Book of the Month: July

July only saw five books finished and honestly, while nearly everything was good, there wasn't really a stand out from the bunch. I do have a stand out of what I did NOT like that I finished that month! I severely did not enjoy "Radiance," by Catherynne M. Valente. Despite all of that book's positive reviews, I found it to be an entirely bewildering and frustrating process. After our book club discussion, I gathered up a couple other books that have vexed me and traded them in for something that will hopefully be more agreeable when I get around to reading it.

I have followed Alan Cumming and his career since high school. He's played a loveable dweeb in some fantastic movies and honestly, I find him incredibly attractive. This is not one of those all-encompassing memoirs that take you through every moment of a celebrity's life starting at conception and ending at, "...and today I finished writing this book." This is a very focused story. This is the story of the tumultuous relationship that Alan has had with his father for the entirety of his life. Yes, we do get to see a young Alan grow up and have successes and struggles, but they all relate back to his father. His father's reactions, his father's rage, his father's temper, his father's undiagnosed mental illness. It is a heartbreaking emotional roller coaster as Alan tries to film a television show about his family history while dealing with the very present strife between he and his father.

Absolutely beautifully written and a totally captivating story. I hear that Alan has more stories in the works and I look forward to reading them very much.