That Month That Was August In 2025

 Sometimes, you just run out of ideas for blog post titles.

Here's what I read in August:

1. Original Sin -- Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Nonfiction. Apparently, President Joe Biden had been struggling with cognitive issues for some time, and his inner circle worked diligently to conceal this so Biden could be a two-term president. Nobody -- family, friends, colleagues, media --  comes off very well in this report. I felt like I needed a shower after I read this book.

2. The Magicians - Lev Grossman. Novel. Audiobook. Sometimes a book will surprise you, and you'll be smitten. It's like Hogworts and Narnia, except with young adults, so that layer of wonder and sanitizing is stripped away, and it's hilarious. Sometimes it feels like a piss-take, but I don't mind at all. Recognizing all the tropes and seeing how the students react is all part of the fun. Don't know if I'll get to all the books in the trilogy, but it's a pleasant goal to contemplate.

3. What Do We Know About The Lost Colony of Roanoke? - Emma Carlson Berne. Nonfiction. History's mysteries.

4. The Lioness - Chris Bohjalian. Novel. Audiobook. In this historical fiction novel, Hollywood superstar Katie Barstow decides to spend part of her honeymoon on a safari in Africa. It's 1964, and not a great time to vacation there. Katie has brought along an entourage of friends and family, and they get kidnapped by Russians. The chapters are framed by blurbs and sappy excerpts from The Hollywood Reporter or Screen Confidential about the character whose POV is about to be presented, then the current dilemma, the kidnapping, seen from the point of view of different characters. Then a backstory that leads up to the trip is presented. Speaking of frames, an older woman narrates about her role in this long-ago disaster adventure, but we don't know her identity until much later. I was drawn in by the story, but there were so many anachronisms of speech that I would become distracted. Bohjalian must have the same editor, (or not-editor) as Kristin Hannah. It's a small criticism, though, and it won't stop me from seeking out more Chris Bohjalian novels.

5. Shoes Off, Please - Helena Ku Rhee. Juvenile picture book. Very flat affect. It feels as if it was written by AI.

6. Becoming Real: The True Story of The Velveteen Rabbit - Molly Golden. Juvenile picture book. I love how this biography of the author of The Velveteen Rabbit was presented! Margery Williams' life story, full of sorrow and struggle and travel is interspersed with quotes from her most famous work. At the end of the book, the author gives suggestions on activities that parents and children can do with their own favorite stuffed animals or toys. I found myself pulled back into childhood and memories of my beloved stuffed pink dog, Karen Ann.

7. Walking Toward Peace: The True Story of a Brave Woman Called Peace Pilgrim - Kathleen Krull. Juvenile picture book.  An inspiring portrait of a well-to-do woman who decided one day that the material world was lacking, and she went on to devote her life to crossing the country on foot to promote peace. This was well before Instagram and other social media, so she was truly a pioneer.

2024 Nonfiction

* = Wow

1. Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond - Henry Winkler *

2. Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend -Karen Blumenthal  (audiobook)

