These are the books I read in June 2020 with a rating reflecting my opinion on them. I am leaving books not in English out for your convenience. At the bottom, I will be sharing some recommendations that fall under the category fiction, non-fiction, or non-fiction political. These recommendations are books I have not read myself, so proceed with caution as I cannot speak to their actual quality.
Read
The Man He Became by James Tobin
Read for VC Book Club, this is a riveting read detailing FDR’s life from 1921 to 1932 through the lense of Polio. The author provides ample information about the disease itself, the people surrounding FDR and the politics of it all, forming a uniquely vivid picture of the circumstances. Truly a fantastically structured and presented insight into the former President, sparking almost inevitable respect and regard in every reader.
Friends by Jan Soeken
The art style is quite nice and the general idea interesting, but it felt incomplete and a bit hard to understand. Not much to take away from it. A bit lackluster in my opinion.
Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey
This story focuses on the aftermath of a teenager’s disappearance from the viewpoint of her mother. The mystery of what happened in the 4 days the daughter was missing kept me on the edge of my seat. The relationships between the characters are a little weird and the general sense of unresolvedness is unsatisfyingly satisfying. The only things that bothered me a little were that occasionally the story was too vague and that the characters didn’t really get any closure.
A by Pavel Čech
A simple but powerful portrayal of totalitarian societies, tied to the power of language. This graphic novel does not have any words beyond single letters, but the vivid and beautiful images transcend words and transmit a visceral experience. Educational as well as beautiful.
Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas
Two boys with supernatural abilities correspond through letters, sharing their pain, joy and particular loneliness. Their powers cause as much pain as they elevate the characters to superhuman levels. The narrative voices are incredibly vivid, the world unfolds like a beautiful flower exposing its secrets. And there are a lot of mysteries in this story which one by one get unveiled. A wonderful read.
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The second book in the series continues the story of Percy and his friends. A year has passed since the events of The Lightning Thief and a new adventure awaits. Between a new threat, quest, and baby brother, Percy faces the world straight ahead. The story is yet again engaging and there are a select few good plot twists thrown in. After the conclusion of this adventure we are left with a massive cliffhanger, just begging us to read the next book. Sea of Monsters builds perfectly on the first installment while making you hunger for more.
My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1 by Nagata Kabi
I picked this up not having read anything by this author previously but having a friend of mine vigorously recommend her. It was a short, engaging read with beautiful art. Some elements I couldn’t connect as much to and the introspective felt a little incomplete and even uncomfortable at times. The topics discussed are definitely important and the rawness of it all is very impactful.
Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron
Angels are falling from the sky, dying on impact. The world tries to cope with it, in all the ways humans do. At the center of this book is Jaya whose father is obsessed with the Beings, as they are referred to, so much so that he takes his family to Edinburgh to search for them. Jaya and her sister Rani are less and more supportive, respectively, but everything changes when Jaya finds a live Being. With new friends Allie and Callum, they try to help the Being, christened Teacake, to return home. At times, the characters were a little flat, but still delightful. An interesting read, if not perfect in its execution.
Deadline by Bollée & Rossi
A tale of a man whose life is defined by loss and pain. Losing his parents as a young child, fighting in the civil war, deserting it, living a lonely life and dying alone. The art style and layout is gorgeous and some story elements very intriguing, but the majority felt disjoined, clunky and unrealistic. There was a lot of potential here, but it wasn’t used properly at all.
Recommendations
Fiction
Finna by Nino Capri
“When an elderly customer at a big box furniture store slips through a portal to another dimension, it’s up to two minimum-wage employees to track her across the multiverse and protect their company’s bottom line. Multi-dimensional swashbuckling would be hard enough, but our two unfortunate souls broke up a week ago.”
This is How it Happened by Paula Stokes
“When Genevieve Grace wakes up from a coma, she can’t remember the car crash that injured her and killed her boyfriend Dallas, a YouTube star who had just released his first album. Genevieve knows she was there, and that there was another driver, a man named Brad Freeman, who everyone assumes is guilty. But as she slowly pieces together the night of the accident, Genevieve is hit with a sickening sense of dread—that maybe she had something to do with what happened.”
Political
Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage by Noah Andre Trudeau
“America’s Civil War raged for more than four years, but it is the three days of fighting in the Pennsylvania countryside in July 1863 that continues to fascinate, appall, and inspire new generations with its unparalleled saga of sacrifice and courage. From Chancellorsville, where General Robert E. Lee launched his high-risk campaign into the North, to the Confederates’ last daring and ultimately-doomed act, forever known as Pickett’s Charge, the battle of Gettysburg gave the Union army a victory that turned back the boldest and perhaps greatest chance for a Southern nation.”
Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America’s Democracy by David Daley
“With Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008, pundits proclaimed the Republicans as dead as the Whigs of yesteryear. Yet even as Democrats swooned, a small cadre of Republican operatives, including Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie, and Chris Jankowski began plotting their comeback with a simple yet ingenious plan. These men had devised a way to take a tradition of dirty tricks—known to political insiders as “ratf**king”—to a whole new, unprecedented level.”
Nonfiction
One by One by One: Making a Small Difference Amid a Billion Problems by Aaron Berkowitz
“Dr. Aaron Berkowitz had just finished his neurology training when he was sent to Haiti on his first assignment with Partners In Health. There, he meets Janel, a 23-year-old man with the largest brain tumor Berkowitz or any of his neurosurgeon colleagues at Harvard Medical School have ever seen. Determined to live up to Partners In Health’s mission statement “to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need,” Berkowitz tries to save Janel’s life by bringing him back to Boston for a 12-hour surgery. In One by One by One, Berkowitz traces what he learns and grapples with as a young doctor trying to bridge the gap between one of the world’s richest countries and one of the world’s poorest to make the first big save of his medical career.”
Disability Visibility : First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century edited by Alice Wong
“A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, “an art…an ingenious way to live.””
The Congressional Report 