August Reading List

A Long Petal Of The Sea by Isabel Allende is an epic novel spanning decades, from the Civil War in Spain to refugees escaping to Chile. Poet Pablo Neruda's words introduce each new section and his life is an element of the storyline. The title is from one of his poems describing his homeland, Chile, as a long petal of sea and wine and snow.

Redhead by the Side of the Road is Anne Tyler's latest. As usual, her novels are about ordinary people and happenings that she makes fascinating.

Stars Over Clear Lake is Loretta Ellsworth's first novel for adults after writing four young adult novels. I really enjoyed reading this book set in the Clear Lake/Mason City area with the Surf Ballroom as a featured backdrop. (Her parents met at the Surf Ballroom.) It was also interesting learning about the WWII German prisoners of war camp at Algona which housed an average of 3,261 POW's from April 1944 to February 1946.

The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid is a psychological thriller in which present day murder has its roots in the 18th Century and the mutiny on the HMS Bounty.  I discovered this author when binging on the six seasons of the British crime drama Wire In The Blood and realizing it was based on McDermid's books. Naturally I had to read one. And one is all my library has. I would definitely read more of this author's works.

Murder On Pleasant Avenue by Victoria Thompson is #23  in her Gaslight Mystery Series. I always enjoy reading these quick little mysteries set in NYC around the turn of the 20th Century. Thompson always includes some history about the time and place and I have a vested interest in what happens with her main characters.

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout wasn't as good as Olive Kitterage, but I still enjoyed it.
A quote from the book: "And it came to him then that it should never be taken lightly, the essential lonliness of people, that the choices they made to keep themselves from that gaping darkness were choices that required respect."

The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich's latest novel is based on her Grandfather's life. Erdrich is such a good writer and I feel as though I gain a better appreciation of the Native Americans of the upper Midwest.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is such a wonderful book. I want to read more by this author but my local library only has this title of hers. My other library (old hometown) has another one of her titles. I see a trip there in the near future.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is a 2020 Oprah's Book Club selection. There was a time I tried to read every book chosen by her, but I haven't puposely read any of those for a long time.
I had taken this book off the New Books Shelf, read the summary on the inside of the dust jacket, decided it sounded too depressingly real for me to read at this time and put it back on the shelf when another woman started perusing the shelves. She took American Dirt off the shelf, looked at me and said, "Have you read this?" I shook my head no. "Oh, you have to read this. This is the best book ever! I'm not kidding. It is so good." I told her I had just looked at it, but thought it sounded too depressing, too much like current events. She didn't disagree, but assured me I wouldn't be disappointed because it was "such a good book!" 
Guess what? We were both right. It was good and it was too real, but I couldn't stop reading it.