July BingoDOG reads

I didn't see a thread for July, so I took the liberty of setting one up.

I read Nectar in a sieve for the July CATWoman, but as it turns out it also fills a Bingo square I found hard to fill: the title is taken from a poem by Coleridge. It is a short novel and contains a rather sad story about the harsh life of an Indian peasant woman: a child bride at twelve, many pregnancies, the death of children and the husband toward the end, the precarious living of subsistence farming, the loss of their livelihood when the absent landowner sells the land, the changes wrought by modern times. And yet there is also much beauty in it: the relationship is very loving, and the language is wonderful. I found this by sheer accident and I'm glad I picked it for this month's challenge.

I was looking for this month's thread - glad you started it! I finished The Drawing of the Three a couple of days ago and because a good part of the book takes place on a beach, I'm going to use it for 'set in a beach community/resort' - it's a bit of a stretch, because it's definitely not a resort and I would say that it's not a community either, except for the community of deadly giant lobsters that come up out of the surf every night. :)

I read A Raisin in the Sun for an author born in the 1930s square of my all female authors BingoDOG card. Lorraine Hansberry was born in 1930. This is a very powerful play.

I've finished reading The New York Stories of Edith Wharton, selected and with an introduction by Roxana Robinson, which I took my time reading since I only read one story per day. I'm using this for the Place name in title square for my all female authors BingoDOG card. I have plenty other short story collections to read and use for the short story square

I've finished West With the Wind by Beryl Markham for the "set in a place you want to visit" block. (Africa)

For the "set before you were born" square, I finished After the war is over by Jennifer Robson that was set in 1918. Good, but more of a romance story than what I would normally have chosen. An accurate depiction of post-war life.

I finally got another square on my card. I read Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell for the "author born in the 1930s" square.

I read At the water's edge by Sarah Gruen for Square 18, author abroad (set in Scotland, written by American/Canadian ex-pat).

Madeline Hyde, the rich, spoiled socialite and her similarly privileged husband, were thrown out of his family home with a reduced allowance. Oh, poor dears. Better order another bottle of champagne.

A search for the Loch Ness monster combined with a WWII setting, sounded like a good read. Despite a terrible beginning, I stayed with it, hoping for improvement. With about 30 pages left, I've had enough and counting this one as finished. One star.

I counted The Last Dodo, a Doctor Who adventure by Jacqueline Rayner, for the "animal in the title" square.

I have two left. I won't get to either this month, but I might be able to finish it off in August!

My husband and I were on a river cruise for approximately a week at the end of July. On the boat plus at the airport waiting for planes, I read four books, three of which fit into BingoDOG squares for my second card, all female authors. I Take Thee, Serenity by Daisy Newman fits the "set in a beach community" square; The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott for the "set in a time before you were born" square (1912), and Women's Friendships: a Collection of Short Stories edited by Susan Koppelman for the "short stories" square.

I finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette over the weekend which I'm counting for the "satire" block since I see that is a tag on the book.

Forgot to mention that I read The Mysteries of Udolpho for 'place name in title'.