The Sunday Salon: Orange July Wrap-up

I was almost sorry to see July come to an end, I so enjoyed the Orange Prize reads for the month. Not that I can't continue reading great contemporary women writers; but it was fun to dedicate a whole month to it. Thanks to Jill for coming up with the great idea and for hosting it.

I started with a list of twelve books to pick from; the titles in orange are the books I read:

• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
• Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
• Property by Valerie Martin
• Sorry by Gail Jones (my review)
  
• The Girls by Lori Lansens
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville (my review)
  
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
• What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (my review)

Only two of these I rated below a 4 (out of 5), and those were both 3.5s, still pretty good books (...Tractors in Ukrainian and The Namesake). It would be hard to pick a favorite from these eight. They're all so different - writing styles, emotional impact, character and narrative styles - which says a lot for the Orange Prize selections; there is variety! If I were forced to pick a favorite, it would be When the Emperor Was Divine, for its uniqueness, its sparse, poetic narrative and its emotional punch.

I'll be reading at least one more book from my list this month - The Girls is the first book picked for my new face-to-face book group, and we'll be discussing it the end of August (which is why I didn't read it in July, given my memory...or lack of). I'm intrigued by this story of conjoined twins.

Jill is adding Orange January to the mix, so this will become a semi-annual tradition; it's a great way to focus on some really outstanding books.

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