StoryGraph charts for July 2025

All my reads for July 2025 were in English, Audio format.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal (2019) was a book group assignment for me. I had not previously heard of the book or the author. 

I was very happy reading this book. The writing style and the characters reminded me of Elizabeth Strout in many ways, writing about regular people. 

There are three main characters and the chapters alternate between them. For some reason, it took me a minute to understand for the first couple switches. I am not sure if it was the writing or my brain. I quickly got into the swing of it. (Discussing this at my book group, we think the lack of chapter definition was an audio format problem.)

It was interesting to me that the author is male, the main characters are all women. He has a good female perspective/voice. (Others also commented on this at my group.)

I was able to increase the speed to 1.25 which helped move things along time wise. I like that feature with audio books. 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

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J. Ryan Stradal was not listed on my normal website https://www.bookseriesinorder.com

I think these are all his books -

Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in April 2023

The Lager Queen of Minnesota, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in July 2019.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest, published by Viking / Pamela Dorman Books in July 2015.

Would I read the other two? Yes. I just checked out both of them on Libby. 

The curve of the large front wooded area, closest to the house

We have been working on the front wooded area at our house. This has been a two year process. It continues. Today’s post covers where I am to date.

Last year/2024, we (my husband and I) removed nine small trees from the front woods. Our next door neighbor, with the barking dogs, does not like anything hanging over the property line or near his house. And last year, I also cleaned up the edge of the ivy/lily of the valley, it was marching toward the barking dogs neighbor’s driveway.

I took these photos, late June 2025, showing the status of the front wooded area, the curve closest to our house. 

I took these photos on the day the high school boy was coming to help my husband remove the honeysuckle and one more small tree.

In June 2025 we also dug up tree starts from all over this wooded area. I think we removed about 70 tree starts. If you have a woods, tree starts are a natural thing. They have wooden stems and are anchored very firmly. It takes two people, one digs, one pulls. I dug 40-50 small ones, my husband pulled. Then the high school boy and my husband dug/pulled the rest that were bigger. They also dug grass patches that had started. Grass is a terrible problem if it gets started on the wrong place.

July 2025 my husband and I aggressively weeded the curved edge of the wooded area closest to the house.

We moved a few plants. He mulched. The definition of the curve is now lovely. I have more to do with the plants on the far corner. 

Next a lawn crew came and evened out our front yard. Years of tree roots had caused major lumps, bumps and holes. I was terrified of falling or twisting an ankle. They added a lot of dirt. They seeded. 

 

More photos to come, in another month or so, more work is coming to this area. 

What’s blooming

 

Better use for a shelf

The shelving unit, behind the door in my sewing closet under the stairs, was very organized. 

It held craft supplies. But in recent years, I never used any of them. In fact, I had not utilized anything on those shelves in many years, maybe nearly a decade.

JoAnn Fabrics went out of business earlier this year. As they had sales, I bought bolts of 108” and 120” wide quilt backing. I also bought a few bolts of 42” fabric to sew together as backing. And I bought bolts of white cotton in a variety of widths. I use white as my background fabric on a lot of quilts these days. 

It occurred to me that the shelving unit was exactly the right size for all these bolts. The bolts were sort of  everywhere. They needed an organized spot. 

These bolts are temporary. Eventually they will all be used. I will not replace them. (Then this shelf will be ready for something else.)

My husband cleared the shelving unit for me. He stacked the craft contents in middle’s old room. She is going through them at a future date. 

I organized my bolts. And it is a very good use of space. 

The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication by John Steinbeck (1957)

The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication by John Steinbeck (1957) is political satire. Normally this is not my thing, but since this book is so short, it kept my attention and I enjoyed it. Bonus, I was able to increase the audio speed which helped too. 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb

I put my name on the Libby waiting list for this book, Dark Maestro by Brendan Slocumb (2025), months ago. I was able to get on the list well in advance of publication. 

It is rare I read a book right as it is released. 

This is the third book by this author, I have read all three. 

My husband and youngest (I think) read the first book by this author, it was on her book group list. 

I loved the first one, rating it a 5. The second book was a 3 for me. This third book was a 4. 

What I love about these books is the strong African American family voice. I also like that the main characters are all black males who are professional musicians.

   

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003)

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson (2003), a historical nonfiction book, was assigned by one of my book groups. 

This book alternates topics. Part of the story is the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The other is a prolific Chicago serial killer in Chicago during this same time span. Lots of people traveled to the Chicago Worlds Fair, the two events are linked in history. It makes sense to combine them in one book. 

We had a large discussion group turnout for this group, eleven people. We agreed it should be labeled as historical fiction (not nonfiction). The author assumed a lot about the serial killer and his victims. 

My husband happened to read this book when it came out in 2003. 

What else did I think of the book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (2003) by Erik Larson? 

First, there are a lot of names. Too many names in fact.  I just let all the names flow over me and paid attention to the stories. 

Second, I found the first hour and 15 minutes of this book to be confusing. I thought about listening to it a second time, immediately, but did not. I finished the whole book and then went back and relistened to the beginning. It was not confusing the second time. 

Third, I enjoyed the story of the Worlds Fair. I found the Worlds Fair to be more interesting than the serial killer story. But it made total sense to combine the two stories. Other people in my group loved the serial killer part and thought the fair descriptions too tedious. 

The only thing I knew from either one of these stories, prior to listening to this book, was the Ferris Wheel. 

That (above) was the very first Ferris Wheel (ever) designed and built by George Ferris. It was built to rival the Eiffel Tower built by Gustavo Eiffel for the 1899 Paris Worlds Fair. 

I looked up the dates and locations of Worlds Fairs. This is not a complete list, but gives the highlights.

I also looked up the killer, Herman Webster Mudgett aka H H Holmes. He was captured and executed in 1896.

There is a historical fiction book, The Scarlet Mansion by Allan W Eckert, about just HH Holmes, the killer, which I did not read, because it was not available in audio format. 

I maintain accounts on GoodReads and StoryGraph, thanks to youngest getting me organized. 

StoryGraph - 

In each book post, I utilize https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/

This is a wonderful website that helps clarify the publication order of books and verifies book series. I use this website because there are no spoilers. But if I need a description, I can click over using the links, easily. There are also author bios.