Books Read in the Last Two Months

I reported my first month's books on February 6th.  Here's what I've been reading since.  The *starred* ones I think my mother (and you) should consider reading.

**Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E Harron.  I wrote to one of my favorite bibliophiles: “This is the book I will always regret not being able to write.  The snark/voice I strive for with 100 times the talent.”  This is a Story, deserving of the capital S.  Read it. [Note: Kyla agrees with me.]

*A Murderous Relation (The 5th  Veronica Speedwell, by Deanna Raybourn.  Veronica!  Stoker!  The fifth adventure. The prince of England, intrigue, and excellent verbal repartee.  The only character I look forward more to this year is Lady Charlotte Sherlock, but that is an extremely high bar. 

*Whatever You Do, Don’t Run, by Peter Allison.  Super fun read! This was recommended after we booked our Kruger National Park safari (that will get rescheduled after travel opens up again) and I shared chapters with hubby and children as they were around. I loved the sense of place, and this guy can tell a funny story! The right amount of self-depreciation, humor, interesting facts, 'round the campfire tales--I'm picking up more of this author's books.

*Planet Earth is Blue, by Nicole Panteleakos.  Wow, this is a bit of my childhood. I was in 5th grade during the Challenger launch, and [Super]Nova is in 6th. I can't wait to finish this story with my kids (we've listened to the first half), as it is an important story with no early spoilers about the launch, and it tackles full on some topics dear to me: foster children, autism, special education, siblings. It even throws in mental illness, loss, heaps of facts about space, and "mental retardation" without feeling preachy or overstuffed. There are so many things to talk about here, and the author's note at the end adds to conversation. Very well done. The only part that brought me out of the story is the foster parents who seemed to have perfect understanding and patience for a nonverbal girl with severe autism. Wish we were all that good!

*Hey, Kiddo, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. On a librarian-friend's recommendation, I checked out the audio of this graphic novel, a bit of a paradox. But I'm so glad I listened to it, particularly once I head all the recording notes. A lot of love, thought, and community went into this production, but an equal amount of work went into the graphic novel, so I will now need to eye-read this book as well.

First of all, this is truly a well done memoir. Its whole title is "How I Lost my Mother, Found my Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction". This is one I have to keep for a while from the library, because I want my kids to hear it, too. It's a book well written for both generations. It's probably even worth my mother reading it!

**In a Sunburned Country, by Bill Bryson.  I had first heard of this author, famous for his Walk in the Woods memoir of the Appalachian Trail, years ago but ignored urges to read it. [Note: I’m currently listening to it well walking miles a day in our neighborhood woods.  It’s dated and the author shows improved style in the five years between Walk and this newer book.]

This book made me fall in love with 1) Australia, and 2) Bill Bryson’s writing.  Our planned 3 weeks in Australia is not going to be enough, and I am already planning a second trip before our first trip is even off the ground…so to speak.  

I love Bill’s excellent research—he has read some really dry books about Down Under so that we don’t have to—and he relates it a way that is interesting, relevant, and humorous.  I can’t tell if at heart, if Bill is a historian, a journalist, a travel writer, a humorist, or just a gifted story teller. 

From Strength to Strength, by Sara Henderson.  I read this famous Australian’s memoir in conjunction with Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country, and the comparison is not flattering to this book.  This author earned her fame fairly after winning the Businesswoman of the Year in 1991. After reading Bryson, it is not fair to compare her inferior, self-conscious writing style as her many talents lie elsewhere, and what she lacks in talent, she makes up for it in absolute Outback strength.  She has more incredible stories to tell than Bryson, but even if they were told better, it was hard to get beyond her husband, who on a good day, was a jackass, and averaged out to be a multi-dimensional scoundrel.  It was hard to read about “oh, but I loved him”.  She gave up any control of her own life when she married, but after decades, wrested it back and came out well in a life not of her choosing. 

Here is my summary of reading these two Aussie books:  When they die, good Americans become Australians.  The bad wind up in the Northern Territory. 

I want to be a good American!

Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green.  Wow.  Green is hit or miss with me, but I always get something out of his characters.  This time, the teenage protagonist suffers, literally, from OCD, something the author also has lived and struggled with his whole life.  Mostly, it makes me truly grateful that my own headspace is a pretty fun place to be in.

Searching for Sylvie Lee, by Jean Kwok. Hmm, I’m glad I read it.  It was interesting to read the plot twists and the back and forth chronology, but the book’s aftertaste was from the characters, most who seemed real and hurting

Trickster; Native American Tales, a Graphic Collection.  Fairly interesting and a quick read.

The Home Edit: A guide to organizing and realizing your home goals, by Clea Shearer and Joanna Tep Yawn.  Slap me, friends, if I ever become this person.

The Book Charmer, by Karen Hawkins. This book was charming. I think it fell short in many ways, but I loved the idea of books being able to tell a certain gifted person what people should do, in the bossiest way possible. The book dealt gently with make-your-own families, and friends, and dementia, but in a way that never made me get lost in the story. But I will probably look up the next book when it comes out. Let's see where this goes, shall we?

Room to Breath, by Liz Talley.  She could have had a hot affair, no harm to anyone, with a 24 year old really into her. Squandered. What's the point of fiction, people?  Southern lady contemporary fic is not my first choice genre, but I was gladdened to see personal growth in the female characters.

Saint Anything, by Sarah Dessen. It's fun when both Kyla (age 13 going on 35) and I (age 45) both read the same book. I was engrossed in the book, and Kyla and I had fun discussions about the characters, their dilemmas, parenting decisions, and even why the token black character was pretty one-dimensional. All said, I couldn't stop listening to it, and when it was over, I mostly forgot about it. However, I am not the target audience, so I don't hold that against the book.

The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James.  Another book not really appropriate for my 13 year old promiscuous reader, but that didn't stop either of us from obsessively listening to it until it finished! It was an interesting mystery, ghost story, history lesson, and enough love story to make it interesting. I'd read this author again.

Dig, by A.S. King. Perhaps reading a deliberately surreal book in a very surreal time (COVID-19 work from home week 2) was not the best idea. Somewhere, I had read an intriguing blurb on the book and put it on hold. I will say that I kept coming back to it, and wasn't able to not finish it. I do think that had I eye-read the book, I would have followed the different characters better than listening to the audio. And I'm glad I stuck with it through the ending. Overall, glad I read it, but I didn't save the hold so my kids could also read it. 

Total Titles to Date: 36 (in 3 months).  Good enough.