper of Lost Things" just came up.

If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite?
Would you recommend your chosen book(s)?
Probably not. It was an interesting subject matter, but I don't know if it was groundbreaking. It also wasn't written in a way that was very engaging. I think it was a thesis that wound up being published (?don't quote me on that, but it's how it read to me?)
The idea of digging deeper into how the relationships between women impacted the course of politics and conversion to Christianity in Hawai'i and the Pacific is a fascinating topic. This book, however, only scratches the surface. I was disappointed there weren't more insights from the Hawaiian perspective.

Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books?
"That Inevitable Victorian Thing" by E.K. Johnston - which was a buddy read pick here 1-2 months ago (I eventually got around to it!)
"Rough Sleepers" by Tracy Kidder - which is about one of the founders of Boston's Healthcare for the Homeless
I'm nearly finished with "Remnants of Trust (Central Corps, #2)" by Elizabeth Bonesteel, which I'm enjoying. It's an audiobook and the heat has kept me indoors more than usual - taking away from time I usually listen.

[siberian_angel]

Who was your buddy this month? colls
What books were chosen for you? "The Invisible Library" by Genevieve Cogman, "Africatown: America's Last Slave Ship and the Community It Created" by Nick Tabor and "Then She Was Gone" by Lisa Jewell.
Did you manage to read your books? Which ones? I dnf'd Cogman's book about 70 pages in, when I realized it just didn't appeal to me the way I thought it would. After that, I switched to Tabor's book.
If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite?
Would you recommend your chosen book(s)? No to Cogman, yes to Tabor.
Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books? Yes, mostly because I've been constantly behind on my challenge goal this year and need to pick up my pace with books I knew I was likely to breeze through.
☛ "A Solitude of Wolverines", "A Blizzard of Polar Bears" and "A Ghost of Caribou" by Alice Henderson (so, so good!)
☛ "Famous for a Living" by Melissa Ferguson (forgettable)
☛ "Before I Do" by Sophie Cousens (recommended)

[royalblue31]

Who was your buddy this month? bellamylee

What books were chosen for you?
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Did you manage to read your books? Which ones?
I read Piranesi and The Haunting of the Hill House.

If you read more than one, did you enjoy them? What was your favorite?
I really did! The Haunting of Hill House became a quick favorite, and I'd say Piranesi is one of the most interesting books I've read all year.

Would you recommend your chosen book(s)?
Definitely. The Haunting of Hill House is a really beautiful horror story. Piranesi I would recommend for anyone who enjoyed the series Severance or loves stories about liminal spaces.

Did you read anything else this month, outside of your chosen books?
Bluets by Maggie Nelson
Demonglass and Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins