Turn the Page... Tuesday!

I have a lot to report on this month!  I had quite a bit of reading time since I was not able to train for almost 2-weeks.  That, and car maintenance visits, dentist appointments, etc - places to sneak some reading in.

As always, many thanks to Adrienne over at Some of a Kind for the great idea of Turn the Page... Tuesday.  For more info, or to participate, visit her site. (Go there... you'll like it!)

So... what did I read this month?

First... my Book Club Book for July - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
What a wonderful and frustrating book.  I adored the characters (well, most of them.. Hilly), but am saddened by what I expect to be a rather truthful explanation of the situations in which the "Help" live.  It hurts to know that people once felt (and some still feel) that skin color makes one group better or worse than another.  I'm very excited to discuss this book with the group - I'm VERY curious to hear everyone's perspectives on equal rights, racism, and segregation.
BTW, I'm going to give this book a 4 out of 5 when we rate it at Book Club.  I suspect it will get similar ratings from others... but we'll see.  Sometimes these gals surprise me.

The second book I finished was none other than one about our good friend, Sookie!

From Dead to Worse is book 8 in Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series.  Lots of resolutions in this book, lots of action, but not much else.  Poor Sookie didn't really have a story line... she was just in the story - know what I mean?  I suspect this was a "wrap things up and set things up (for the next book)" kind of story.  We'll see what book 9 brings about... I might get to it in July, we'll see.

After these two books, I started a bunch more... 
My book club is having a "Big Book Challenge" this year... reading a heavy, dense, many page book.  It will be "due" in mid-August, I think.  That's when we'll discuss it.

 For this challenge, the group picked David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.  I'm about 100-pages into the story and am slightly losing interest.  It's not that the story is not interesting, but it is not the most uplifting of stories.  I'm not giving up on David, tho.  Ya never know what the next 700 pages might bring.  Besides... if it doesn't kill me, it only makes me stronger.  Literally - this book weighs a TON! (tee hee)


Okay, what else?
Oh yeah... I went to two library book sales in the last few weeks!

One of the many books I picked up (for myself) was Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.  I've never read any True Crime books before, so this was fascinating to me.  It tells the (true) story of two man, living parallel lives during Chicago's shining hour - the World's Fair of 1893.  One is the architect of the buildings used for the fair, the other is a cold blooded killer who used the fair to lure women to their deaths.  Here, again, I'm only part way into it (yes, I'm reading too much at once), but it's captivating me thus far.

Finally... (also at the book sale), I found a book I think might be for my niece.  Tho, I will likely hold on to it till she's between 10-12 years old (a more appropriate age for the story).

 This book is Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.  I'm really enjoying this young-reader "mystery/adventure" story about an almost-13-year-old boy and his BFF, Lizzy.  Jeremy receives a mysterious box from his dad (who passed away 5 years ago) about a month before his 13th birthday.  Problem is, the keys to open the box are lost (and there's no other way to get inside without destroying the contents).  So Jeremy & Lizzy go in search of them.  I'm only 1/2 way through, so I don't know the meaning of life yet, but it's been a fun ride so far.

Is that is?  Yes.  I think so.  I picked up a BUNCH of other books at the sales, but haven't done much more than glance at the covers.  It's terrible that I only have so many hours in a day... there's SO many good books to read.  I know I'll never get to them all.  * sigh *