Books I Read In August

 Eight books read this month.

Choose Me by Tess Gerritsen and Gary Braver is a book I chose because I am a big fan of Tess Gerritsen, but this book was very disappointing. I don't know if it was a true collaboration or if she just added her name to his book to increase sales. 

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman is a historical fiction about the mother of artist Camille Pissarro, Rachel Pomié Petit Pazzarro. I've been reading my way through Hoffman's books, but this is one my library didn't have. I wouldn't even have known about it but for its mention on the FB page of an Oregon friend. It came via interlibrary loan from the Auburn, IA library. 

Set in the early 19th Century on the lush island of St. Thomas, it is a beautiful story full of vivid descriptions, strong characters, and family dynamics. Hoffman's use of historical details, island folklore and superstitions made it my favorite read this month. It also sparked my own memories of visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands some 50 years ago, though the St. Thomas I experienced was much different than it would have been in the early 1800's.

Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman follows the lives of four generations of the Moody family who live in the Glass Slipper, an architecturally famous house in Connecticut. Though not one of my favorite books by this author, I found this quote on the back of cover of it to be very true: "Hoffman's use of language is nothing less than stellar - She reminds us how little distance there is between magic and mundane." (Amy Waldman) 

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth along with.....

.....the family next door also by Sally Hepworth are the last two by this author available at my library. I've enjoyed reading Hepworth's books and will read any new ones that come out.

Home Mountain by Jeanne Williams is what I would term a western - not my usual choice of genres, but I really enjoyed this novel. It is an older book, published in 1990, and set in the Arizona Territory during the 1880's, it is the story of a family of orphans being cared for by the eldest sister. It made me wonder if I should read more westerns. The only other book I've read by this author was The Unplowed Sky which I really liked.

Twenty-One Days is the first in Anne Perry's series featuring Daniel Pitt. Although I'm a fan of Perry's, I wasn't going to read this series because I mistakenly thought it another of her Thomas Pitt series which already has more than thirty books. Once I realized it was a new series, I decided to begin following it. These tend to become formulaic after so many books, but who knows, maybe someday I will go back and read all those books in the Thomas Pitt series.  

The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman is one of her books I've now read for the second time. When I began reading it I thought it seemed vaguely familiar. But it wasn't on my list of books read when I searched on my blogspot. That is because in 2014 I didn't write a monthly book report. I had however kept track of them in a notebook. When I looked at it I found that I did read this book.

At that time I wrote: "Early 1900's freak show in NY Coney Island area. Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Love between unlikely young couple. Not sure how I felt about this book. Unusual subject matter." Well, after the second reading and after reading more books by Hoffman, I can say I really did like and appreciate this book after all.