River of Fire: On Becoming an Activist by Sister Helen Prejean – Audio book read by the author.
I had read Dead Man Walking the year the company I was working for presented the opera based on the book. What struck me about the book Dead Man Walking was how Sister Helen’s arguments against the death penalty were in large part very logical assertions grounded in the socio-economic injustices of the criminal justice system. River of Fire, however, is a more personal book; it details her childhood and how she came to enter the novitiate and the events that led up to the start of her work with death row inmates. Indeed the last line of the book is the first line of Dead Man Walking. Sister Helen is so smart, articulate, and charismatic, but also self-aware, humble and hilarious. I really enjoyed reading about how her work and life played out against the backdrop of Vatican II.
A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk – 4h 20m. A very raw and honest account of new motherhood and how can tear you apart and then force you to rebuild yourself. I read these essays feeling as if Cusk really understood a lot of what I struggle with when I consider being a mother, particularly the sense of panic that there will never again be enough time in life. Her writing is dry to the point of being somber, but then when I read it outloud to my husband, it was actually quite funny because she captures so many of the ridiculous moments of being a parent – her account of a weekend with kids is priceless.
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom – 10h 22m.
“I did not yet understand the psychic cost of defining oneself by the place where you are from.”
Broom’s memoir about growing up in New Orleans East and how where you are from informs who you are. It is somewhat a misnomer to call this a memoir because it is also the story about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – who is able to recover and who isn’t, recovery vs. abandonment. I read this while the California wildfires were raging. I was struck by how the two incidents are so much the same in terms of devastation, but so different in terms of response and recovery. It seems like we are at a point when hurricane season is barely a blip in the news cycle, even though the road to recovery for the affected areas is so much more difficult economically, socially, and politically.
A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds – Audiobook read by the author.
This YA book is written in verse, which was one of the reasons Reynolds wanted to read the audio book himself. It is lyrical, breathless, tragic, and angry. The book takes place within the seconds that the elevator takes to travel to the ground floor as the teenage main character is on his way to avenge his brother’s death. At each floor, someone gets on, that makes him question the narrative of his life as a young black man.
The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas – 6h 46m.
The latest installment of Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series that reimagines Sherlock Holmes as a woman. I really enjoy Thomas’ writing. Her characters are never easy to get to know or to like, which often turns me off when I’m reading fiction. Somehow, however, these characters fascinate me, and I wante to read on. This book was not as twisty as the previous ones in the series – it was actually pretty straight forward for a Sherry Thomas book.
Yes Please by Amy Poehler – Audiobook ready by the author and friends.
I like audiobooks that have a twist, and this one, with guest narrators, certainly did. I’ve never watched Parks and Rec, but this book often shows up on lists next to Tina Fey’s Bossypants. Bossypants was one of the first audiobooks that I loved – it made me laugh and laugh, and I was hoping Yes Please would be in the same vein. I didn’t love it as much as Bossypants, but I did enjoy the backstage stories and Poehler’s insights into how entertainment is made.
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani (translated from the French by Sam Taylor) – 3h 50m. Unsettling novel about the relationship between two women – a nanny and the lady who hires her. I kept seeing this book pop up on “best ” lists, but I don’t think it was entirely to my taste. All the characters were really self absorbed and unpleasant, and ultimately the plot left one with more questions than answers. Perhaps that the feeling of instability is the point of the novel.