August 2019 books

August was also a lean reading month.

I read Thimble Summer when I was in elementary school, and I loved it. 1930s rural Middle America just seemed so exotic to me. It was on sale at Barnes & Noble for less than $4, so I bought it. It still holds up, although of course I no longer have the wide-eyed wonder of a child. I'm still kind of in awe that Garnet pulled off hitchhiking to a big city many miles away. I'd be too scared to do that even as an adult (but of course times are different now). There is of course a bit of time-period-usual racism and cultural appropriation, but it'll fly over most kids' heads. Everyone in the book is white, except for the Native Americans briefly mentioned in a flashback story of settler days told by someone's grandmother. Anyway, this is an award-winning classic for a reason. I recommend it for kids; I think they'll like it even today. 4/5 stars, keeping.


I read another nostalgia-based book towards the end of the month. Everything I Need to Know About Love I Learned From a Little Golden Book is an absolute mouthful of a sentence, but it was still a light, short, and fun read. Musings on mostly romantic love are paired with actual illustrations from real Little Golden Books. I read and loved Little Golden Books a lot growing up, so I enjoyed this book. However, I'm not sure I'll actually keep it. I rearranged my books on Labor Day and put books aside to give away, and I still have 4 medium stacks of books that don't fit in my 4 downstairs bookshelves (!). 3.5 out of 5 stars, tentatively keeping.