Monthly Challenges for June

 

June # title contains at least 5 of the letters of supercalifragilcexpialidocious

The Last of Her Kind



Author: Sigrid Nunez

Genre: fiction

Page number: 407

First published: 2006

Rating: four stars

First sentence: We had been living together for about a week when my roommate told me she had asked specifically to be paired with a girl from a world as different as possible from her own.

One sentence comment: It’s like an American social history from 60’s to 80’s seen through the lives of two women from contrasting social background.

 

I spent three weeks reading this book slowly because I felt the protagonists were so real and their lives penetrated into my mental picture of American culture, which was so sophisticated at the time that I, as Taiwanese, could hardly imagine it before. 

 

June # Goodreads rating 4.0 plus

The Giver


Author: Lois Lowry

Genre: Dystopian fiction

Page number: 225

First published: 1993

Rating: 3 stars

First sentence: It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.

One sentence comment: I never like dystopian fiction except the novel 1984 by George Orwell; however, I can see this book is well structured, enlightening and easy to read.

 

June # a book with a cover you love

Murder on Mulberry Bend (Gaslight mystery #5)



Author: Victoria Thompson

Genre: historical mystery

Page number: 343

First published: 2003

Rating: 4 stars

First sentence: “I hope you enjoy the evening.”

One sentence comment: Like in other books of the series, the protagonists are fun and intriguing.

 

I have been following the series, which give a midwife the role of detective, and this is the fifth book in the series. This book becomes my favorite among its predecessors.  It has the longest length, while others are less than 300 pages. It encompasses various elements that make the book most interesting. First, it delineates psychological complexity humorously of both protagonists, Sarah and Frank, from the very beginning. Second, it shows a charity at the time to save girls in the Italian district 200 years ago. Third, it provides religious wisdom and  crude reality at the same time, but Sarah combats both with her sense of justice and reasoning. However, I am disappointed about the ending, which I think is a cliché and incredible. That’s why I only give this book four stars.