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The Other Books I Read (or Meant to Read) in June 2023

June turned out to be a strange month of reading for me. If my blog post last week didn’t convince you of that, just wait until you read today’s post.

Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang

Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang

I heard R.F. Kuang interviewed about her new novel on “Friends and Fiction” on Facebook on May 24, 2023 – the same night Lee Smith was a guest. The New York Times called it, “a blistering satire about publishing.”

This novel might appeal more to writers than “normal” readers. It’s about two young women who barely know one another. One is an outrageously successful author, while the other on is living hand to mouth. When the successful writer chokes to death, the other writer steals her unfinished manuscript and gets it published under her name. No one will be the wiser… or will they?

One of the threads throughout the book is racism. Not the usual way we tend to think of racism: white versus black. The racism running through this book is white versus Asian.

There was an unexpected twist at the end of the book.

I Will Find You, by Harlan Coben

I Will Find You, by Harlan Coben

It had been a while since I’d read a Harlan Coben novel, so I decided to give his new one a try. I listened to it on CD. The nine discs last just a little more than 10 hours, so I was able to set aside time to listen to one disc per day.

In this novel, David Burroughs is wrongly imprisoned for killing his three-year-old son. But did his son really die? After five years in prison, David is determined to find his son.

Time Management for Writers, by Sandra Gerth

Time Management for Writers, by Sandra Gerth

I needed this! I have all the time in the world, and yet I don’t seem to get anything accomplished. This little gem of a book gave me some practical suggestions and a systematic way to organize my time. I read it the first week in June, so I’ve had almost month to work out some new scheduling ideas. I say “almost a month” because I spent five days in Georgia to attend the wedding of one of my great-nieces.

The book addresses such time killers as email and social media and recommended that those things only be checked twice a day. It suggested “bundling” similar tasks such as working on the content for several blogs on the same day, selecting the photographs to illustrate those posts another time or day, and scheduling the blogs another time.

I’ve always given myself goals for when to complete certain tasks involved in writing a book or short story, but this book was a strong reminder that I need to be serious about those “deadlines” and be accountable to someone else for meeting those goals.

If you feel overwhelmed, this book might help you even if you aren’t a writer.

Grow Your Own Herbs: The 40 Best Culinary Varieties for Home Gardens, by Susan Belsinger and Arthur O. Tucker

This is a book I checked out from the public library to look for some specific information I need for the historical novel I’m writing. I decided to include it in today’s blog post because some of my readers might be interested in the book.

I you have any interest in growing herbs and using them in your kitchen, I recommend this book. It contains detailed information for growing, harvesting, and using 40 herbs. It includes recipes for herb butters, pastes, oils, and vinegar infusions.

The 180-page section about those 40 herbs is beautifully illustrated and organized in a way that makes it easy to find specific information you’re looking for. It made me wish I could grow all 40 of them! Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a green thumb when it comes to growing herbs.

Three books I won’t elaborate on because I read them for research purposes:

The Ultimate Guide to Old-Fashioned Country Skills, edited by Abigail R. Gehring

Edible Paradise: How to Grow Herbs, Flowers, Veggies and Fruit in Any Space, by Vera Greutink

How to Write a Series: A Guide to Series Types and Structure plus Troubleshooting Tips and Marketing Tactics, by       Sara Rosett (Kindle) – This was a second reading of this book. I read it the first time in December 2021 and wrote about it in my January 3, 2022 blog post, Books Read in December 2021.

Books I didn’t finish reading in June and why:

Loyalty, by Jodi Picoult

I made the mistake of requesting this novel on CD from the public library. I eagerly popped the first disc into my CD player and settled back to enjoy another Jodi Picoult novel. Unfortunately, right off the bat, the narrator in his Italian accent (which should have been – and maybe was – a good match for a story set in Sicily) immediately read a list of the characters in the book along with their occupations or how they were related to the other characters.

After listening to a seemingly endless cast of characters whose names I’d never be able to understand or remember, I stopped the CD before getting to the first chapter.

I should have counted the characters. I’m guessing there must have been 20 or so.

Reading the novel might be easier than listening to it, but I don’t plan to try.

The Castle Keepers, by Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan

This book is a collection of three novellas written by Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesielski, and Rachel McMillan. When I first read about the book, I was under the conception that each author wrote one novella, and perhaps that’s true. My surprise, upon getting the book from the public library was to learn that it is not revealed which author wrote which novella in the collection.

The book follows one family. The first novella takes place in 1870. The second novella is set in 1917, and the last one is set in 1945. Most of the reviews I read mentioned that the first two novellas were better than the third one.

Due to the small print and my attention being pulled to historical research, I ended up returning this book to the public library unread. Maybe I can give it another try at a later date.

The Lost English Girl, by Julia Kelly and The Midwife of Auschwitz, by Anna Stuart

I returned these two historical novels to the public library after realizing I wasn’t going to have time to read them, even though the Julia Kelly book was large print. Maybe another time will work for me to read and enjoy them.

Since my last blog post

I was able to send out my Janet Morrison Books July 2023 Newsletter after overcoming some technical issues. I hope you received your issue via email. If you have subscribed, please visit http://www.janetmorrisonbooks.com and click on the “subscribe” button. As a bonus, you’ll receive a downloadable copy of “Slip Sliding Away: A Southern Historical Short Story” I enjoyed writing.

