June 2016 Reading

The Spider Sapphire Mystery by Carolyn Keene  Yes, I still read Nancy Drew books. This one was actually written by Harriet Adams in 1968.  I belong to a book club that reads the Nancy Drew books and discusses them!!
Agatha Christie's Miss Marple by Anne Hart A "biography" of the fictional Miss Marple. If you are a fan, this is a must read. She has one about Hercule Poirot that is now on my TBR list as well.
Winterkill by C J Box There is nothing better than reading a book set in the Snowy Winter of Wyoming during a hot summer day!!
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart (library) Oh I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it. Set in NJ in the 1900's so if you are a Downton Abbey fan give it a try, also if you are a Girls Series Collector, this one is a lot of fun,
Empire of Things by Frank Trentmann (library) I liked this one, although often it felt like homework, like I was reading a textbook. But I found the subject very interesting. The history of the consumer and how we are compelled to buy and collect things.
They Do it with Mirrors by Agatha Christie (audiobook) One reason I like to "hear" books that I have already read before on audiobook, is like why I can watch a Shakespeare Play over and over again. I like to hear the different voices of the book done differently and I sometimes see something new in the plot or characterization that I might have missed reading. I like how it becomes a little different in my head, my imaginings of the place or the people.
The Longest Night by Andria Williams (library) a fictional account of a nuclear accident in Idaho Falls, ID in 1961. I liked it and I am often intrigued by so much of the history of the USA that we do not know about. Three Mile Island you know about, but 3 people died at the accident at Idaho Falls and no one knows about it.
Girl About Town by Adam Shankman (library) a fun book (I think this is a YA title) set during the depression in Hollywood. With a fun heroine and hero who join forces to solve a murder mystery. I liked it
Breaking Wild by Diane Les Becquets (library) another cold weather book to read on a hot day. It is about a female hunter who gets lost in the Colorado Wilderness and the female BLM search and rescue ranger who hunts for her. I really liked all the detail about the search process and the hunting process (not being a hunter myself)
The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall (library) a spoof of Gone with the Wind, from the point of view of the slaves. Very interesting/entertaining
Extreme Prey by John Sandford (library) The latest Lucas Davenport thriller. It concerns a threat against a presidential candidate. I liked it as usual and read it in about 6 hours!
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell (library) I recently watched the TV series based  on this book and really enjoyed it. About an English Family who go to live on a Greek Island.
The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot by Anne Hart. This one is the Biography of Hercule Poirot. If you are a Christie fan, check these books by Anne Hart out. Very enjoyable.
Pilgrim with No Direction by Brian R. Murdock  In anticipation of hiking the Portuguese Camino de Santiago later this year. I got this book about a guy hiking the trail It is wonderful. I loved it and now I am looking forward to the hike so much more!! The guy is really funny and I laughed out loud several times and had to read parts aloud to Ryan, I am even going to give you a link where you can buy the book (Kindle or paperback) cause I liked it that much!! Just click on the name of the book!!
Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons by Ann Rinaldi So my car breaks down and I was lucky that I have a few books in the car that I save to trade into Little Free Libraries that I see around town. This book had come out of a Little Free Library and had not made it into the house yet!! So I was happy to read it while I waited for the AAA guy to come save me. It is a YA book about Slavery
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (audiobook) I had not read this book in several years and it is really really interesting. It concerns the murder of the boys in the tower by Richard the Third.  Tey's Inspector Grant is laid up with an injury and spends his convalescence trying to figure out the truth of this historical murder.
Trespassing Across America by Ken Ilgunas (library) So I saw this one at Third Place Books in Seattle and picked it up thinking that it was going to be mainly about his hike from Canada down to Texas across America...well, it is really about the XL pipeline that they are proposing to build to bring oil down to the ports in Texas from the oil fields in the north. So I was ready for a lot of environmental preaching. Surprise!! This is still a very interesting hiking story and I learned about the pipeline and why it is a bad idea.
Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben (library) I am a fan of Harlan Coben and this book no exception. He writes a good thriller.
Manzanar to Mount Whitney by  Hank Umemoto (library) This is a book about a Japanese American man who was interned at Manzanar as a boy and dreamed of hiking Mount Whitney (which you can see from the camp) and the hike he makes later in life to fulfill that quest.
The Girls by Emma Cline (library) one girl's story of getting swept up by a cult. I am always amazed at what people will do to be liked and accepted as part of a group. Maybe because I am introverted, I never felt this aching need to be part of a group. I could be content to be by myself.
Like a Beggar by Ellen Bass (library) a book of poetry and if you have been following my blog entries for some time, you don't see much poetry here. I am not really a poetry reader. I LIKE poetry. But it takes slow and contemplative reading and I just don't do that. I usually tear thru books just soaking them up like a sponge. Poetry wants you to wallow in it. Or at least that is my take on poetry. So WHY am I reading poetry all of a sudden? Well, I am participating in Reading Book Bingo at the Seattle Library this summer. It is a cool summer reading program for adults where you have to read certain things to fill in your bingo card. So I needed Poetry and I needed "something out of my comfort zone" and I needed something by Seattle Art and Lectures participants. What this means is that you are going to see more poetry in my reading list next month as well!! LOL cause Poetry will help fill all three of those squares! So about these poems. I really liked them. I LIKE the classics like Frost, Yeats, Longfellow, Wordsworth, etc. But usually the "modern" poets I don't like so much. exceptions are Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas and Robert Service. So I was not prepared to really enjoy these as much as I did!! I would definitely read more Ellen Bass.