The Yellow Birds

 Book 65 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from August 25 - 30

The Yellow Birds

by Kevin Powers

My Opinion

4 stars

This is a book that could've ripped me up emotionally if I'd let it but I deliberately read it in small pieces to try and detach as much as I could.  Even so, I found myself rereading passages to let it soak in.

Even though it's a fiction book, the author appears to have the experience to make the story feel realistic.  It was gritty but not exploitative.  

The 5ish year jump left a little too much out for me because even with the sparseness of the story and the fragments of jumping around time periods, there were some pretty major developments in that timeframe that could've helped get from the beginning to the end a little more cohesively.

Oona Out of Order

 Book 64 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from August 12 - 23

Oona Out of Order

by Margarita Montimore

My Opinion

5 stars

Holy Shit, this book took my breath away.  It was a slow start where I liked it but wasn't completely invested and then something happened that I thought was the big reveal but then there was a complete sucker punch that blew my mind.  It's the kind of thing that I want to yell about but also don't want to talk about at all because I don't want to spoil anything.  I think that's the main theme of the book - experiencing things as they happen even when given the opportunity to know more.

As the book started I really appreciated the jump right into the meat of the story.  Even though she herself didn't believe what was happening she had people on her side and didn't have to spend time convincing anyone else what was happening.    This was proven with the next jump where it was very 'fish out of water'; it would've jaded my view of the book if that had been the beginning.  

It took me way too long to figure out how she was doing the letters but I understand now that even though she doesn't know the order it's happening, there is a continuity that occurs when setting a letter up.  Even though it's a little wibbly wobbly there was enough of a thread that I could read without questioning it too much (although trying to explain it was another matter - I made a mess trying to talk to my daughter about it).

The LGBTQ+ History Book

 Book 63 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from July 24 - August 14

The LGBTQ+ History Book

My Opinion

3 stars

You know how encyclopedias are important (maybe less so now with the Internet but I'm still a paper book fan) but you don't sit down and read one from cover to cover?  That's how I feel about this book.  My reservations have nothing to do with content and everything to do with structure.

On one hand it's a great resource for someone looking for information about a topic.  On the other hand a reader wouldn't get the book's full potential without delving in because there's such a wide variety of topics that readers wouldn't have even thought of.

This book is part of a series called "Big Ideas Simply Explained" and I think the explanations may be a little too simple.  It's great to have digestible, accessible information but branching in so many directions in a 300+ page book leads to surface-level book report fact recitation.

I love to see it in our library and I hope people pick it up but I also can't say I loved it as a book to read.

This didn't make any sense.  Also, I admit it...I read encyclopedias cover to cover as a kid.

What the Dead Know

 Book 62 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read on August 12

What the Dead Know

by Nghi Vo

My Opinion

4 stars

This short story is part of the Into Shadow collection available through Prime Reading.  I immediately felt the setting and was captivated the entire time.

Wives Like Us

 Book 61 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from August 2 - 11

Wives Like Us

by Plum Sykes

My Opinion

2 stars

I'm bummed.  This started off as a light, frothy read but halfway through it plummeted into way too many hijinks.  Light spoilers...it started when it was revealed Boris was a dog (something I anticipated but hoped I was wrong on) and then the mistaken romantic feelings covered too many people and too long of a time.  Then everything resolved and it was over.

I did like that it avoided the affair cliches.

Now that things have settled down I would read more about the female characters (similar to the start of the book) without all of the nonsense in between.

The Six Deaths of the Saint

 Book 60 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read on August 10

The Six Deaths of the Saint

by Alix Harrow

My Opinion

4 stars

This short story is part of the Into Shadow collection available through Prime Reading.  It was unique and compelling and had a really good arc for a short story.

The Last Suspicious Holdout

 Book 59 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from August 7 - 9

The Last Suspicious Holdout

by Ladee Hubbard

My Opinion

3 stars

These short stories wove together over time and kept a connection I didn't always anticipate.  I'm rating it neutrally because I enjoyed the book but know there were many undertones I didn't catch because I haven't shared the same experiences.

Tasha

 Book 58 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from August 6 - 7

Tasha

by Brian Morton

My Opinion

5 stars

This book hit me emotionally.  It felt like reading someone's journal but the journal was curated and felt deceptively effortless.

The anger the author imagined his mother feeling at the end threw me off for those few pages but I still kept it 5 stars.

Personal Effects

 Book 57 of my 2024 Reading Challenge

read from July 26 - August 2

Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living

by Robert Jensen

My Opinion

4 stars

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars but am rounding up to 4 because of the unique perspective and immense respect for loss the author portrays.  I put this book on my 'to-read' list after picking it up as a hold for my mom at our local library.  When an author respects death and its victims, I'm fascinated by the rituals and details surrounding whatever circumstance they're talking about.  

To paraphrase, there are three main angles to consider and balance when approaching a mass casualty situation.  One is the deceased and their right to be identified if possible and buried.  Another is the survivors and their right to be informed and given space to grieve.  The third is the investigation, whether it's criminal or an accident, and the need to preserve evidence and reflect on any potential changes in the future.

Even just reading about the tragedies was overwhelming in the sheer numbers and I can't imagine actually processing them.  Although the author states he would love for his company to be out of business, unfortunately there are plenty of accidents that make his expertise necessary.  I'm amazed at how many human fragments and debris pieces can be recovered, preserved, and identified.