Big Book Summer Wrap-Up

Big Book Summer ended up being a great success for me. When the summer began, I expected that between Memorial Day and Labor Day I might read 2 or 3 books with more than 400 pages. I am amazed to look back and realize that I read 7! 

Here are the big books I read, from shortest to longest: 

Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton (audio)
483 pages
Finished 8/11/21

This is the final book of Sue Grafton's series about private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Unfortunately, it was only a two-star read for me, but now that I've finished the series, I'm looking forward to going back and re-reading my favorite books from the beginning of the series. 

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

485 pages 
Finished 6/14/21 

At the last minute, I joined a read-along for this book on Instagram back in June. The rest of the members of the group seemed to really like it, but I thought it was just okay. 

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (audio)
516 pages
Finished 7/7/21 

This science fiction novel about a Jesuit priest who travels through time and space to meet an alien race from another planet was brutal at some points, but so fascinating. The story raised a lot of important questions about the purpose of human suffering. 

Fox's Earth by Anne Rivers Siddons (audio)

546 pages
Finished 6/17/21
I love to read Siddons in the summer. I didn't love this one as much as Colony, but Sally Darling is the narrator of both books and she is fantastic. It was pretty dark and depressing for much of the book, but I ended up giving it four stars because of how much I loved Rip, the black woman who works for the family at the center of the story who is the only truly sympathetic character in the book.
 

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (audio)
569 pages
Finished 8/31/21
I am reading this with a local friend, but we've had a few false starts. For months it wasn't available on audio at our libraries, but then it suddenly appeared in both Libby and Hoopla and it was much easier to get into it by listening. I am finding more and more that I really enjoy books set in the American West.  

The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
582 pages
Finished 8/20/21
I took this to the beach and then didn't have much time to read it and wound up finishing it at home. It was an enjoyable family saga, but maybe not quite as good as this author's Winter Solstice.

 

Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer by Anne Rule (audio)
665 pages 
Finished reading 7/11/21
My biggest book was this true crime book by Anne Rule. This was a great follow-up to The Stranger Beside Me. I really like her books that focus on crimes to which she has had a personal connection.