Reading Recap: October Edition

Fall is here, everybody!  This is not a drill!  My favorite reading is lazy Saturday afternoon reading with a big mug of tea/spiced cider/hot cocoa, and a blanket of course.  #basic #idontcare

I have been enjoying getting a little cozy this month. 

Traveling with Ghosts
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My book club book of the month.  I didn't read much about this memoir before I began and that was a big mistake.  I was expecting a memoir akin to Lab Girl (which I loved).  This was not that.

The author is a scientist--a marine biologist--but science does not play a role in her story.  She recounts the sudden death of her fiance after a fatal jellyfish sting.  Then she goes on a grim pilgrimage of grief.

I didn't understand that this was about the grieving process and I couldn't relate to her desire to be far away from everyone and everything she knew while working through her loss.  I also felt weird about not liking a book about someone's very personal journey of sadness.

I'm sure this book has an audience, but I don't think it's me.  Most of the time I was cringing and wondering what would drive someone to visit a former concentration camp, Isreal during one of the bloodiest years, and Eastern European countries without even basic travel plans.

To Kill a Mockingbird
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My daughter read this for 9th grade English this year.  I decided to reread it and loved every single minute.  I found myself identifying with Atticus and catching some nuances I missed in high school.  There are so many parenting pro-tips if you read between the lines (read in front of your children, let kids play, read in front of your children some more).  

I've been looking around the internet and noticed many people commenting that this book is problematic.  It's definitely not perfect, but when I think about the books that were being published at the same time, I can see that Lee was doing something different.  She highlights the racism of the town and then calls it wrong.  

I could talk forever about this book (Scout's voice, Jem, the trial which made me cry like a baby)...but I won't.  If you haven't read it, read it.  If you've read it, reread it.  

A Trick of the Light
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Another in a line of the Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series.  They keep getting better and better.  The mysteries are interesting and I always learn something new related to the case the Chief Inspector is solving, but I'm really more invested in the recurring characters.  I am constantly checking to see if these books are being made into movies because I just can't get enough of Three Pines.  #nerd

Louise Penny to me

Only three for October.  November might be even less.  These months are full.  Traveling with Ghosts made me realize that I don't want my end of year reading to be books I "have to" read but can't stand.  Because life is so busy, I need books that I like.  

Also, I can't believe I'm not posting this until the ninth of November.  I had it all ready to go and then I got sidelined by a severe sinus infection.  Now that I'm medicated and not in constant, blinding pain, I feel up to writing again.  🙌🙌🙌

direct quote from me yesterday