TELL ME TUESDAY
NUMBER FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
LAST. NOW. NEXT.
JULY READING WRAP-UP
*tidbits*
Dog Days of Summer Celebration
TELL ME TUESDAY is a floating feature, depending on your reading style, where you tell us what you read last, what you are reading now, what you will be reading next from your TBR pile, and why.
•
I am curious why people read what they read, so tell me!
ONE BOOK A WEEK
I'm still trying to keep my reading down to one book a week
•
For the last two years I have been trying to cut my reading back to one book a week, but this year I have regularly been four to seven books behind that goal. Life is a fickle thing.
★
NONFICTION
"HISTORY"
"SCIENCE"
DOGS
Published 2019 - Kindle Unlimited Borrow
•
Well... another Hipster Beanie Head nonfiction by someone who didn't fully comprehend the source materials. It is the fourth book I have read like this in the last couple of years. Don't let the cover fool you, it isn't meant for kids; and thank goodness because they would come away with a head full of half-nonsense and mixed messages. At one point in the book, when the author was having a difficult time grasping a science concept, they said something to the effect of their head was about to explode, and then followed that up with "because science isn't science". What does that mean? You would think the editor(s) would have asked her to explain before publishing it. I many times get the feeling that trendy topic books don't really get edited anymore. Also, when she was confused about how dogs became domesticated she quipped... lets just say it was an "act of nature"; well no, it was more the opposite of an act of nature.
•
The author also said she had to use the word exchanges of "forking" and "poop/poopie" because her mother was going to read the book. How about trendy topic authors starting to be able to write nonfiction books without littering them with "s#it" and "f*cking" and other vulgarities. If a nonfiction author writing about science and history has to resort to relying on base obscenities to try and get their point across, maybe they shouldn't be writing these types of books.
★★★★★
(4.5)
CLASSIC FICTION
STANDALONE
ADULTHOOD
FAMILY
RELATIONSHIPS
THE HUMAN CONDITION
Published 1948 - Own Ebook
•
This was an absolute breath of fresh air. It is by the author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Reading books written as contemporary novels, before the 1990s, is frequently a better way of digesting history than studying a text book. An honest "slice of life" portrayal of days gone by.
•
I'm going to be reading all of her books. And a heads up... Amazon has been selling 49¢ and 79¢ ebooks again, so check your wishlist every day; filtering it from low price to high. There also seems to be a few more 99¢ titles than usual. I don't know if they are going back to doing this regularly, or if it's just a hit or miss situation.
(not yet rated)
"MIDDLE GRADE"
STANDALONE
BLACK CULTURE
INNER CITY HOUSING PROJECTS
INDIVIDUALITY
FAMILY/FRIENDS
Published 2017 - Own Ebook
•
My original problem with this story is it was published as Middle Grade (ages seven to twelve/thirteen). The main character is twelve turning thirteen (most books with thirteen year old MCs are published as Young Adult). There were maturely represented elements of gun violence, sexual attraction, drug addition, and gang-banging; which in my opinion is YA content. Seeing that the MC was within the age parameters of Young Adult, I don't know why it wasn't published as YA. The main character could have easily been portrayed as fourteen, and in turn this would have made the character's obsession with Legos, the main theme of the story, standout even more.
•
Secondly is the autism representation. It suggests that autistic individuals can overcome their anxieties, lack of impulse control, outbursts, and meltdowns with regular socialization; in this instance, a secondary character was attending a community center's afterschool program to "interact" with mainstream public middle school students. The book suggests that autistic individuals can learn to read body language and facial expressions with practice. The author makes it seem like being made to hangout with neurotypical students will make them less autistic. None of this is true. This is why, along with the new "autism acceptance", we still need autism awareness. Most people need to know the whys and hows before they can successfully accept. This notion that autistic behaviors can be controlled puts unrealistic pressure on these individuals and their families. The author also suggested that even with adequate socialization students with autism are unlikely to have the capacity to attend college, which is also not true.
★★★★★
(4.5)
HISTORICAL FICTION
PREQUEL
MAGICAL REALISM
POST CIVIL WAR
NEW YORK CITY
POVERTY
Published 2017 - Own Ebook
•
This story is a prequel to The Witches of New York. A book I loved and adored. It's about the childhood of one of the main characters in The Witches of New York. However, this story is true Magical Realism (if you look past the original qualifier of the author needing to be Latinx). Magical Realism is when you don't know if the magic is real or not. Books like Practical Magic are always being shelved as Magical Realism on Goodreads, but it's not Magical Realism because the magic is being written as real. In The Witches of New York, on the other hand, the magic is presented as real, so it is not Magical Realism.
LITERARY FICTION
STANDALONE
GRIEF - FAMILY - FRIENDS
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER
Published 2013 - Own Ebook
•
I had to set this book aside ten years ago because of a huge stack of review books due, and sadly... I never went back to it. My ebook bookmark showed I was at 60% read, but it's been so long I have started back at the beginning. I had forgotten how exquisite Tartt's writing is. It's been difficult to put the book down. Thank you to the NYT list of The Best Books of the 21st Century for lighting a flame beneath my derrière.
ADULT FICTION
STANDALONE
MAN'S BEST FRIEND
Published 2013 - Edelweiss ARC
•
This will be my second book for Dog Days Of Summer. The Goldfinch being the first.
JULY READING WRAP-UP
⚫
BOOKS READ
FOUR
ARCS
NONE
PHYSICAL BOOKS
NONE
EBOOKS
FOUR
AUDIOBOOKS
NONE
MANGA - GRAPHIC NOVELS - COMICS
NONE
MIDDLE GRADE
NONE
YOUNG ADULT
ONE
ADULT FICTION
TWO
NONFICTION
ONE
RE-READ
NONE
FAVORITE JULY READ
⚫
2024
YEAR TO DATE TOTALS
BOOKS READ
24
(five books behind schedule)
•
NONFICTION 4/12
MIDDLE GRADE 2/6
NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST NATIONS AUTHORS I/4
MUSIC 2/6
PLAYS 0/4
BACKLIST ARCS 0/4
CLASSICS 2/3
RE-READS 1/3
FREEBIES/99¢ KINDLE BOOKS 1/12
•
MIDDLE GRADE - 2
YOUNG ADULT - 4
ADULT FICTION - 14
NONFICTION - 4
•
GRAPHIC NOVELS/MANGA - 0
AUDIOBOOKS - 8
EBOOKS - 15
PHYSICAL COPIES - 0
BORROWED - 13
ARCS - 3
tidbits•
◼
Yes... I am continuing #DDOS! However, we here at The Library are still not functioning at 100%, so I won't be doing a formal introdction post. I will be posting a special Dog Days of Summer Books and Beasties and a post about my local rescue shelter. That's where you come in! Just like last year, for every book you read with a dog in it, or on it, and also leave a review somewhere you can link (blog, Goodreads, Instagram, etc...), I will donate $5, up to $30, to the shelter. Next year I hope to be moved and feeling better and back to having a giveaway. So look for that shelter post soon and leave your reviews in the comments.
What are you reading? Tell me!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank-you for dropping by! I love to chat, so comments get a lot of love.