Books read in July and August

A Civil Contract (reread) by Georgette Heyer (Jul 3)

Anguished English by Richard Lederer (Jul 4)

The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators by William Bennet (Jul 12)

Predicting New Words by Allan Metcalf (Jul 13)
Very interesting, especially to a philologist.

Power of 10 by Adam Zickerman (Jul 15)
Excellent weight training book!

The Miracle of Language by Richard Lederer (Jul 16)

Reason and Romance by Debra White Smith (Jul 17)
A modern Christian adaptation of Sense and Sensibility...pretty good.

The School For Scandal by Richard Sheridan (Jul 17)
I think it would help to see this performed, as I’m not sure I understood all the twists and turns.

Peace Child by Don Richardson (Jul 18)

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer (Jul 21)
Another one of Heyer’s laugh-out-loud mysteries.

The Unknown Ajax (reread) by Georgette Heyer (Jul 24)
One of Heyer’s best and funniest, though more subtle than some.

Washington: The Indispensible Man by James Flexner (Jul 24)

Adams vs. Jefferson by John Ferling (Jul 25)
Excellent history book about the first partisan election.

Letters to Alice by Fay Weldon (Aug 1)
Interesting, but very feministic.

Lady Catherine’s Necklace by Joan Aiken (Aug 2)
Joan Aiken writes some lovely frothy Austen sequels, and this is the latest.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (reread) by Baroness Orczy (Aug 5)

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian (Aug 9)
Good, but not a Christian worldview.

Sixpence in her Shoe by Phyllis McGinley (Aug 17)
A great book about the joys of homemaking.

Lover’s Vows by Mrs. Inchbald (Aug 24)
This is the play that had Fanny Price up in arms in the book Mansfield Park...Shakespeare has more objectionable content than this.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Aug 26)
My first Dickens book in years...a torturous read.

Jane Austen in Hollywood by Linda Troost (Aug 30)
A fascinating book about all the Austen adaptations up to 1996, exploring the translation from book to screen, and also the added feministic and romantic touches (which show up quite strongly in even the most outwardly conservative adaptations).