3. Who was Salvador Dali? - Paula Menzanero

4. Child Star - Shirley Temple Black

5. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry *

6. What is the Story of Romeo and Juliet? - Max Bisantz

7. Granny Smith is NOT an Apple - Sharon Glen Fortson

8. I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast *

9. Class - Stephanie Land *

10. Who is Taylor Swift? - Kirsten Anderson

11. Knife - Salman Rushdie *

12. What were the Shark Attacks of 1916? - Nico Medina

13. What was the Great Molasses Flood of 1919? - Kirsten Anderson *

14. Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Philip Gefter

15. It Ended Badly: 13 of  the Worst Breakups in History - Jennifer Wright *

16. Rx - Rachel Lindsay

17. The Road to Oz - Kathleen Krull *

18. Lost Boy: The Story of the Man who Created Peter Pan - Jane Yolen *

19. Who Gets the Drumstick? - Helen Beardsley

20. Who is Michael Phelps? - Micah Hecht 

21. Random Family - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc *

22. Mornings on Horseback - David McCullough * (audiobook)

23. Bibliophile - Jane Mount *

24. Loving Sylvia Plath - Emily van Duyne *

25. Who is Billie Jean King? - Sarah Fabiny

26. Who is Lin-Manuel Miranda? - Elijah Ray-David Matos

27. American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath - Carl Rollyson

28. Sociopath: A Memoir - Patric Gagne

29. Who is Travis Kelce? - Ellen LeBrecque

30. What is the Story of Smokey the Bear? - Steve Korte

31. World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly - Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan *

32. A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 - Jeanine Basinger *

33. The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)

34. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher *

35. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh

36. Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)

Putting 2024 to Bed: December Reading

What about that December, eh? I have a confession: I didn't think that I would make my goal (63 books), so I sneaked in a short favorite, The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain. I'm  so unashamed for manipulating the results. Gasp. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing an ankle bracelet like the femme fatale in Double Indemnity.

Here's my brief December list of reads:

1. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain. Novel. I never get tired of this book. Noir at its best. From the title to the last line, it's a delicious, dark treat.

2. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher. Memoir. This first volume follows Cher from her origins up to her 30s, as she is trying to break into acting, and finding some resistance. I love her conversational style. Can't wait for Part Two!

3. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh. Nonfiction. True Crime. John Orr was a brilliant and respected arson investigator in Glendale, California. But guess what? He was simultaneously a serial arsonist, committing crimes all over the state. I was interested in this book because of the stark duality of John Orr, and also because true crime is so satisfying. Law enforcement starts with merely jigsaw pieces of clues, and they slowly and methodically put the puzzle together then build their case, hoping that a jury will concur with their finding and serve up justice. All of that was present in Fire Lover, but I do not care for Wambaugh's style, which gets in the way of the story he is trying to tell. His asides are not edgy, nor incisive, nor funny. They're just static. He's most effective when he stops his verbal swaggering and merely reports the facts of a case.

4. Animals Make Us Human: Creating The Best Life for Animals - Temple Grandin. Nonfiction. Grandin, who has worked with animals in one way or another during her long career, structures this informative and entertaining book around the emotions of animals, particularly the "blue-ribbon" emotions as identified by neuroscientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp: SEEKING (throughout the book, the emotions are written in all caps, in the style of Panksepp) RAGE, FEAR, PANIC, LUST, CARE, and PLAY. Grandin focuses mainly on the first four, using examples from her own experience and research. SEEKING is a pleasurable emotion, and needs to be satisfied or animals will suffer abnormal brain development, which is exhibited by continuous repetitive behaviors usually seen in animals in captivity but not in their wildlife counterparts. Grandin is adamant that their environment can be modified to benefit their mental health. She discusses dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals. Grandin is insightful, intelligent, and caring. This was one of my favorite reads of 2024.

By now, we're a couple of days into the new year, and I'm more than ready to get nerdy with my bookworm stats in the next post.

 

November, 2023, Nonfictioning All Over the Place

 An even dozen for November, and it was all decidedly and blissfully nonfiction.

 I am seriously thinking to challenging myself to a whole year of nonfiction and nothing but. Could I? Should I?

1. Napoleon vs. The Bunnies - J.F. Fox and Anna Kwan. Nonfiction, Picture book. Napoleon Bonaparte suddenly had an urge to go rabbit hunting one day and he sent one of his men out to get rabbits. The guy got some, but they were domestic rabbits and instead of running, they surrounded Napoleon, unafraid, waiting to be fed. Napoleon got freaked out and fled the hunting ground. Spoiler: This incident isn't in the movie that just came out. Imagine my disappointment.

2. Jerry Changed the Game! - Don Tate and Cherise Harris. Nonfiction, Picture book.

3. Who is Simone Biles? -Stefanie Loh. Nonfiction. I admire Simone Biles for her astounding gymnastic ability, but even more, I admire her for understanding how important it is to safeguard her mental health in times of stress.

