I can’t complain about September; we had a great time traveling around Spain and visiting our friends in London. I learned a ton about Spanish history and current political events, and I’ve been fascinated by the push for independence in Catalonia and the horrible way the country handled yesterday’s referendum.
It was a difficult month for other reasons, like the devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean and Puerto Rico. The world keeps getting uglier and scarier, and while reading helps me keep my sanity, blogging about books sometimes seems feels like I’m ignoring the serious things that are happening. At the same time, there’s not so much point in my commenting on these horrible things.
That said, here’s what I read in September:
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The Good People by Hannah Kent
- Monstress Vol. 1 by Marjorie Liu
- My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
- Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
- The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
- Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue
- Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
- The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
My favorite read? Behold the Dreamers was excellent, and Sonia Sotomayor’s book is a powerful and inspiring read, especially for anyone thinking about a legal career. My favorite was Strout’s Anything is Possible. Normally I don’t love a book with a lot of different narrators, but Strout shows us so many points of view and they all resonated (except for one disturbing chapter). Monstress is a gorgeous graphic novel which I need to read again just to understand it all.
Most disappointing read? Nothing disappointed this month, except for the sad fact that I was reading Terry Pratchett’s last book.
Challenges: Here are this month’s Diverse Reads: Monstress, Behold the Dreamers, My Beloved World.
What I’m reading now: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. This was a challenge for September but I didn’t get to it in time. I’m also reading Manhattan Beach, the latest book by Jennifer Egan which comes out this week.
What’s coming up: I’ve got two books from the library, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon and The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss. I also have an ARC of The Floating World by C. Morgan Babst, a book about Hurricane Katrina, which will be out October 17. And I’m thinking about picking up a book about Syria for the Readers Room Around the World challenge.
Things that made me happy this month: Not surprisingly, our travels to Spain were a great part of my month. I soaked up the history, art, architecture and wine, and I thought a lot about traveling and what it means to be a tourist. I also was incredibly happy to get home; that feeling of sinking back into home and daily life is one of my favorite things about traveling. This may be my first trip where I actually missed work a little bit, which will tell you how much I like my job right now.
Two more things: While not exactly “happy”, we are slowly watching Ken Burn’s Vietnam series, and I’m learning so much. I recommend The Sympathizer if you’re looking for a novel about Vietnam; I’m thinking about it a lot as I watch the series.
And, at a local art festival I saw this artist, Sarah Bean, who creates really beautiful book “carvings”. You can see her work here. She can custom design the book of your choice. I’m still pondering the possibilities…
Finally, book deals you might be interested in (courtesy of Book Riot and Bookbub):
- The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord for $1.99
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl for $1.99.
- Paddle Your Own Canoe by Nick Offerman for $1.99.
- Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart for $2.99.
- Monstress, Vol 1 by Liu & Takeda for $3.99
- The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin for $9.99
- We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for $2.99
That’s my September wrap-up! Hope you all are enjoying the fall weather (and the pumpkin-everything) and happy reading!
