Books I read in July

Surprise! Sorry friends, but I was on vacation in the mountains and while I got a ton of reading done, I did not get a ton of reviews done. Also I read a lot of Palestinian authors this July, so I made some choices about posting after I was back in Canada. Anyway, it's a holiday Monday, hope it was a good one for you. What did you read in July?

1. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad – this book is extraordinary. Part memoir, it weaves together his experience as an Arab-Canadian-American with conflict in Egypt and Afghanistan and Canada and Palestine. It’s so well-written. It asks the right questions. The answers it calls upon the reader to contemplate are devastating.
2.  Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – Granny and Nanny are always so fun, and opera people really are that ridiculous. I’m so thrown by the Cable Street Particulars after reading Night Watch, though! Sam Vimes would never have brought them back after that experience, I don’t think.
3. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (audio) – like the first Tiffany Aching book, this one was tough sledding as an adult reader. I kept thinking it was ending and it wasn’t. But its lesson is that the real witchcraft is care work. That’ll preach. 
4. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – this one was very fun to read again, knowing where the City Watch characters go. I had totally forgotten the origin story of Cheery Littlebottom. Plus, great thoughts on no kings.
5. Joe Country by Mick Herron – woof there was so much table-setting before we could get to the good stuff and then it all ended in a rush. Glad to see Martin Kreutzmer get what was coming to him though. That guy.
6. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear – it was something, reading about the opening days of WWII, though the murder mystery wasn’t my favourite
7. Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood – silly but very fun. I might have a new “rich person solves crimes in the 1920s” series on my hands.
8. The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann – a classic for a reason. And the revolutionary imagination is what is needed in this moment. To grieve, to have compassion, to acknowledge that the harm is not normal or accepted or okay with God is a radical act! And to proclaim the death of a world controlled by death is the Gospel.
9. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (audio)  – I liked this one! I enjoy a “con man makes good” and a “capitalism is bad” story.
10. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – non-religious people always think religious people are offended by jokes about the ridiculousness of religion – but we make the most jokes about our ridiculous selves. And in amidst the jokes, there are a number of good lessons for religious people to keep in mind. This is a great one.
11. The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai – I never totally knew where I was in this book plot-wise, but the characters were great. We’ll see how the second book turns out.
12. Jingo by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – darkly funny and anti-imperialist
13. Hello Stranger by Katherine Center – Katherine Center writes books about women who have difficult relationships with their parents who fall in love with men who’ve been poorly treated by previous partners. Every single one has made me cry, copiously. And then she writes these Author’s Notes about how believing in love is believing in hope, how rom-coms are important and shouldn’t be dismissed in favour of serious literary fiction and I agree but her books just wreck me. Some of y’all know the story of my own difficult relationship with my parents, and in this one the lead got such a great cathartic moment and an apology that I’ll never get and just – I cried a lot, y’all. So surprising content warnings abound for a story about love, where everyone lives happily ever after.
14. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (audio) – I always read the Sam Vimes ones too fast! They are just so compelling. I’m chasing after him like he chases criminals.
15. Lost: Back to the Island by Emily St James and Noel Murray – God, I miss Television Without Pity
16. The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope by Munther Isaac – what is sad is how out of date this book is, having been written in 2020. This lament and plea to be heard by evangelical Christians, to treat Jews and Muslims as neighbours, for a one state solution in which everyone can be free can only be read now, as Gaza starves, with one’s heart in one’s throat. 
17. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – I love re-encountering the Watch in its early days, and had totally forgotten the “How Carrot Finds Out Angua’s a Werewolf” scene
18. Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings – like Lakewood, an intriguing high-concept premise that doesn’t quite land for me. Something wild happens, and the rest of the book is the characters reacting to it. But there’s no resolution, like life. But I don’t read stories to be like life.
19. Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria – I love this series. But what is the deal with romance novels and crappy parents? This is the second one this month I’ve read with this trope, and thinking back over the last several I’ve read (in different periods/cultures, with different authors), I’m realizing how common it is. In this story, the couple never have the stereotypical misunderstanding where they break up before realizing it’s true love – the major climax is a big apology from one of the lead’s parents, thus allowing her to love the man pursuing her, who has patiently understood why she’s been keeping him hidden for months. I like Alexis Daria’s characters and storytelling. But if anybody has any recs for romance that don’t involve a big scene with somebody’s awful parents at the end, I’ll take it. 
20. The Catch by Mick Herron – short and bleakly humorous, relevant to the news these days
21. To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear – this one was not my fave
22. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (audio) – I think I’ve figured out what bugs me about these. The lesson is so clear from the beginning – usually stated by Granny Weatherwax early on – and it takes so long to get to the story that illustrates the moral. Too fairy tale, not enough narrative. Which is too bad, because the moral is good – especially for the clergy. Anagramma learning that the whole job is just listening to people who need someone to talk to is one many priests could learn – myself not least! But it can be wearing to be hit over the head with it for a 7-hour audiobook.