4. Who is Nathan Chen? -Joseph Liu. Nonfiction.

5. The Wager - David Grann. Nonfiction. In this true story of mutiny and reckoning, David Grann writes vividly, even cinematically. The elegant way he ties things together for readers' understanding makes him seem like that electric lecturer in college that made the subject matter come alive. It's going to be a movie! I can hardly wait.

6. Good Books for Bad Children: The Genius of Ursula Nordstrom - Nonfiction, Picture book. Nordstrom was the Maxwell Perkins of Children's Literature. She also wrote a book called The Secret Language that I adored when my age was in single digits. This wonderful picture book was like a hug and has whetted my appetite to read Dear Genius, which is a collection of Nordstrom's letters to her authors.

7.What is the Story of The Headless Horseman? -Sheilah Keenan. Nonfiction. My favorite part of this book is when Sheilah Keenan goes through and rigorously analyzes just how quintessentially American this perennial Halloween classic by Washington Irving really is.

8. Five Days at Memorial - Sheri Fink. Nonfiction. The five days at Memorial occurred during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. In the chaos and fear, unfortunate decisions were made concerning the most vulnerable of patients. Sheri Fink takes readers through those miserable days in the first part of the book. The second part involves the reckoning and consequences, and the lengthy epilogue details similar disaster scenarios, and how triage decisions were made. It's an extremely fair and balanced example of reporting, but upsetting and triggering.

9. Who is Harry Styles? - Kirsten Anderson. Nonfiction. I'm annoyed that Kirsten Anderson didn't mention Harry's appearance on Saturday Night Live, and the skit he did with Aidy Bryant, in which she imagines what her beloved dog (named Doug) would say to her if he could speak, and in her fantasy, the dog is Harry Styles, and he's adorable. I've watched this skit a bajillion times, and I'm going to go watch it again after I finish this blog post.

10. What Do We Know About The Winchester House? - Emma Carlson Berne. Nonfiction. Well, it turns out that I knew almost nothing. I enjoyed learning about this unconventional example of architecture, and would like to see it in person one day. Author Berne expertly addresses and responds to the rumors surrounding the mysterious and reclusive Sarah Winchester.

11. Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy - Jacqueline Kennedy. Nonfiction. Interviewer and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger and a recently widowed Jacqueline Kennedy sat down for three months and seven conversations in 1964 to discuss JFK's legacy. I started out with the audiobook, but had to go check out the accompanying volume because Mrs. Kennedy had a tendency to murmur and even whisper at times in her East Coast accent. The book version was helpful in decoding some things she said, and it's chock full of meticulously written footnotes. The audiobook feels quite immediate, with planes flying overhead (Washington, DC) and the sounds of drinks being poured and cigarettes being lit and occasionally children barging into the conversations. Jacqueline's commentary was interesting and occasionally fascinating and maybe eyebrow-raising at times, but Schlesinger was a ponderous and boring interviewer.

12. Who Was Betty White? - Dana Meacham Rau. Nonfiction. My hackles rose as soon as I saw this book. It's one of the short ones, only 50 pages long. Give me a break! Betty White lived to be nearly a century old. (She missed triple digits by a mere 3 weeks.) She was one of the pioneers of early television. She served in WWII. She starred in 3 successful sitcoms. She deserves the regular 100 pages!

And so, on to December. I'm still working on: Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson.

On the wish list: My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand.

I'm about to embark on my annual geeky fun job of looking back at everything I read this year and breaking it all down.

2022 Reading: The Nonfiction

 I can't believe I read so much nonfiction this year. As they used to say in the old cigarette commercials, it was the taste that satisfied. I even flirted with the idea of having an all-nonfiction year in 2023, but not sure if I can live completely without fiction. Anyway, here's the list. Favorites are highlighted in green.

