Luggage and Literature

Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. And this year I’m participating in the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge, so I’m also going to be listing which category my books fulfill. If you want to join in on the fun, you can check out the list of categories here! This is my October 2018 Reading List, my brief reviews and book recommendations for October 2018. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Books Finished:

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith

2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book set on another planet

If you’re an astronomy buff, this book is great. It is very similar to other books and shows by Neil deGrasse Tyson. The only downside is that the audiobook isn’t narrated by deGrasse Tyson.

Tricked by Kevin Hearne

I didn’t like this book nearly as much as the previous entries in the Iron Druid Chronicles, but it was still pretty good. It follows Atticus in his dealings with a Native American trickster god, and in dealing with the consequences of his decisions and actions in the previous book. I’m hopeful that I’ll like the next one better.

True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall by Mark Salzman

This was my book club’s October book. It is the true story of the author’s experience conducting a writing program in a juvenile detention facility. As an attorney who practices juvenile law, I had some issues with things that happened in the book. I know that the passage of time has meant the changing of laws relating to how juveniles can be held, and what sentences they can receive, so that is part of the explanation. Also, the author and kids are in a different state, so some of it can also be based on differences in state law. Although the story was a compelling look at why we should be treating juveniles differently from adults, and an honest look at childhood trauma, it wasn’t as moving as I’d expected it to be. Perhaps this is based on me hearing these kinds of stories and dealing with kids just like these in the course of my work. It was a great book club pick, and sparked some honest and interesting discussion.

Daniel, Man of God: Being a Man of Character in a Babylon World by Dwight L. Moody

I picked this book up from Amazon for free, and although it is clearly written for and to young men, it still had lessons applicable to women about how we need to stand up for our beliefs. It was good, but not the best spritual/devotional book that I’ve ever read.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book with an ugly cover

I read and enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and then immediately put this book on my to read list. The book is told from the perspectives of different people after a traumatic event has occurred, while they try to figure out exactly what happened and why, and they try to cope and figure out where their lives should now go. I really liked it, right up to the very end. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, but can understand why Ng wrote it that way. My book club has picked this book for February, so I’m looking forward to discussing it with everyone.

Deadwood by Pete Dexter

2018 PopSugar Challenge: a book tied to your ancestry

I purchased this book without reading the description closely enough. Although I thought it was a nonfiction look at Deadwood, but it was very plainly a fictionalized telling of some real and some not so real events. I picked it out because my family has lived in the Black Hills for generations, and my grandmother grew up in Lead-Deadwood. Although the story was interesting, I struggled a bit with the language, and the author’s preoccupation with a certain piece of male anatomy that he constantly calls a “peeder.” It’s distracting and really unnecessary. So if you’re prepared to overlook this, then this might be the book for you. I found it to be a disappointment, but did read all the way to the end.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

After reading Manhattan Beach and enjoying it, I was looking forward to reading A Visit from the Goon Squad, especially since it was a Pulitzer Prize winner. But perhaps this book just wasn’t right for me, because I just didn’t fee like I ‘got it.’ Essentially it’s written from the perspectives of different people all writing about a couple of main characters and their encounters with them over the years. But at the end, it felt like the book totally switched genres and was then telling this dystopian story set in the future. I just didn’t know what to make of it. I’ve thought quite a bit about the book, and have read a lot of other reviews of it, thinking perhaps I just missed something. And readers of this book tend to fall into two different categories: loved it, or didn’t get it. So I’m not alone, I guess.

An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew by Annejet van der Zijl

This book was the super interesting biography of Allene Tew, who I’d never heard of before picking this up as a Kindle First book. Her life was incredibly fascinating, and the book is well written. I recommend it.

Books in Progress:

Twelve Women of the Bible by Lysa TerKeurst (My bible study is working through this book and the associated videos)

Flawed Convictions: “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and the Inertia of Injustice by Deborah Tuerkheimer

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service by Michael J. Macleod

Choosing Real: An Invitation to Celebrate When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned by Bekah Jane Pogue

Books Abandoned:

None.