Below are the first lines of the 6 books I finished reading in October. This month started with two books with very difficult topics, followed by children's lit and a light romance. It’s a heavy time.
Two of this month's books took place in medieval times. When I searched my photos for “medieval” this is what came up:
Hogwarts at Universal Studios, Florida.
yours truly as a band chaperone
A gun sense rally outside a church in Pittsburgh.
The building looks plenty medieval but it dates
to 1902 and the congregation began in 1836.
Without further ado, the first lines:
Book 1
Chapter 1: The Cabin
My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter.
Book 2
Almost everyone in Utah county has heard of the Lafferty boys. That’s mostly a function of the lurid murders, of course, but the Lafferty surname had a certain prominence in the county even before Brenda and Erica Lafferty were killed.
Book 3
Robin drew the coverlet close about his head and turned his face to the wall. He covered his ears and shut his eyes, for the sound of the bells was deafening.
Book 4
This is for the unforgettable.
The swift and sweet ones
Who hurdled history
And opened a world
Of possible.
The ones who survived
America
by any means necessary.
Book 5
“You’re free!”
“That’s one way of looking at it.”
“Oh, come on,” said Hannah. “You were buried alive in that place. How long’s it been? Ten years?”
Book 6
The Dung Heap
When animal droppings and garbage and spoiled straw are piled up in a great heap, the rotting and moiling give forth heat.
Did not finish
World of oil
If history is seen as a sequence of progressively more remarkable energy conversions then oil, or more accurately a range of liquids produced from it, has earned an incomparable place in human evolution.
The titles and authors revealed:
Book 1
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
Stephanie Land. 288 pages. Published 2019.
Difficult topic; eye opening. This book has been made into a TV series, which I haven’t seen but my husband has. Based on our comparisons, it seems to me that the TV series vastly exaggerates the conditions described in the book. Those conditions are bad enough and don’t need exaggeration to be horrifying. I think everyone at book club appreciated the chance to read this book.
Book 2
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, by Jon Krakauer
432 pages. Published 2003.
A violent and disturbing non-fiction account of men who engage in abuse, rape, incest, and misogynist treatment of women and girls, using their religion to justify their detestable, evil behavior. I read it for the other book club, to be discussed later in November.
Book 3
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli. 120 pages.
Newbery Medal winner in 1950
This book is about a boy in the Middle Ages who becomes incapacitated after an illness – he can’t walk. He was supposed to be a gallant knight but now that path is not open to him anymore. With the help of a kind monk and some other folks, he manages to help save the castle and the village. It’s a fine story, but seemed a little scant to be a Newbery winner. It was the right book for me this month.
Book 4
The Undefeated, by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson (illustrator). Caldecott Medal book. 23 pages. Published 2019.
I had thought that this was a Newbery Medal book, but instead it was a picture book. A good one, though.
Book 5
The Littlest Library, by Poppy Alexander. 323 pages. first pub 2021.
Light, romantic, cozy lit. A bit repetitive, as most books in this genre are, but I enjoyed it. I had need of this book, after reading Maid and Under the Banner of Heaven – brutal descriptions of life – and needing to deflect pre-election woes. The book contains some drinking of hot tea, quite a lot of alcoholic drinking, the presence of bats and cats. The plot totally overinflates the influence of a little free library, but, hey, an author can dream.
Book 6
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman. Newbery Medal winner in 1996. 128 pages.
Yet another Y.A. story set in the Middle Ages in England, this time about a pre-teen girl called Brat who has no family, no home, and no purpose in life. She finds a new name and makes a purpose for herself. Recommend. (Just a note - contains plenty of birthing scenes, which might not be for everybody.)
Did not finish
Oil: a Beginner’s Guide, by Vaclav Smil. 224 pages Published 2010. Second edition
I made it to page 125. Good general description of the plusses and minuses of fossil fuels, how they affect the earth and the economy. That was Chapter 1. But in Chapter 2, I couldn’t make it through all the alkanes and alkenes, anticlines and diapirs. I want to better understand how renewable diesel is made and how it works, but I now doubt my ability to grasp such things. Maybe after I’m done thinking about and working on elections. Which, given the current state of things, will be never.
1 comment:
Check you hanging out in the middle ages! Under the Banner of Heaven was chilling--spooky, which was made even worse by the fact that it's true. And Krakauer is a terrific writer. I haven't read Maid, I think I skipped it because I've read Nickled and Dimed and assumed it was the same sort of story. Like you, I enjoy a balance of the heavy and the light. Your book club picks some good ones, though.
Mine's meeting up to discuss Tom Lake by Ann Patchett on Wednesday.
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