Not as many books read in September, mostly because one of my reads was quite intense and lengthy. I also probably did more random internet surfing this month than usual – probably a result of COVID fatigue starting to wear on me.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson – 4h 35m. Funny, touching read. Lillian, the main character, is asked by her wealthy childhood friend to come care for her stepchildren who have a strange behavioral quirk. TBeneath this seemingly satirical story, is a contemplation of class, wealth, and how we create and maintain connections while figuring out what you really want in your life. One of my favorite quotes:
“Maybe raising children was just giving them the things you loved most in the world and hoping that they loved them too.”
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan – Audiobook narrated by Mark Bramhall, David de Vries, MacLeod Andrews, and Rebecca Soler. This was actually a middle grade book, something I didn’t realize until I was a couple chapters in. It’s a magical, musical, and engrossing story that tells three different stories which somehow intertwine. It is a story about music, specifically a harmonica, and the people who find joy and solace in owning it. Part of the charm of the audiobook is that musical excerpts that are prominent in the story are incorporated into the audio experience.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown – 15h 45m. This classic recounts the bloody, brutal, and heart-breaking story of the conflict between Native Americans and the White people who settled the American West, taking ownership of land that, to the Native Americans, didn’t really belong to anyone. In the opposition between the drive for growth and “progress” on the one hand, and peaceful earth-conscious living on the other, bloody, cruel, and desperate conflicts seemed inevitable. This was a hard book to read for me because it is hard to imagine how reparations can be made when the country that we are now is so different from the country that was taken from the Native Americans.
Limelight by Amy Poeppel – 6h 49m. Light, fun, fluffy novel about a woman who befriends a trainwreck of a pop star about to make his Broadway debut. She attempts to help him get his life on track, while trying to keep her own life together. The scenes that took the reader into the rehearsal process made me miss work and the excitement and energy of creating theatre.