In August I posted about some of my renewal adjacent reading in July. It’s now almost the end of September, and I’m just now getting round to posting about the rest of July’s books. Better late than never I guess?
Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros
This is a fantasy romance. It’s not that original—love triangle of a girl, an old childhood friend and a dangerous, morally questionable hottie. Violet planned to go to the scribe quadrant, but her mother (General Sorengail) had other ideas, so Violet finds herself at the war college, where cadets train to fight on dragons and die along the way. I really enjoyed this, though; the story moved quickly and drew me in, ending on a cliffhanger. I reserved the next book in the series immediately. (4 stars)
Transforming our Days: Finding God Amid the Noise of Modern Life – Richard R. Gaillardetz
This was a quick read. The author considers how technology shapes our days and how we can change that to be shaped by the gospel as we encounter God in our everyday. (3 stars)
LInes of note:
“part of both the appeal and the danger of modern technology is that it offers us unlimited consumption of the things we value as a packaged set of experiences with no vulnerability, sacrifice, or inconvenience” – p 47
“The encounter with God is not relegated to the “practice of religion” but is realized in the very process of being human.” (Page 74)
“For Christian practices call us to engage our world not as consumers seeking to maximize the commodities we desire, but as children of God who seek to embrace the world as gift and strive to enter into the “gifting” dynamism of the life of grace, communion, and discipleship.” (Page 113)
The Fires Next Time: Understanding Australia’s Black Summer – Peter Christoff (Ed)
This collection of essays considers Australia’s Black Summer Fires, taking various perspectives. Some consider the conditions that led to these fires being so catastrophic, the damage caused, the political response and efforts to mitigate the dangers for the future. As, usually happens with collections of essays, I found some more interesting than others. It was sobering reading. (3 stars)
The Ink Black Heart (Cormoron Strike #6) – Robert Galbraith
Cormoron and Robyn investigate the death of Edie Ledwell, co-creator of a popular cartoon, with fans that become trolls. This is a massive brick of a book and could probably have done with a cutdown in parts. Although the will they or won’t they get together tension is part of the appeal of the books, it does strain credulity that they can be so clueless reading each other when they seem to do so well reading the people they interact with in their investigations. Some good twists. Overall I enjoyed this. (4 stars)
Have you read any of these books?
Comments
4 responses to “July 2024 Books”
I’ve read Fourth Wing and also gave it four stars. I’m a sucker for a dragon story. I found the sex scenes quite upsetting, though. I feel really gross reading about teens having sex.
I also read Ink Black Heart and thought it was the weakest in the series. It was just so mean-spirited, particularly the descriptions of women. Some of the Cormoran Strike books are so good, though, so I know I’ll keep reading them.
THe sex scenes were a lot in Fourth Wing
I did read Forth Wing. And as Engie I love dragon stories. They are the best. FW was definitely entertaining. The third one comes out in January I think.
I keep stumbling across the Comoron Strike stories and wonder if that would be something I enjoy. I rarely read Crome/thriller but during fall I pick some up. Is it very bloody and/or psychologically scary?
I will be putting the third book in the series on reserve at our library as soon as it comes out. The Cormoron Strike series is not scary, I think there is crime scene descriptions but not that graphic from memory. It’s more focused on the Strike/Robyn dynamic and puzzling out the crime.