Selections From A Summer In Books

This Summer I read 25 books while completing the Chicago Public Library's "Book Bingo" game. Here are some brief notes for 5 of these stories in no particular order.

(Comment at the end with one book you read this summer, or a book you are excited to read this fall, or a book you would recommend)

Nonfiction:

  

Yes, Ron Chernow's Biography is a wonderful Biography, and the inspiration for the musical Hamilton, but it is more that an biography. It is a history of the founding of America, a history of the political debates we still have today, and an explanation of our economic system. Chernow is able to balance both gushing about Hamilton and being critical of Hamilton at the same time. Chernow also did a great job explaining and working through Hamilton epic amount of writings. I am excited to begin reading Ron Chernow's biography on George Washington next.

This may be a selection of nonfiction

But in reality it is a fairy tale

A magic show, An adventure

A Love Affair with stories and books and writing

(From my poem on reading this book)

This was a wonderful collection and I recommend you read my previous post which went into more detail about why I loved it: http://adventuresofadreamingace.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-view-from-cheap-seats-love-affair.html

This was an interesting read, and examines the interplay between america's cultural responses to: Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Economic situations. The book also looks at the push back which occurred whenever individuals from any group stepped outside the cultural norms of their times. It is always interesting to see how often these cultural norms changed and what was "proper" behavior was never static

Fiction

This was a story which I had heard about at a "Banned Books" Event, which peaked my interest, and when I saw it would fit a square of "Book Bingo" I went for it. I really enjoyed this collection of vignettes, which looked at the challenges of life, and being a writer, and family, and knowing your place in the world, expressed with lots of warmth and love. This really is a wonderfully written book. 

This is a story I would have never found if it was not for "Book Bingo" and the "A book from the state you were born in" (which I converted to "A book from the "city" I was born in"). This is a very sweet (Pun intended) story about a middle schooler dealing with her single mother, who is bi-polar, moving herself and her deaf brother across the country from Texas to Schenectady to start a ice cream store. It is a story about building a community, working for your dreams despite the challenges, and asking for the help you need in life. Warning: This story is going to make you crave to eat ice cream :)