Summer is just whirling right along, isn’t it? Graham and I spent the majority of July house & dog sitting – for my parents in Michigan, and for our friends Joe & Seth in New Jersey. It was a wonderful month, and now we’re also kind of convinced we need a dog. ASAP. I got a decent amount of reading in last month, and some very quality books as well. Here’s the rundown!
Books Read: 13
Already Reviewed:
- Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
- Citizen by Claudia Rankine
- Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
FICTION
I picked up Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg from the library to read while I was in Michigan. I enjoyed this one, but didn’t quite *love* it. Maize is such a wonderful character – fun, loyal, sassy, and I love how independent and big-hearted she is. But something about the pacing of this one didn’t quite work for me, maybe if it was a little more tightly edited, or if there was just a bit more emphasis on the bigger plot points. Still, it’s definitely worth a read, particularly for the big brassy setting it conjures up in your mind: a vibrant New York City during the great depression.
I listened to the audiobook of Rilla of Ingleside, the last of the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery. It was an epic finale to the series, and a wonderful piece of historical fiction in its own right. I’ll be sharing a post soon about all eight books.
NON-FICTION
I was curious about Bruce Feiler’s book The Secret of Happy Families after hearing about how he adapted Agile development methods into his family life. (If you’re curious about that too, check out his TED Talk.) I started a version of this concept myself: Graham and I plan out our upcoming week on Sundays, figuring out what events we have planned, what we want to accomplish, and what dinners we want to eat / food to buy. I’ve loved this routine, and I think it will be even more helpful once we’re both working again. This book is much more than just that concept though: Bruce argues that there has been so much self-help focus recently on individual happiness and fulfillment, but not a lot about how to be happy & fulfilled as a family. He digs into the available research on family happiness and investigates how innovative companies approach team-building and fun, and then attempts to adapt those insights into his own family life. This book is particularly relevant to people with kids, but there’s also a lot about building better romantic partnerships and relationships with your extended family. I listened to the audiobook of this one and enjoyed it; I think I might have struggled a little to get through a print copy.
I listened to Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou on audiobook as well – walking the dog meant a lot of listening time in Michigan! This one is such a treat, it focuses on Maya’s relationship with her mother and how her mom shaped her life. It’s perfect on audiobook – hearing Maya’s voice sharing the wisdom and beauty of her journey is powerful. I loved it.
I found & devoured a cute little nature guide called Nature From Your Back Door at the Friends of the Library book sale at the library my mom works at in Kalamazoo. It’s written by Michigan State University professor Glenn Dudderer, and focuses on wildlife found in the state of Michigan. It explains the wildlife phenomenon you can witness from your backyard, and helps “backyard naturalists” better appreciate the complex and interesting natural world that’s right outside their doors.
I picked up The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida from the library and read it while we were in New Jersey. Naoki Higashida, a teenage Japanese boy with Autism, wrote this insightful, beautiful book when he was 13 years old. I wish this quick little book was required reading to help everyone understand the unique ways of thinking and interacting with world experienced by kids with Autism. There’s so much heart and brightness in this book, it’s a wonderful read.
The Art of Communicating is the second book I’ve read by Thich Nhat Hanh. His Buddhist approach to life is so wise and simple that it feels obvious, but it’s still powerful to read. It reminds us of things we know deep down, but that we need to hear and repeat and remind ourselves of every day to live our lives with an abundance of grace, mindfulness, kindness, and compassion. This one focuses specifically on communicating, and it’s full of simple techniques for honest and mindful communication with ourselves and others.
RE-READ
I re-read the absolutely hilarious and wonderful Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh in preparation for the sequel, which comes out in October. A week or so after I finished re-reading it, Graham started it on our train ride back from New Jersey. Despite the fact that I had just re-read it, I still couldn’t resist reading over his shoulder and giggling again at the many funny parts. I could not be more excited for Solutions and Other Problems.
I’m putting Summer Sisters by Judy Blume in the re-reads section because before I picked it up this month I was so positive that I read it ages ago, in high school or early college. But after reading it, I’m not sure – I have NO memory of it. But that also could be a result of how much time has passed. Or maybe I owned it but never got around to reading it? Anyway – I loved it. Judy Blume is an absolute master. This book has so much heart and honesty. It’s a tribute to young female friendships and captures perfectly how complex they can be. If you’ve never read it, grab a copy quick before summer ends – it’s a perfect beach or vacation novel, and you’ll want some summer sun overhead while you read it.
The majority of my books purchased in July were from the KPL Friends bookstore at the Kalamazoo Public Library in my hometown. We’re lucky that this great book sale is open every week, Wednesday – Saturday, so we don’t have to wait for occasional book sale events. That means I can go stock up on great books every time I visit home. The first 7 books in the above image were purchased there, for a grand total of less than $7. It doesn’t get much better than that! I picked up Between the World and Me the day it was released and devoured it. The last two, The New Jim Crow and Selected Stories of Eudora Welty, I found at the lovely Chatham Bookseller last week, and they both became part of my book collection for under $10 total.
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So that was July, another lovely month in books! What did you most enjoy reading in July?
Looks like you had a great July, book- and otherwise. I’m hoping to read Between the World and Me fairly soon. My favorite book last month was Jenny Erpenbeck’s The End of All Days. (I’ve been to that Chatham bookseller, too, already…)
Isn’t The Chatham Bookseller a lovely place?! Between the World and Me is so powerful – I hope enjoy it (although that doesn’t seem like the right sentiment) when you read it.
