June Reading

I read two children's books this month (young adult maybe) that were excellent, powerful qand disturbing at times. Definitely the type of books that make you pause to process. They were better books than the adult books so don't dismiss them just for their target audience.

Louder than Hunger I came across this when Kelly Yang posted about it on Twitter. I ordered it in to read in paper form. The book layout is not in typical text. It does make a difference (or did in my processing - almost gave my brain space to process or feel the needling voice). It is a very powerful book about a boy with disordered eating. I found it very insightful. I'm not surprise it's been on the best seller list. It's an extraordinary book.

Malibu Rising This book was ok but nothing of note and just that easy read family saga style book. Had some nice parts. I just find in all her books, Taylor Jenkins Read takes too long to tell the story (or the story can't carry the length of the book - not that you get bored at the end, I mean each event is given too much explanation). If you loke the others, you'll probably like this too.

Under a Dark Angel's Eye After seeing Perfect Days (the Wim Wenders movie) I had to track down the Terrapin, the story that is discussed in the movie...This is a huge collection of Highsmith's stories and I'm 7 hours in on audible with 15 hours to go. Many of the stories are excellent, but Highsmith can get quite grim so I decided not to overload and will come back to it after a few different books. I think for her time, Highsmith was really extraordinary and must have really pushed boundaries. A lot of the stories could have been written now, and would be deemed edgy. 

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry This book kept coming up for me and I realised I'd never read it. It's an insight into that time, a look at racism, including not just the perpetraitors but those who think it's wrong but do nothing (and why they don't). There are some really awful events and the writing of those is powerful. I honestly think my heart was racing at one bit. It's an excellent book and little wonder it won the Newbery award for children's literature. (Note this is book 4, I've not read the others and I don't think that matters). I listened to audible version andat the end there is an author's note where she explains the current book banning and why it's important to keep the uncomfortable parts in. That in itself is worth a listen.)

Before the coffee gets cold I thought this got mentioned in Horowitz's Close to Death when he's discussing locked room mysteries (I noted them to read) but I think I actually just got diverted somewhere andthis isn't what he talked about, so I will need to find that list and get back on track...however if you like the Kamogawa Food Detectives, I think you would like this. I intend to read all four.

I know I've used the word Extraordinary too many times in this post but I can't think of a better way to describe the work...

What have you been reading? Anything EXTRAORDINARY?

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