June Wrap-Up + A Few Reviews

I'm catching up! 

If you create a goal in Goodreads, they keep you updated on your progress. They'll tell you how many books you've read towards that goal, and how many books you are behind or ahead of schedule. I've been behind schedule for a few months now, but I'm catching back up :)

All in all I read 6 books in June; not bad. My genres varied as expected: mostly mystery, with non-fiction, contemporary, and romance thrown in. 

Cotillion by Georgette Heyer was my last read of the month. This was my second novel by her, and while it didn't end up being what I expected, I enjoyed it nonetheless. I was expecting a regency romance characteristic of Heyer. What I got instead was a humorous narrative of 1800's London, with a dash of romance. I'm looking forward to my next read by this author!

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is written in the style of my favorite mysteries: a whodunnit. A review I read of this title claimed that you would never be able to guess the culprit, and I would have to agree, however, about 3/4 of the way through, I began to get a feeling as to where Christie was taking her story. Regardless, her writing is superb and her villains, whether you guess who they are or not, never fail to knock your socks off. Plus, I have to admire an author that can contain an intelligent mystery within a few hundred pages. 

Hannah Coulter was my first foray into Wendell Berry's works. I would describe this novel as uneventful yet utterly absorbing. His novel is character-driven rather than plot-driven and I found myself getting lost in the world of the Coulters and their friends and neighbors. I flew through this one, but I'd love to read it again with pencil in hand. 

I'll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara is my most recent read. I started this true-crime tale fairly recently after it was first released but ended up setting it aside for other titles. I'm still not quite sure about my feelings regarding this one. McNamara's writing is intelligent without being dry. I enjoyed the fact that the novel focused its lens more on the people involved in the case rather than the man himself. Part of this can probably be attributed to the fact that the Golden State Killer was still at large at the time this book was published, but I also get the feeling that Michelle cared more about the people affected than the criminal. There's some dark, tough stuff within these pages; Michelle does a fair job at including necessary detail without being gratuitous. The last 30 pages were a slog for me because they were written by those close to Michelle after she passed away and you notice a marked difference between writing styles. I don't imagine I will ever return to this title, but I appreciate the insight I received into cold-case detective work. 

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