Twitterature, July 2014

Summer used to be my season of reading: a time to devour whatever literary treats met my eyes without all those pesky school requirements. My neck aches at the thought of my usual July posture. Not so these days. Between starting the baby on solids, reminding my two older children how to play together (and that it's okay to play separately too - really), and shifting the air conditioner between bedrooms to manage the post-solstice heat-wave, I haven't found a whole lot of time to binge-read. Unlike the summers of my youth, I haven't been stretching out with a new book every other afternoon, but I've been reading a bit every day at breakfast, lingering over coffee without the worry of getting anyoune off to school, and making the most of the odd nurse-and-nap day with Little Miss Doesn't-like-the-heat. Also, unlike last month, I really enjoyed everything I picked up, and even read some of it outside. I'll call that a win.

Here's what I read this month:

The Housemaid's Daughter, by Barbara Mutch
This book reminded me a lot of The Poisonwood Bible, but with less bitterness and more hope. It focussed on a single character caught between the world of white and black during the codification of South Africa's Apartheid. Good thoughts on the power of music, both to educate the mind and soothe the soul, and how relationship, more than blood, is what really makes a family. 

The Program, by Suzanne Young
This novel is a slightly distopian thriller where an outbreak of teen suicide is countered by forced entry into the Program, a regimen of drugs and therapy that strips sufferers of depression from all "infected" memories. Approachable and thought-provoking, it explores the fallacy of therapy without trust and the difference between forgetfulness and closure. I'm looking forward to the sequel. 

The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton
I've been meaning to pick up something by Kate Morton for quite some time, and I'm so glad I finally managed it. This novel was a wonderful page-turner, with a complex plot, and a mystery that kept me guessing right up to the final pages. I'll be reading more of Morton's work in the future.

That's all for this time around. If your reading list is lacking, do check out the rest of the linked-up reviews over at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

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