The Rest Of My August Reading

Well, I definitely read a lot less when I'm working full-time! Hahaha! However, even though I didn't read as much as I did in the first weeks of August, I did manage to read a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction for the last of my August reading.

This book pairs really well with The Rose Code. It takes you further into the stories of Bletchley Park and I'm almost positive Kate Quinn read this book and used it as major source material. It was so good and I sped through it.

This book was a powerful book -- it talked about mental health openly (which I loved), it talked about undocumented immigrants and some of their stresses, and it was a great story about the power of family and food. I just wanted to sit down and eat Pen's food.

You may remember that I read Ten Beach Road in July about a trio of women who lose everything, thanks to a Ponzi scheme, and then renovate a house that has somehow become their sole valuable possession? Well this was another book in the series. It was okay, light entertainment, BUT... I don't care if you were writing in 2014 and you cast a main character as partially Native American -- it is NEVER okay to use some of the descriptions that this author used to described this character's moods. I would be reading and getting a little lost in the story and then BAM! A majorly racist description would appear. It was jarring and I almost put the book down a few times because of it. I really don't think I'll read anymore by this author because I was so turned off. (And 2014 me wasn't perfect, and 2021 me isn't perfect, but I'm not going to perpetuate that crap.)

 

For my Blog Friends' Book Club, not once has one of us not read the entire book. However, due to some miscommunication, I hadn't read this book the night before we were supposed to meet. Everyone graciously re-scheduled so that I could read it and I'm so glad they did. This book was hilarious, pointed, and I thought it was sooooo good. I love how Grant used examples from his own life to show his points, I loved how he challenged people kindly (and hilariously) to re-examine their assumptions -- I just loved it all. This will likely be one of the books I highlight again at the end of September as one of the best books I read this quarter. You should read it too!

I had this book out a few months ago and didn't get it read. Then I picked it up again and couldn't put it down. This is a teen book about police brutality, about a young man trying to sort out what he believes and where he belongs and how to walk the journey of being a black man in a white world. I thought it was a little old for Sam so I didn't recommend it to him yet, but I will in a few years. And I'm definitely checking out the second book in this series, Dear Justyce.

Yes, I ended the month with more World War II code breaking! Hahaha!!! I tell you, when I go down a rabbit hole, I really commit to it! This book was not what I expected. The first part was more interesting but definitely filled with Polish pride, which is fair. For the longest time, because of wartime secrets almost everyone gave the British the credit for breaking one of the toughest German codes of World War II. However, in reality, a group of three Polish mathematicians broke it in the early 1930s. Their contributions, which they shared with the French and the British, allowed the rest of the world (read: Bletchley Park) to make even bigger gains during World War II. So, all this to say is that the idea of setting the record straight is really important.

The small press which published this book thought it would enhance the book to add a few appendices of extra journal articles about code breaking for the last half of the book. I didn't enjoy them and slogged through them. If you want a readable book about code breaking, read the first one I recommended in this post. If you want a book which is more academic and provides a more solid foundation, then read this one.

So this is what I read the last weeks of August. Have I interested you into following me into the world of World War II code breaking yet?!?!? What's the last reading rabbit hole you fell into? Tell me, and maybe I'll join you!