Hey, guys.

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Don't forget to post your July book lists to this community! It just takes a few extra seconds to copy the text from your regular LJ to this community so more people can read and get ideas for what to read. :D Please consider it.. I feel sorry for this community being all neglected! Don't you? Don't you want to hug it now?

And while I'm here, I'm going to ask: what was your favorite read from July?

Mine was probably Last Night at the Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger. I really enjoyed it. Have you read it?

July Books

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Romantic Lady by Sylvia Thorpe
One of my favorite Thorpes so far - the heroine's friend is being forced into marriage with a man of higher rank than her childhood sweetheart, so they come up with a plan to switch places. Unfortunately some sinister characters choose the same day to kidnap the fiancee for ransom money, and the heroine finds herself in more of a pickle than she'd planned for. It reminded me a lot of Georgette Heyer's books, very light and silly and romantic.

A Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub
Let's put it this way: If you want to continue to enjoy desserts, don't read this book. The chapters about sugar's effects on your body will make you want to swear off them for good.  The book is a bit gimmicky, since the author and her family didn't REALLY give up sugar - they had one dessert a month and a cheat food they could each have any time they wanted it - but she does make a lot of very good points about how much unnecessary sugar most of us consume without ever giving it a second thought.

Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett
This book, about a couple who purchase and restore a crumbling old castle in Wales, should have been fascinating.  I don't know what my problem was, but every time I picked it up I'd find myself nodding off after a page or two.  It was so weird!

Beggar on Horseback by Sylvia Thorpe
Another good 'un from Sylvia Thorpe.  Heroine's brother gambles away their estate in a card game.  The man who won it is set upon by highwaymen and left for dead in the lane outside the farm where the heroine is staying.  They fall in love.  Then she finds out who he is.  (Uh oh...)  It was a bit overwrought at times - I still can't figure out why she could forgive one thing but not another, which seemed less important to me - but fun.

The Scarlet Domino by Sylvia Thorpe
This one, on the other hand, I couldn't even finish.  It was some of my least favorite romance tropes wrapped up in one boring package.  I usually like arranged marriage stories, but the main characters were so irritating I didn't want to read about them.

Free to Fall by Lauren Miller
Almost as good as her first book, Parallel.  This one is set 17 years from now in a society where almost everyone has turned over control of their lives to an app on their smartphones.  But of course there's something sinister going on behind all this new ease and lack of decision-making.  There wasn't quite enough romance for my taste, but the plot was very twisty and satisfying.

The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
Ugh.  Ugh, ugh, uggggggh.  This is supposed to be a classic of travel writing, but it was awful.  Why did Paul Theroux go on this journey?  He doesn't seem to be interested in any of the places he goes to or the people he meets there.  All of his conversations seem to end up being "sleazy tourist recounts his adventures in a brothel".  There was very little description and one place blends into another.  He complains about the slowness and lack of hygiene all through Turkey and Iran and India, then gets to Japan and complains about the speed and efficiency.  Is he never pleased?  I gave up with less than 50 pages to go.  I just couldn't take any more.

Landline by Rainbow Rowell
I've loved every single one of Rainbow Rowell's books, even though only one (Attachments) has sounded at first like something I'd enjoy.  She has an amazing gift for characters and conversations.  The only drawback is that I speed through them so fast it's hard to put a finger on what exactly I like about them.  I guess it's mostly the people.  All of her characters feel so real.  And then she seems to know exactly how to get you invested in their relationships and lives, wanting everything to work out for them.  Landline wasn't perfect - there were a few things I wished were tied up better in the end - but I had a highly enjoyable weekend reading it.

The Girl With Borrowed Wings by Rinsai Rossetti
This book is odd.  In some ways it's a typical YA paranormal romance - ordinary girl meets supernatural boy and sneaks around behind her parents' backs to be with him - but in most ways it's not.  It's set in the Middle East, and has a timeless feel, like a tale out of the Arabian Nights.  The writing is beautiful, maybe veering a little too close to purple prose sometimes but not overly so.  I did think the solution at the end was too simplistic; I wanted more revenge!  But that wouldn't have fit in as well with the rest of the story. :-D