July Books

One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballard

Keywords: tiny farmtown in Illinois,1971, hippie coach, baseball, underdogs, non-fiction

Last sentence: Then, without a word, he will turn and walk out into the cool Macon night.

Thoughts: This book made me laugh out loud multiple times. There are a few one liners in it that are TOO FUNNY. Even the caption for Macon’s water tower is hilarious. One Shot at Forever is another narrative non-fiction GEM. Now I would like to take a moment of silence and appreciate Miller’s backflip.

Okay, great. Moving on.

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Keywords: (loose) Mular retelling, Japan, honor, sumurais, the Black Clan, political schemes

Last sentence: Vanishing into the night.

Thoughts: Personally, I liked Flame in the Mist better than The Wrath and The Dawn and The Rose and the Dagger. Probably because it’s a MULAN RETELLING. (AAAAH.) I’m a sucker for “girl-pretends-to-be-boy-in-order-to-accomplish-mission-and-more-importantly-to-give-readers-awesome-books” stories. Also, I think the writing style was a little different in this one. There’s more sentence fragments, which I liked. And I have to mention the cover. After reading the book, part of it makes so much more sense now.

Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Keywords: Christmas break, quirky guests, secrets, a mystery, investigation

Last sentence: “See you soon.”

Thoughts: The Greenglass House is middlegrade (written for kids), so even though the story takes place in an inn that provides lodging for smugglers and thieves, it’s a (mostly) cozy sort of story with hot chocolate and sledding. I’ve heard this book compared to the Mysterious Benedict Society series, which I can see, but Greenglass House is a lot less complex.

The Red Rose Crew by Daniel J. Boyne

Keywords: rowing, the Olympics, women fighting for recognition in sports, 1970s

Last sentence: It was a look of almost pure joy, and it mirrored what he saw in his team’s eyes.

Thoughts: I’ve never rowed a serious stroke in my life, but then I read The Boys in the Boat. (AKA my second favorite book of all time. The only complaint I’ve heard is that it’s a bit boring, which I can understand, but I was captivated the whole entire time. IT’S SO AMAZING.) And I fell HEADS OVERS HEELS in love with the sport. The Red Rose Crew wasn’t as good, but it was still wonderful.

I watched Big Hero 6 for the second time yesterday and found out there’s a POST CREDITS SCENE. Wait, WHAT?? That is so awesome. It has to do with Fred. A secret room. And maybe some underwear. Have you watched it? Also, if more Mulan retellings exist, TELL ME DOWN BELOW.

 

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