What I've been reading in the month of July

Because I'm an English teacher, people always want to know what I'm reading.  I've been off from school for a month, and this is what I've read so far:

My brother really likes Lisa Lutz, and he's read most of her books.  I've read The Spellman Files, which I really enjoyed, but this book is really different.  In this book Lutz, and her friend (and ex-boyfriend) David Hayward, team up to write a murder mystery.  As a story, it's not fantastic (there are lots of leads and characters that go nowhere), but as entertainment, it's great. I especially like the authors' nasty emails to one another. 

I swear I requested the ebook from the library BEFORE it was on Oprah's reading list-- not that there is anything wrong with Oprah's reading list!  I liked the concept of the book-- lone woman, walking the Pacific Crest Trail after a series of personal traumas-- but in practice, I didn't love it.  I generally enjoy these kinds of travelogues (like Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air or even the YA books My Side of the Mountain and Hatchet) but this one didn't do it for me.  I could see why it would be popular though.

I love Lisa See's work in general, and this book was probably tied for my favorite (Snowflower and the Secret Fan was also excellent).  It's about the relationship between two sisters, their lives in Shanghai before the Japanese attacked the city, their flight to America, and the complications that grow between and around them as Chinese women trying to make it in San Francisco's Chinatown.  This book captured me and brought the different settings to life.  I loved the reality of the tension and the love between the sisters.  The sequel is called Dreams of Joy, which was also fascinating, but I thought Shanghai Girls was better.

I stayed up until three in the morning to finish this book.  Admittedly, staying up until I finish a book is fairly par for the course, but I didn't want to put it down.  I had never read this book before, but my friend's husband insisted that my life was incomplete without having read it.  Now that I HAVE read it, I agree.  If you are a New Yorker, you should be reading this book.  It captures life in New York in the early 20th century with such beauty and clarity.  I would call this my favorite book of the month.

The Happiness Project was pretty interesting.  I liked a lot of what Gretchen Ruben had to say, especially about not putting things off.  It really encouraged me to do some things that I had been putting off, or just not doing, for no other reason than I just had never started.  I liked the author's style-- it was friendly and conversational.  By the end of the book though I was a little bit sick of it, but I still would recommend it.  I thought it had a lot of very positive things to share.

I loved, loved, loved this book.  I thought it was for dog-lovers (I am more of a dog-liker or -accept-er), but it was just so nice.  The story was told from the point of view of Enzo, the family's dog.  It was so compelling.  I have to admit that I cried while I read it, but the emotional impact of the story is delivered in an unemotional way, just like you would imagine a dog would view it.  Highly recommended.

What a trip down memory lane!  I hadn't read this series since I was in Junior High School, but it was just as enjoyable as it was then, if not more so.  The ebook only cost me $2.00, and I got every book in the series. Such a sweet book, but still with the hints of sadness that make it realistic.  

This is one of those "end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it" books, but I must say, I really liked it.  The characters are fun, because they are so severely imperfect, and they are so unaware that the world is crashing down around their ears.  It kind of reminded me of Jonathan Safran Foer's style-- kind of wacky and weirdo, but ultimately very enjoyable.