What I Read in August 2022

August, what happened?  I didn't read anything or finish anything until August 23rd...  I hope to make up for things in September...

Ground Zero by Alan Gratz.  Middle grade.

One sentence summary: A nine- year- old experiences 9/11 from inside one of the towers, there is also a 2nd timeline from Afghanistan where an eleven-year-old experiences the war on terror, or whatever it was called.

Thoughts: it was a quick read, and the reason I picked it up.  I haven't really read a lot about 9/11 or watched anything since I watched it happen on live TV in 2001 and I and should fix that...  

The book was a quick read, and while I wanted to yell at the kid for being stupid, it is middle grade.

I highly preferred the 9/11 chapters (they alternate) to the Afghanistan chapters, and while they do eventually connect, I kind of wish it would have just stuck to the one character... I gave this 4 stars.

I have another Alan Gratz book in the house, I will read at some point.

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf.  Adult, thriller?

One sentence summary:  A mystery man takes an entire town's school (all the grades in one building) hostage.  

Thoughts: Heather Gudenkauf is one of my favorite authors, but this was not my favorite book of hers.  The actions of most of the characters had me wanting to club them over the head, and one POV was not needed (there were five.)   It was OK... 3.75 stars. 

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky.  Non-fiction.

One sentence summary: It's the history...of salt.

Thoughts: This was my 'fishing book' as in the book I took fishing last spring so I'd have something to read that I could pick up and not need to remember the plot.  Then we stopped going fishing so I stopped reading it.  

I finally just picked it back up and read the last 150 pages to get it off my pile and so I could say I read three books in August and not just two.  

It had some interesting parts here and there, then it would get boring, then it got a little interesting, but by the end I was done reading about salt and all it's forms. 

I did enjoy the punny chapter titles (an Odium of Sodium...) but I think I preferred the author's book on cod more.  I have Paper, also by the author somewhere in my house but I'm not ready to read it just yet.

I gave this book 3.75 salty stars.

Reading month summary: it was a [raspberry sounds] reading month.  I just did not want to read.  That's all I have to say about it.

There are several read-a-thons, challenges, and book club books, plus library holds arriving soon, on the agenda for September, plus I have about three or four books in progress so things can only go up in the reading department.   

Soccer practice (we finally have a coach!) three hours a week, cross country meets (3-4 hours each, at least once per week) and school parking waiting time, give me a lot of reading time in September.  Time to put on my RBF so no wants to talk to me during sporting events :P  It would also help if my 'hey squirrel!' attention span, and school-has-started exhaustion would take a hike. It could be a good reading month, it could be worse than August... no one will know until October 1st.