June Booklist

Just enough time before supper to post my booklist.

June's books were:

1. No Crying He Makes, Miriam Lind
   My great-aunt wrote this about raising her adopted son, who had (has) various mental disabilities. I found an old copy tucked away somewhere and realized I'd never actually read it (believe it or not, you can still buy it on Amazon! For a penny, no less. *laugh*) Aunt Miriam and I are two of a kind. We converse in our odd little styles about obscure quotes and dead authors, and Capitalize Words randomly. By rights I think I should have been her granddaughter. She has an odd writing style, but I love it.

2. The Secret Hour, Scott Westerfeld
   For young adult fantasy fiction, it's not too bad. It's fairly unique, but not spectacular. It's up for a Sequoyah award this year, but I don't think it'll win.

3. A House in Sicily, Daphne Phelps
   Ms. Phelps lived alone in Sicily in the '40s and '50s. Of course I thought it was facinating.

4. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
   This wins the prize as best book of the month, although considering what I've read this month that doesn't say too much. However, it was a very good historical novel. Slightly too frank for the younger readers, but well researched and decently written. And really, quite sad.

5. The Legend of Nightfall, Mickey Zucker Reichert
   Um. This is why I hesitate to say I like fanstasy books, because this is what most people think I mean: popular fantasy, with garish, odd looking covers, and writing that reads like a B-grade movie. I read it because someone loaned it to me and wanted my opinion. It did have one unique point in its favor, and it honestly wasn't too bad, but Tolkien is miles above it. So is Douglas Adams, for pete's sake!

6. The Singer Trilogy, Calvin Miller
   I'm not fond of prose poetry, so I could only read it in small doses, but it was a moving and unique mythic retelling of the New Testament.

7. The Arrogance of the French, Richard Chesnoff
   Well written, well spoken. And lest you turn up your nose at a book mocking the French written by just another American, Mr. Chesnoff has spent, I believe, more than 20 years living primarily in France. So there.

8. Native Tongues, Charles Berlitz
   This one was great for a language-obsessed person. (Er, me.) I'll post some of the tidbits I learned at some undetermined, but later, date.

9. Castles, Philip Steele
   Children's book it may be, but the illustrations are fantastic and there's honestly a lot of interesting information.

10. How to Lie With Maps, Mark Monmenier
    I love maps, but that wasn't enough to enjoy this book. Enough said.

11. The Resturant at the End of the Universe, Douglas Adams
    Nevermind, this one takes the prize as best book. Of course.

I'm currently reading  Guns, Germs, and Steel and it is wooonderful.