Linda Book Lady’s July 2021 Reading Report & Diary

The heat is getting to me – taking away my energy. I want to sleep – but I need to read. I have lots of books on my TBR. This is no time to lose energy. Summer sunshine.

My July Word of the Month

Perseverance

My July Haiku of the Month

Physical weakness
Takes over relentlessly
Sapping energy

Bible Verse of the Month

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13

My July reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.

My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm

My reading list codes:
☆ – I own the book and am ready to read.
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
DNF – I did not like it or finish it.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.
↓ – I didn’t even start. Complete fail!

Jane Austen July

I’m participating in a Booktube event called Jane Austen July. There are quite a few prompts but I don’t want Jane Austen to take over my month, so I’ll be doing only four of the prompts. Two are for books and two are for TV or movies.

∅ Classic Fiction: Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen

I’ve started reading this. I tried listening to an audiobook but immediately became too confused about the characters and what they were doing, since I’m not familiar with their customs. I switched to a Kindle edition and got along with that much better. At least now I know who Fanny Price is and that most of her relatives are dingbats.

↓ Classic Nonfiction: Letters of Jane Austen, by Jane Austen

I really don’t know what to expect, but I’m open to learning more. There’s something so invasive about reading through the correspondence of someone long-gone, uncovering her innermost secrets. I wonder if she anticipated having millions of strangers seeking out her soul this way. I ask myself, “Should I read these letters, or shouldn’t I?”

The Third Booktube Spin

The Third Booktube Spin happened at the end of June and I participated. I had to come up with a list of twenty books I wanted to read. Rick MacDonnell is the creator of this spin which has become very popular on Booktube. We apparently like the random surprise of having a book chosen for us. The appointed books are to be read during the next three months. Here’s my video with twenty books set in California:

The results? Rick surprised us…

Therefore, during the coming three months I’ll be reading:

∅ California Fiction: California Gold, by John Jakes

I was SO EXCITED when this book was chosen. STILL excited. Even though this is the longest book on my list of twenty books, it is the one I wanted to read the most. Bill Ruttenberg, another Booktuber, inspired me to want to read this with a bookshelf tour video a year ago.

⇗ California Nonfiction: The Barbary Coast, by Herbert Asbury

I started reading this book years ago for novel research. Then it sat on my shelf neglected for years. Then it burned in the historic forest fire of September 8, 2020… just as I was considering picking it up again to read the rest. Well, I put it on my list for the Booktube Spin and sure enough – I had to buy another copy. I’m happy to be able to read it. I plan to start from the beginning again. [Finished this book in November.]

Big Book Summer Reading Challenge

I’m still reading big books this summer. So far I’ve finished two: The Masterpiece, by Francine Rivers (512 pages), and Lark Rise to Candleford, by Flora Thompson (544 pages).

Here’s Sue’s video explaining the challenge she created.

✓ Christian Romance: Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers

This will be my second book by Francine Rivers. This novel is set in historic California so that intrigues me. Christian fiction – maybe a “final frontier” for me. Maybe not. This book has been praised by many, so I’m giving it a try.

Another book I’m reading for the Big Book Summer Reading Challenge is The Stammering Century.

∅ Nonfiction: The Stammering Century, by Gilbert Seldes

This is novel research. It is about cults, cranks, manias, and religious fanaticism of the 1800’s in the USA. I love that folk art was used for the cover!

Poetry

⇗ Children’s Poetry: Falling Up, by Shel Silverstein

I’m reading this for the PopSugar Reading Challenge prompt, to read a book with an oxymoron in the title. [Finished reading this in August, but not a fan.]

∅ Classic Epic Poem: The Divine Comedy (The Inferno, The Purgatorio, and The Paradiso), by Dante Alighieri

I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time. I’m still in part one, The Inferno. Not a good place to be.

My July 2021 Reading Diary

July 1 – I spent the day creating videos… here’s the June Wrapup.

July 2 – And now, the July TBR!

July 3 – I started reading Mansfield Park and am continuing with the audio-reading of Roughing It, though I’ve wavered quite a bit on whether or not I wanted to read Mark Twain. He is so not politically correct by our present day standards. Here’s an update I just left on that book at Goodreads: “Clearly, Mark Twain didn’t care who he insulted with his opinions, tall tales, satire and wild exaggerations. He didn’t live by the PC rules of our times and didn’t worry about rules of civility he wasn’t aware of. What he cared about was writing an amusing story and giving his honest opinions. In that he succeeded, though these days it is easy to get riled up by reading things that go against our current ethics.”

In other bookish endeavors – today I started a reread of The Barbary Coast, by Herbert Asbury… which years ago I read maybe 1/3 of. I started over from the beginning. This is the history of San Francisco from the beginning through the gold rush. A man named Captain W.A. Richardson built the first home in Yerba Buena Cove in 1835 after being appointed harbor master there. It was 4 redwood posts with a canvas sail over them. Apparently the only previous structures in the area were Mission Dolores 2+1/2 miles south of there, and the Presidio, a Mexican military post near the Golden Gate, both established in 1776.

Portsmouth Square is a probable location for Captain Richardson’s home. This map shows the distance from there to the Presidio and from there to Mission San Francisco de Asis, aka: Mission Dolores.

July 9 – I just finished reading Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers… a Christian romance novel set in the California gold rush, mid-1800’s. I couldn’t put it down. So good! I’ve actually seen posts of women online who say they reread this book every year and learn new things from it. I don’t think I’ll go that far with it, but I’m glad I read it once. Here’s my Goodreads review of Redeeming Love.

July 17 – I don’t think I’ve finished anything lately. I’m just trying to read a little from each book daily – but sometimes can’t even do that because of out-of-town trips and other things happening in my life. I’m enjoying Valley of Little Rivers by Wally Coleman – a local book, and hard to find apparently. The Josephine County (Oregon) Historical Society helped publish it. I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying the Christian allegorical book, Hinds Feet in High Places. I didn’t think I’d be able to get into a book with a main character named Much-Afraid, but I was so, so wrong.