Share Your Shelf-July

Hello friends and happy August! It's still full on summer here and I'm glad. The first Thursday of the month means it's time for Share Your Shelf, hosted by Joanne (Slices of Life), Marilyn (Memphis Bridges), Tanya (The Other Side Of The Road), and Jen (Overflowing With Thankfulness). Here we go...

I think my July books are pretty typical of how I like to read in a given month. There's a couple of fiction (one was Audible), a memoir, and a non-fiction selection too. Here's the lowdown on July-

1. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

I listened to this one and enjoyed the narration. This was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, so naturally there was a lot of hype around it. I almost don't want to read these books that are endlessly talked about because I have trouble tamping down my expectation. 

I will say her choices often make me think she picks books based on what will translate well to film, which isn't a bad thing and is obviously her niche. This is a cat and mouse tale that I think might actually make a better movie than book, something I hardly ever say. 

There were a number of threads woven together in this one, and some back and forth between past and present which I liked and thought worked. And of course there were some unbelievable bits, but I think enough surprises to keep it interesting. In my opinion the main character wasn't very likable, and without spoiling anything will say that the way she fell into and then excelled at her 'career' felt a little far fetched. Still I gave it four stars. 

2. Hard By A Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili

I loved this book. It definitely took a few pages to get into, but once I got there I wanted to keep reading. It gets rave reviews, but I know won't be everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps because there are escaped zoo animals roaming the city I kept thinking back to Life of Pi by Yann Martel, another book I loved. 

I think if you liked Life of Pi, The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns (one of my all time favorites), then you might like this one too. Completely different plot lines, but similar in mood, and how the book makes you feel. If you pick it up keep reading. 

The title Hard By A Great Forest is taken from the opening line of Hansel and Gretel, and references to various classic literary works are cleverly woven throughout the novel. The setting is Georgia, the country not the state, and a part of the world whose history is rarely told, at least not in anything I've ever read. 

This is a tale of family. Of love and loss and sacrifice set against the backdrop of post war Tblilisi. The main character, Saba, is just a child when he and his father and older brother flee the fighting in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. They're granted asylum in England and their mother is left behind with plans for her to come later. Two decades go by, and all three men are struggling to make peace with both the people and the homeland they left behind. 

When the father decides to return to Georgia his sons wait for news. Weeks go by before they receive a 

message telling them 'I left a trail I can't erase. Do not follow it." But of course how can they not? Saba eventually must retrace his father's footsteps and find what remains of their homeland and their people. 

This is a story about the trauma of war, both on a nation and on the individuals who call that nation home. It's gritty (there's some language just fyi), it's tender, and at times absolutely heart breaking. Five stars for me. 

3. Stolen Focus : Why You Can't Pay Attention And How To Think Deeply Again  by Johann Hari

When I first picked this book up I actually had a thought as to whether or not I could focus well enough to read a book about how we can't focus-ha! In the early chapters Hari presents a lot of well documented information about all the ways technology has hindered our ability to focus, and what our brains actually need in order to focus. 

I had high hopes for this book, and it grabbed me right from the start. As the book wore on the author felt the need to insert more and more of his political viewpoints (completely non-essential to the content) into his writing and blech!! BLECH! I absolutely cannot stand when an author decides he/she needs to educate the reader as to how they should think about issues that have zero to do with the topic at hand. 

I went online and read a bit about the author, and he has a checkered past in terms of journalism, including being suspended from one publication, and then later resigning due to plagiarism. He has also been accused of fabricating elements of his stories on more than one occasion. It takes a lot for me not to finish a book, but about halfway through opted not to finish this one. 

4. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

I love Ann Patchett's writing voice. This isn't a page turner by any means, but not a bad read either.  It wasn't about a whole lot, and I think maybe that was the point. 

The plot centers around a family who own a cherry farm, and who shelter in place together during the pandemic. Covid isn't talked about in any big way, it just explains why these grown young women ended up back home with their parents. The mom (Lara) and dad (Joe) together have three young adult daughters. As they work the orchard Lara tells her girls about a season in her life (in the 80's) spent at Tom Lake, a summer stock theatre kind of place. While there she had a relationship with a fellow actor who went on to become very famous. The girls consider what they thought they knew about their mother, the choices she made, and they begin to see her in a slightly different light... as a woman, and not just their mom. 

I've heard this described as a gentle read, one that reminds us everyone has a story, and I agree. I gave it three stars. 

5. When The World Didn't End: A Memoir by Guinevere Turner

Wow, this was a tough book to read. When The World Didn't End is Turner's experience growing up in the Lyman family cult, eventually being forced to leave the cult, and ending up in an even more dire living situation with her mother and the mother's abusive boyfriend. 

She spent the first 11 years of her life in the cult, with well over 100 other children and various adults coming and going from the different properties. The children did not attend traditional school, medical care was hit and miss, and girls were given as brides to the men around the age of 13 or 14. The Lyman cult believed the world was coming to an end on January 5th 1974, and their group would be taken to Venus by spaceship. 

Turner kept journals all throughout her childhood mostly because journaling was required by the cult leaders. In her memoir she tells of her experiences from ages 6-18, using her own journal writings, but without adding in her now adult perspective. I'm sure recounting all that took place during her tumultuous childhood was extremely painful, and maybe that's why she never inserted her adult voice into the story. I get it, but I thought the book absolutely needed a dose of adult wisdom and hindsight. 

I would have liked to know more about the Lyman family in terms of what their actual beliefs were, and that information is scarce here, again probably because it's mostly told from a child's perspective. 

For the most part, I don't like rating memoirs. Rating a person's personal life story shared in writing is not the same as rating a work of fiction. It was interesting to get a peek into the cult, but like I said earlier, this was a hard read. Today Turner is a successful screenwriter and penned American Psycho among other works.

What have you been reading this summer? If it's good, do share!