So many lovely things happened in July. First, there was the discussion of The Brothers Karamazov which I read with Arti of Ripple Effects.
Then, there was Tamara’s Paris in July 2021, during which I read Patrick Modiano for the first time. I also read Antoine Laurain for the first time, and I bought a new perfume created by the house of Molinard. Habanita made its debut in 1921, and it smells divine.
There was Stu’s Spanish Lit Month, for which I read The Foreign Girls by Sergio Olguin, sent to me by Bitter Lemon Press. I am hoping to get to Jose Saramago’s book, Cain, by the end of August.
I have read a bit more than half of my list for Cathy’s 20 Books of Summer, which has changed many times since I originally created it. One of those reasons is that the Booker Prize Longlist was released July 27.
This year’s ‘Booker Dozen’, of 13 novels, is:
- A Passage North, Anuk Arudpragasam (Granta Books, Granta Publications)
- Second Place, Rachel Cusk, (Faber)
- The Promise, Damon Galgut, (Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH)
- The Sweetness of Water, Nathan Harris (Tinder Press, Headline, Hachette Book Group)
- Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)
- An Island, Karen Jennings (Holland House Books)
- A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson (Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH)
- No One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)
- The Fortune Men, Nadifa Mohamed (Viking, Penguin General, PRH)
- Bewilderment, Richard Powers (Hutchinson Heinemann, PRH)
- China Room, Sunjeev Sahota (Harvill Secker, Vintage, PRH)
- Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead (Doubleday, Transworld Publishers, PRH)
- Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford (Faber)
Of course, I searched our library for any titles which they might own, and put the ones I found on hold. Quite possibly I will review them, briefly, once they are read.
On August 10 this domain (dolcebellezza.net) will expire, and I am hoping to continue on WordPress’ free site with dolcebellezza2.wordpress.com. Of course, if I open up my blog on August 11 and find nothing, I may have to start over. At any rate, you may begin using dolcebellezza2.wordpress.com right now if you wish; it takes you here anyway.
I have a terrible thirst to reread old favorites. One of my dear friends once asked me, “Why would you spend time rereading when there are so many books yet unread?” But, the thing is, I have so many favorite books that I love so much and I miss them. I also have all five of The Cazalet Chronicles, which are certainly calling from the shelf on which they currently sit.
And so, I begin August with a post for The Sunday Salon hosted by Readerbuzz, joining many others who highlight their reading lives for us. August appears to hold many promises as we enjoy the final days of Summer.
Dolce Bellezza 
A lovely post, as always! Loved the photos. I, too, am a big re-reader of favorites, which always seem to offer something new. I’m also intrigued by the Booker long list, which I’m finding more interesting this year. I just finished Galgut’s The Promise, which was great, and am thinking of reading a few others as well . . . .
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I hope to read Brothers Karamazov one of these days. And Paris in July was a lovely break mid-year with a focus on being in a fresh new environment. I’ve enjoyed Patrick Modiano and Antoine Laurain.
I’ve been blogging for thirteen years and my free space on Google is nearing capacity. I’m slowly going back and deleting photos that take up a lot of space. I am not sure what I will do when that no longer helps.
Rereading was something I never used to do; I felt like there were too many wonderful new books out there to reread old books. I’ve changed my mind in recent years. Rereading has been a rich experience for me.
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I’m not a big re-reader, but there are a few books that I have re-read and a few I still want to.
I’ll check out the the Booker Prize Longlist and add any I want to read to my list.
I hope you have a great week!
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Some nice July reads! 😀
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Thanks for the Booker Long List. I created myself a shelf for them on Goodreads. Like you, I searched the library and put the ones I found on hold. I want to go ahead an purchase any that the library doesn’t have any copies of, at all…no physical books, no ebooks, nothing…but the first one I looked up on Amazon was like $22. I guess I’ll have to wait.
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Sounds like July was full of bookish goodness! I was sorry to miss The Brothers Karamazov with Arti, but the timing wasn’t good. Paris in July is always fun! I listened to My Place at the Table this year, and enjoyed Antoine Laurain a couple of years ago. Modiano soon… and The Cazalet Chronicles! So many books.
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