September was a solid reading month. One very “meh” book, but lots of entertaining reading otherwise. I’m looking ahead to my reading for the rest of the year and I think I would like to focus on fun reads since it’s going to be busy. Maybe some holiday reading. And also maybe something really fun/engrossing/immersive to read for the plane trip to Taiwan.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, read by Ray Porter. This very popular novel is about a scientist/ middle school science teacher, Ryland Grace, who gets involved in a plan to save the world from destruction and is sent with a team to the far reaches of the galaxy to carry out said plan. Along the way, his fellow travellers do not survive so he has to carry out the mission on his own. Or maybe not on his own. I didn’t know what the book was about when I first picked it up, only that it was getting a lot of raves. Science fiction/space travel really isn’t my thing, but I really loved this book. The science really went over my head, but there is such a human element to the story telling. I’ve read a few books the past few years – this is one, Ministry of Time is another – that have made me realize that I really like books that try to explain what it’s like to be human to an outsider, in all it’s contradictory, messy, fragility. I though Ray Porter did a really good job reading the audio version.
Funny story – the 13 year old noticed I was listening to the book and she got so excited because she had listened to it a few years ago and also loved the book and couldn’t wait for me to finish it so we could talk about it together. Also there’s a movie coming out next year… I’m so intrigued about how they make the story work!
Fat Ham by James Ijames, production by Audible Originals. I’ve recently discovered that Audible has a large selection of plays in their collection, many of which they produced themselves. I like listening to plays because they are shorter than books, but pack just as big of a wallop. Also – I don’t get to the theatre very often and this is like bringing the theatre to me. Fat Ham, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2022, is a modern day re-telling of Hamlet, set against the backdrop of a Black family’s BBQ empire. I really liked seeing where the story paralleled Hamlet and where it offered a twist on the Shakespeare. It was kind of irreverent and fun but also thoughtful and emotional. Listening to Fat Ham has prompted me to try to read/ listen to all the Pultizer Prize winning plays of the 2000s. Maybe this will be my reading project for next year.
Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg. I read this after reading Nelson Mandela’s biography and this books was fascinating. All the infidelities and violence and family drama that gets glossed over in Long Walk to Freedom are detailed here. Winne Mandela’s life in particular was really fraught. While Nelson was in jail, she had to raise her two daughters, was constantly unemployed. She was banned to a rural part of South Africa, she assembled a group of bodyguards under the guise of being a football club that carried out some truly violent acts, all the while trying to advocate for the end of Apartheid. Reading this book made the Mandelas more human, framing their fight against apartheid with very human struggles that we all face- looking for love and friendship, making ill advised choices, financial difficulties, temptations, protecting the people you love, work life balance…. Of course, there is something extraordinary about the context of their struggles – I don’t imagine I’m going to have a spouse in jail for thirty years, or that I’m going to be under house arrest – extraordinary situations make for extraordinary choices.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett – This book is told in diary format, as Professor Emily Wilde records her experience researching fairies on a remote Scandinavian village. I have to be honest, this was not a book for me, even though I pushed on to the end. I thought the diary format was not really well executed, and the story stretched the limits of the diary device. At one point, another character starts writing in the journal, which just felt forced. The world building was really hard for me to follow and I still don’t really understand what all was happening. I did like the gruff village inhabitants and the dog, though.
Heartwood by Amity Gaige – This novel details the search for a lost hiker on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. It is told through three main perspectives – the lost hiker, the Maine Warden who is leading the search, and a 72 year woman living in a retirement home. This book has been billed as a “thriller”, so I wasn’t really sure if it would be for me because that’s not really my genre, but it’s been getting a lot of buzz and I kept reading about people loving this book, so I decided to pick it up when I saw it at the library. I will say, it didn’t come across as a thriller to me – rather I felt that the mystery of whether or not Valerie would be found, while gripping, took backseat to the characters’ personal stories. I was really sucked in by that character driven aspect of the novel, each character seemed to genuine and well drawn to me and I really liked that.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten read by the author- This cozy memoir is a perfect autumn read. Garten recounts her life from growing up in Brooklyn to working in DC government to buying The Barefoot Contessa in the attempt to escape her career in bureaucracy. Listening to Garten talk about food and friends and dinner parties made me want to invite a bunch of people over for an impromptu dinner party; the descriptions of food were mouth watering. Garten also talks about the challenges she faced personally, professionally, and financially as she builds her empire. I really liked hearing about how she made certain choices about Barefoot Contessa and projects she was willing or not willing to take on. I do always take memoirs of very successful people with a grain of salt, though, because I think even though it’s clear that Garten is super smart and driven and savvy, she clearly had a lot of support when crafting her career. Sometimes memoirs make it seem super easy to become wildly successful, like good things just happen, but it does seem to me that people who are successful entrepreneurs have a lot of personal and financial connections that they can leverage. I still really enjoyed this book, though.
On my proverbial night stand:
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – Cool Blogger’s Book Club read.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe- 2018 non-fiction book about the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1960s and 1970s. I guess reading about civil conflict has been a theme of my non-fiction reading this year.
Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar – Romance novel featuring the fake engagement of two people who are introduced through the matchmaking efforts of their Indian parents.
Do you like reading memoirs? What are you looking forward to reading to round out the year? Have you ever listened to a play in audio?
Project Hail Mary is sitting in my room waiting to be read. I’m SO excited as I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.
I am on a very long list for Heartland. Ditto my excitement!
I love reading memoirs. I’d my favourite genre across all the different forms of writing/books. A good memoir is a special kind of magic to me.
Project Hail Mary was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy it!