June 30, 2023

July 2023 TBR

Holy moly we're at the end of June. That flew by. Welp, let's look at my plans for reading next month. How exciting! As per usual, I will have 3 books from my 50-by-50 list. And 2 of the Sequoyah list books. Past that, I have some library books coming in and I probably need to do some catching up on reading of books I own.

Bunny Mellon

Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Icon by Meryl Gordon - I first heard of Bunny Mellon from Melanie Benjamin's book The Swans of Fifth Avenue. That book was about Truman Capote and his inexplicable inclusion in the group of upper crust ladies in NYC in the 60s. Bunny Mellon was in that crowd. I had never heard of her, much less considered her a style icon. Now I'm obsessed. This is one of my 50-by-50 books. This is the long book for the month as it clocks in at 528 pages. Hopefully a lot of those pages are notes.

Mothers

The Mothers by Brit Bennett - The next 50-by-50 book is this one. I hope it is as good as the other one by Bennett that I read a couple of years ago. That one is amazing. This only has 288 pages, so it shouldn't take too long, unless it's really dense.

Fuzz

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach - I do love Mary Roach. Her take on her subjects is always just a little off. This is about animals, yeah, but it's mostly about stupid humans trying to get animals to follow the law. This is the third 50-by-50 book and it has 308 pages.

Golden State

This Golden State by Marit Weisenberg - In this Sequoyah list book, Poppy is a teenage girl whose family has been on the run her whole life. She doesn't know why and she doesn't know who they really are. In a bid for some kind of answer, she sends in a DNA test kit. The results upend everything her family has tried to protect. Now I'm curious. Are they in the witness protection program? Was she kidnapped as a baby? Are they notorious bank robbers? 400 pages for this one.

Love Radio

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle - One more Sequoyah book. This is about a girl who is just trying to ace high school so she can get out of the ghetto and go to college. The guy is a radio DJ who is also taking care of his chronically ill mother and little brother. She gives him 3 dates to convince her it's worth it to give him some of her precious attention. I'm reserving judgment. I doesn't sound promising. 320 pages.

Reader

A Reader on Reading by Alberto Manguel -  I think I have tried to read this before and it was over my head, but I really want to read it. I have requested it from the library. We'll see if I have brain cells enough.

Swifts

The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels by Beth Lincoln - In this family, when a baby is born, the mother opens a dictionary and points to a word and that is the baby's name. Our main character is Shenanigan Swift. Someone murders Aunt Schadenfreude at the family reunion and Shenanigan is on the case. 338 pages.

Thunder and Lightning

Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, and Future by Lauren Redniss - A friend of mine read this awhile back and I put it on my list. I have decided it's time to read it since my library system is down to one copy. Based on the weather we've had recently, it might be a good time. 261 pages.

There are a whole host of random other books I have hanging around: work books and manga mainly. I won't clutter up this list with those. So here is the list. I think it's doable.

Anything you would read?