Forgive my slight lateness, back to school and all that jazz. Which around here is two-fold as work has been slightly insane the past few weeks. I am in admissions, and you would think students would have that part already done, ya know, BEFORE classes started? Nope. First day was yesterday and there were still fall applications coming in. Insane, I tell you.
I had a little less reading time in August. Finished one book alone, one book with the kiddo, and a handful of audio books, most of which I listened to while processing applications as they do an excellent job of drowning out the chaos around me.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth
The main character in my WIP is bisexual, and I put this book on my TBR list back in the planning stages. It is an excellent coming of age story about a girl in a conservative town trying to process her feelings towards other girls and ultimately getting sent to a conversion camp. It takes place in the 90s, but it left me thinking a lot about the way some parts of the country/religious groups are attempting to change who people are and how they feel. The book is beautifully written and heartbreaking. I’d love to see it as a film someday.
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
I love the movie, so when I found a copy of the book at a used book sale, I snatched it up and told the boy we should read it together. It’s always interesting to go backwards (movie to book) and I find that I usually end up preferring the movie. The book is a bit old school and my son and I had a hard time mustering up any sort of sympathy for Harriet. He kept saying, “I don’t like Harriet. She’s just so mean.” Oddly enough, I’ve started going through boxes in the basement and came across my middle school journals. I wasn’t especially nice either – in between my boy obsessed entries, I generally had petty things to say about my close friends. Guess it’s a good thing no one found those back in the day.
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Listened to this one in the car, although I’d been wanting to read it for a while. I love Anderson’s writing – she totally nails the teenage experience. This one has a male main character and despite the fact that I have not ever been a teenage boy, it seemed to be spot on. My husband confirmed that yes, boys do spend a fair amount of time thinking about their relationship with their father and that whole “what it means to be a man” theme. Definitely worth the read/listen.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
My sister’s boyfriend recommended Bill Bryson, and this was a perfect audio book to keep me focused at work. It describes his journey along the Appalachian Trail and is interspersed with fun facts about everything from bears to hemlock tree devastation. Over the weekend we stopped at the Delaware Water Gap and I was excited to see one of the places that Bryson had described. Personally, I could never hike the AT, but I do enjoy hiking and being out in nature, and the book had several laugh out loud parts, which probably made my co-workers wonder what I was up to.
10% Happier by Dan Harris
Ah, self-help books. I’m such a sucker for them. Stumbled upon this on the library available audio books shelf, but after I posted that I had read it, a friend reminded me that she had talked about him a few weeks back. Harris is a newscaster who suffered from a panic attack on the air, which eventually led him to discover Buddhism and meditation. Ironically, I spent most of the book multi-tasking, which is the opposite of what someone who wishes to be more mindful is supposed to do. But I have put a few other recommended books on my TBR list and suggested to my children that we set aside time to meditate. Stay tuned, I’ll try to do a post in a bit about how that is going.
That’s it for August. No ARCs this month, but an ever growing list of books I want to read. Our local book club released it’s selections for the year (they meet October-May and feature local authors; one of my friends is on the list!) plus it seems like wherever I go someone is mentioning a great book they read. But please, send me suggestions if you have them, or if you’ve written a book and would like a read/review. Happy to help other writers out and link to your site!
Sandi Van 