July Reads

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson:
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment
School's Out - Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
Max
Fang
Angel

I think I may have broken my own personal record by reading all seven books in the Maximum Ride series in eight days. Highly acclaimed, the books are fast-paced, well-written, and memorable. The story and characters compelled me to shun human interaction for the greater part of a week. But in the last half of the third book, the author whips out a "save the earth" agenda.

It made me so mad, I didn't want to read the rest of them. But I couldn't stay away, especially since I could get them all as eBooks from the library and read them on my phone. It's a good series; I just hate it when authors have a blatant, pre-determined agenda.

"Children of God," on the other hand, blew me away. It's the sequel to "The Sparrow," which I think everyone should read. It wasn't as good as its prequel, but it was, nonetheless, breathtaking.

"Ella Minnow Pea" (read that out loud) was also on my list of favorite books this month; it's a fun, quick read which I can unreservedly recommend to anyone, especially anyone who loves the alphabet.

Have you read any of these? What did you think? What do you think about authors' pre-determined agendas?