Great month! We’ll get to that River Horse readalong one of these days! I listened to The New Jim Crow this month and man did it kick me in the teeth. I had an ARC of Between the World and Me back when it was supposed to come out in October and then all of a sudden it moved to July and I was screwed. Hope to get to it soon, however, I’ve been hearing wonderful things.
Ooooh – how was The New Jim Crow on audio? I might have to grab it on audio too to help it move a bit higher on my TBR list – so many fall fiction galleys to read in print! (By the way – I finished listening to Missoula yesterday – it ended up being very good on audio. The narrator is excellent, and I found it pretty easy to follow along with the cases / people. I’d recommend the audio!)
We’ll come for you someday, William Least Heat Moon! (Good thing he seems like a patient man.)
Audio for Jim Crow was fabulous. Female narrator had a superb voice. The only downside is the same downside for any audio you want to try and remember or quote from. No written words. I try and bookmark but I rarely go back and type it out. I ended up just buying the paperback version of Jim Crow so I can reference. But I highly recommend the audio otherwise.
Thanks for the $.02 on Missoula! I think I will do it on audio because, like you, that means I can get to it faster.
lol re William Least Heat Moon. He’s waited this long for us. He’ll wait a bit longer.
Thank you for the advice! I’m glad I have that paperback copy of The New Jim Crow that I can grab and highlight in while I’m listening – I wish I had that for Missoula too…
Get a puppy, if for no other reason than I *know* you would flood your blog with beautiful and adorable pictures!
What a fantastic month for reading. I really admire your willingness to pick up books that perhaps fall under the “self-help” category. Even when they sound interesting to me, I’m always a bit wary, but you’re turned me on to quite a few quality-sounding ones. The Secrets of Happy Families sounds like it has some nuggets of wisdom for folks whose family comes to two (or, maybe, two and a cat).
And YAY for loving Summer Sisters! I did, too, so much. :)
Second. (on the puppy idea)
Puppy puppy puppy! I have told Graham that I have a large amount of yes votes on my blog. My new job is dog friendly too! :D
I think my personality type really responds well to “self help” type books – it might be the extreme organizer / problem solver in me … I really enjoy thinking about everyday things/habits from new perspectives and trying out new ideas or adapting concepts to fit my own use. It helps that I listen to a lot of them on audiobook too – if they were all competing with my fiction stacks I don’t think I’d get to nearly as many, despite my intentions!
Summer Sisters forever …. Judy Blume for president!
So many great books! I’m with you on Saint Mazie. I liked it, but wasn’t head over heels – it could be because I read it right after some amazing books, but it just lacked a spark for me.
Obviously, I third the dog plan.
I read Saint Mazie right after a big stack of non-fiction books, so I was really in the mood for a good novel, but it just didn’t live up to what I wanted.
Tallying votes for the pup – everything is pointing to dog! (My new workplace is dog friendly, too!) But I will need a bit of time to settle in to the working life again before making another big change! Hopefully sooner rather than later though, in the meantime I’ll be meeting new co-workers very rapidly by constantly showering their dogs with affection.
I can’t tell you how much I LOVE the word polysyllabic! I’d open any post that had it in the title! Can’t wait to hear what you think of Beloved – I’m a huge fan of Morrison and that one broke my heart. Just picked up The Good Lord Bird myself in July. Can’t wait to get to it.
Yay! Another fan of the word polysyllabic! <3 I don't hear that as much as you'd think.
I'm really excited to read Beloved - I've never read ANY Toni Morrison, and that has started to feel like a big embarrassing gap in my reading. I'm going to remedy that very soon, and then I hope to pick up her latest right after, God Help the Child. I think I remember reading that it's the first novel she's set in the present, verses a historical setting. That's very intriguing to me and I'm excited for that one as well - I have it on audiobook.
Cheers to an August full of great reading! :)
Summer Sisters is such a great read, and I re-read it recently as well, and it totally stands the test of time! I’m dying to read both Between the World And Me, as well as The New Jim Crow. I’m really starting to get into this whole non-fiction thing… Looks like you had a good month, and hopefully August is the same :)
It really does! I don’t know why I was surprised about that, but it totally stands the test of time – it’s just so lovely. It’s awesome to hear that you’re reading more Non-fiction – I seem to be on a major Non-fiction kick as well this year. I usually read a decent amount, but this year 47 of the 81 books I’ve read have been non-fiction – a WAY higher percentage than usual! Must be due to a lot of really great non-fiction out recently, I can’t get enough!
Gosh, I wish I could just soak up all this great reading through osmosis or something. I loved Citizen and Between the World and Me. I really want to dig into Hyperbole and a Half and Modern Romance.
Oh I do hope you can grab Hyperbole & a Half soon – it’s so much fun. You’ll be giggling and laughing out loud. (It’s a really quick read too – extra bonus!)
PS – I LOVE the thought of soaking up reading by osmosis – if only we could all do that!
You’ve had SUCH a fantastic July! (Sorry I’m a little late to the party – computer issues, blah blah, behind on everything.) There are several in here I’m curious to read – Kitchens of the Great Midwest, Saint Mazie, Between the World and Me in particular. I also read Hyperbole and a Half recently and I agree – it’s full of pants-wettingly hilarious moments, and I feel like I could quite happily read it again right now. I can’t wait for Solutions and Other Problems!!
Yes! I hope you’re able to get to those ones soon – I enjoyed them all! Kitchens of the Great Midwest was such a nice surprise, I had no idea what to expect. Saint Mazie is perfect for when you’re in a historical fiction mood. And Between the World and Me is a tough one, but so powerful. Enjoy enjoy enjoy!
I’m counting down the days until Solutions and Other Problems. Cannot. Wait.