Yardwork keeps calling my name, but with the heat index of around 100 to 106 degrees F. nearly every day, I have to pick and choose the time of day and length of time I work. Progress has been at a snail’s pace.

I’ve been working on several historical short stories.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read – one that will whisk you away from the stresses in your life, entertain you, educate you, and give you a new perspective. I’m reading Cradles of the Reich, an historical novel about part of Hitler’s plan for creating a master race, by Jennifer Coburn.

Cradles of the Reich, by Jennifer Coburn

Spend time with friends and family. Remember the treasure they are, even if they don’t agree with you about politics.

Remember the people of Ukraine.

Janet

34 thoughts on “The Other Books I Read (or Meant to Read) in June 2023”

  11. I have no idea. I liked her earlier books because they always dealt with a topic the American society was grappling with. I guess she ran out of such issues and decided to take her writing in a new direction. I wonder what she’s working on now. I hope it’s better than this last novel. I was afraid I had too many characters in the novel I’m writing, but mine doesn’t hold a candle to hers. I might look for it at the library in hardcover just so I can read the front pages and count how many characters were introduced before Chapter One. It was impossible to take in from the CD. It went on and on and on…. And while we’re on the subject of authors changing the writing they’re known for… Lee Smith’s new novel, Silver Alert, has excessive f-bombs in it. I think I put it down after about eight pages. The language totally pulled me out of the story. I’d heard her interviewed about the book. The premise sounded plausible and she made it sound hilarious. I was looking forward to some comic relief in the midst of all the World War II fiction I’ve been reading. Another big disappointment.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. For the novel I’m working on now, I researched the number of people remaining at the poor house when it closed. After I’d gotten a good ways into the first draft, I cut the number of characters in half, sacrificing historical accuracy for readability. The amount of characterization and backstory I would have needed for readers to keep them all straight would have made the book longer than War and Peace. I don’t go for excessive f-bombs either. They pretty much render the prose unreadable. Funny thing about the f-bomb and comedy. There seems to be a belief in some quarters that adding an f-bomb to whatever you’re saying will make it funny.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. It seems the younger generation of comedians think they have to use vulgar language in order to be funny. It comes across to me as being lazy — and that’s how it strikes me in fiction, too. An occasional curse word, if true to the character, doesn’t bother me. I’m still scratching my head over Lee Smith’s Silver Alert. I hope she’ll write another good novel and redeem herself.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Thank you, Rebecca. When I’m reading, I feel guilty that I’m not writing. When I’m writing, I wonder if my time would be better spent reading. It’s a constant tug-of-war in my poor head! Thanks for your nice comment!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Hi, Rebecca. I guess you think I dropped off the earth. No, it was just a computer issue that all goes back to the Windstream system data breech in June. I haven’t been able to even log in to WordPress for two weeks. Computer guy just left. He was able to get me back in. Still cannot access my Microsoft account. I am so beaten down mentally right now, I just feel like throwing away all my writing notes, manuscripts, books, notebooks, etc. I’ve had nothing but computer issues for the last eight weeks and it’s gotten on my last nerve. I didn’t get to blog the last two weeks because WordPress said I had a Microsoft cache issue. That’s when I found out I’d been locked out of my Microsoft account. I was locked out of Microsoft because Windstream suspended my email account after it got hacked. Microsoft was on my list to update email address with, but I foolishly hadn’t done it yet. I have nine pages of people, offices, organizations, doctors, writing contact, etc. to change my email address with. I’ve been checking off a few every day for a month, but I haven’t finished. It’s been unbelievably time consuming. It’s amazing how many places won’t let you change your email address if they can’t contact you at your old email address. The icing on the cake was when the computer guy got me back into WordPress this evening and instead of saying I’d published 629 posts, it said I’d published ZERO. Rebecca, I just lost it and had to leave the room. He eventually got it to say I’d published 629 posts, but the damage had already been done to my frame of mind. My nerves are shot, so I might just have to back off from the computer for a while. Don’t give up on me. I’ll eventually get my act together and blog again. Please forgive me for venting and dumping on you. I know you have your own stuff going on and you’re also just trying to hold things together. I just wanted to explain why I haven’t been on WordPress for weeks. Take care. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. Dear Janet, So sorry to hear of your severe computer woes! I’d missed you. As writers we are really at the mercy of our computers. To have your email detonate and blow up your WP access is very stressful! Hope you also journal on paper so you could still vent during that time! Sorry this happened to you! Take care blogger friend, Rebecca.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Thank you for your kind words of support, Rebecca. I’m sorry I vented on you. I’m still shell-shocked by the whole computer thing. I’m working on a blog post for tomorrow morning. I’m on the warpath again against the people wanting to ban books. I know I’m preaching to the choir. Everyone who reads my blog seems to have some sense. LOL! It has taken me all weekend to write this blog post. I’m really out of the routine. Thanks again for your note and I hope your life is a little less stressful than it has been recently.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I have been there myself. It can rob a person of their self-confidence and sense of security. I pray you and your husband will receive good news this week.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. I’m sure by today, you’re both getting more nervous about what he’s going to hear from the interview. I do hope this or an even better opportunity opens up for him soon.

    Liked by 1 person

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