Poetry Poetry Poetry
1. Inclement Weather by Harryette Mullen
2. What Work Is by Philip Levine
3. In Lieu of Flowers by Carolyn Forché
4. Joy in the Woods by Claude McKay
5. Antonio Machado Listens to the Shadows of the Sunset in Long Island by Fernando Valverde translated by Carolyn Forché
6. The Other Foot by Chip Livingston
7. Prodigal Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Prose Prose Prose
1. The Forbidden Notebook (Quaderno proibito) by Alba de Céspedes translated by Ann Goldstein – Forward by Jhumpa Lahiri
2. Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh
3. Whidbey by T Kira Madden
4. Discretion by Faïza Guène
5. A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Vision of Mary McLeod Bethune by Noliwe Rooks
Good morning and happy fall, y’all. September was fun because I threw caution to the wind and knocked off books from both of my lists. Is that throwing caution to the wind? Hard to say.
First up, Quaderno proibito was interesting. I found myself wrestling with the idea of not thinking I’d be friends with the MC, and realizing I just am not quite to a point when I can relate to her just yet. However, I assumed I would be able to relate to her daughter, but that was also not the case. I stepped back and decided this is the point. Feminist literature at it’s finest. Women are eternally unique. The character flaws are not fatal, just authentic and I’m sure relatable to other readers. What is relatable is understanding the mind of a woman who hasn’t been reflecting on herself and her needs and her wants until this moment. Give it a chance, and you too will understand why this book and this author are so influential.
Mackintosh was onto a great idea, but this book is too short to go anywhere. There’s not enough depth to make me care about two people’s struggles when they are literally cheating the entire time. The idea is there is a world people can go to to have an affair and not have to hide it. They can travel between the worlds when they want, and time stays place for them while they are away. There’s always a catch, of course. I think the idea of the super devout characters was interesting. The way they travel back to the real world is also interesting. There is an imbalance in what we know about side characters and how much we are told about them. And yes at the end of the day the MCs are just not likable in my opinion.
I read this third book from a substack recommendation and it was pretty good. A murder-mystery and a tragedy and a look into a town and scenario that I believe is inspired by true events. I do think it is interesting that the book is called Whidbey, but that place isn’t really the main location for this story. I think all the characters are very engaging, and I liked the audiobook for this one. It is graphic and uncomfortable to read about child sexual abuse, so there’s a trigger warning for you. The ending is also not straightforward nor obvious, which I appreciate in a mystery. For a debut novel and a book to check off my genre challenge, I would say this was a success.
The next book tackles our reads the world challenge and was simple yet profound at the same time. Translated from French and covering two different decades for a mother and her children. We start in Algeria and make our way to France and we see the different preservatives of immigrants and the children of immigrants. By the end of the book I did start underlying things, but I also wouldn’t say this was my favorite book. It was a book I enjoyed but found a bit slow paced. Yet it was a quick read. Lots of dichotomy in this one from both the construction and the characters.
Lastly I read a second book for the genre challenge. If you all kept up with my Black History Month posts, this name may look familiar. I was excited to learn more about such an influential woman. I think was this book is, more than a biography, is a woman honoring and exploring the history of Bethune and how it impacts her own personal story. So did I learn much more from this than I did from my research and discovery in February? Not really. Did I think it was a beautiful book? Yes.
As you can see, I did not read a book for either of my book clubs this month. I wanted to, and I have one I’m in the middle of now and one that is sitting by my bed, but I needed to knock out some challenge books this month and that’s just that. Off to the Cider Fest this afternoon and Boulder this evening. Cheers!
Book Goal Tracker: 38/40
Genre Challenge Tracker: 5/10
Reads the World Tracker: 5/10
