School’s out! June was a doozy of month to get there though and as a result I read only two books. I definitely chose sewing over books at the end of the month once summer vacation started – it feels so good to sew for myself again! (But we’ll get to that in Friday’s June Makes post…)

Both of the books I read were recent Book of the Month Club selections. I’m very behind on those, but that doesn’t stop me from adding more to my collection every month! Hoping my ten weeks off from work really gets me moving on reading again. I set a goal to read 50 books this year, and halfway through the year I’m not halfway there yet. So we shall see…

First up, we have A Nearly Normal Family, by M.T. Edvardsson. I chose this book because – surprise, surprise! – it was a mystery/thriller novel. It was also Scandinavian noir, which I love as a genre. In the book, a family unravels when their daughter, Stella is arrested for the murder of an older man. Most of the book takes place around the trial, and how Stella’s parents try to ensure that their daughter does not get put into prison. Edvardsson tells the story in three parts and from three perspectives: father, daughter and mother. The reader gets to see their involvement in the case at different points in time, and each person’s story fills in holes from the previous narrator’s.

Though it was slow in some parts, it was a compelling read. I enjoyed hearing from all three characters, and I loved how the author used this as a technique to keep information from the reader and then slowly reveal it. Of course, I was able to piece together some things before the perspectives changed, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the journey to see if my suspicions were correct.

Up next was Necessary People, by Anna Pitoniak. This book was interesting as it involves a crime, but you know immediately who is responsible as you witness it during the narration. The novels tells the story of the destructive friendship between Violet and Stella. Poor Violet meets rich Stella, and gets adopted into her life. Violet has had to work hard for everything she has in life, whereas Stella seems to be handed everything she has ever needed or wanted on a silver platter. As you might expect, this causes friction int eh friendship eventually. Violet gets a job at a television station and works hard to rise up the production ranks. Stella, jealous, gets a job at the same station and immediately becomes an on camera star, largely taking credit for most of Violet’s work. The story that follows this is one of jealousy and betrayal, and an extremely unreliable narrator! Though I enjoyed the book, I found myself skipping ahead a little bit to find out where the author was going with it.

And now we’ve reached July – can you believe it? I’ve got a big pile of books and sewing ready to go for this summer. Let’s see how many I can get through.