January

Taste: My Life Through Food - Stanley Tucci. 

Who Were the Navajo Code Talkers? - James Buckley, Jr.

Who Is Queen Elizabeth II? - Megan Stine.

What Was The Plague? - Roberta Edwards.

The Fran Leibowitz Reader - Fran Leibowitz.

February

Murder Book: A Graphic Memoir of a True Crime Obsession - Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell.

Who Were Stanley and Livingstone? - Jim Gigliotti.

Chasing the Last Laugh - Richard Zacks.

Garbo - Robert Gottlieb.

March

And Never Let Her Go - Ann Rule.

Home Baked: My Mom, Marijuana, and the Stoning of San Francisco - Alia Volz.

Born With Teeth - Kate Mulgrew.

What Were the Salem Witch Trials? - Joan Holub.

Half-Empty - David Rakoff.

April

Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner.

Who Was Charles Schultz? -Joan Holub.

What Was The Harlem Renaissance? - Sherri L. Smith

May

Films of Endearment - Michael Koresky.

The Taking of Jemima Boone - Matthew Pearl.

What Is Juneteenth? - Kirsti Jewel.

June

My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business - Dick Van Dyke.

Who Is Jimmy Carter? - David Stabler.

Who Was Johnny Cash? - Jim Gigliotti.

Happy-Go-Lucky - David Sedaris.

Who Is Chloe Kim? - Stefanie Loh.

July

What Are Castles and Knights? - Sarah Fabiny.

The Witches - Stacy Schiff.

Who Was E.B. White? - Gail Herman.

What Is The AIDS Crisis? - Nico Medina.

Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela.

Who Was Ponce de Leon? - Pam Pollack.

August

Who Was Nelson Mandela? - Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso.

The Wicked Boy - Kate Summerscale.

September

Dust Bowl Girls - Lydia Reeder

Everybody Thought We Were Crazy - Mark Rozzo.

October

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama - Bob Odenkirk.

I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy.

November

Who Was Georgia O'Keeffe? - Sarah Fabiny.

Three Martini Afternoons at The Ritz - Gail Crowther.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt.

December

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath - Heather Clark.

Who Was Steve Irwin? - Dina Anastasio.

My Very Favorites, My WOW Reads: 

Taste, Home Baked, Crying in H Mart, Everybody Thought We Were Crazy, I'm Glad My Mom Died, Three Martini Afternoons at The Ritz, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Red Comet.

2021: A Beautiful Stack of Nonfiction

I can't believe how much nonfiction I read this year! Of course all those Who Was...? books swelled my numbers, but still.

1. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson. Self-help.

2. Who Was Lucille Ball? - Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso. Biography.

3. Who Was Mark Twain? - April Jones Prince. Biography.

4. Atomic Habits - James Clear. Self-help.

5. Essentialism - Greg McKeown. Self-help.

6. Always Young and Restless - Melody Thomas Scott. Memoir.

7. Solutions and Other Problems - Allie Brosh (graphic novel) Memoir.

8. Who Was Catherine the Great? - Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso. Biography.

9. Who Is Kamala Harris? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

10. Who Was Walt Whitman? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

11. Eat A Peach - David Chang. Memoir.

12. Who Were The Beatles? -Geoff Edgers. Biography.

13. Who Were The Brothers Grimm? - Avery Reed. Biography.

14. Eleanor - David Michaelis. Biography. 

15. Who Was Levi Strauss? - Ellen Lebrecque. Biography.

16. Who Was Julia Child? - Geoff Edgers and Carlene Hempel. Biography.

17. Who Was Milton Bradley? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

18. Who Was Davy Crockett? - Gail Herman. Biography.

19. Who Was Benedict Arnold? - James Buckley, Jr. Biography.

20. Shrill - Lindy West. Essays.

21. The River of Doubt - Candice Millard. History.

22. The Witches Are Coming - Lindy West. Essays.

23. Blitzed - Norman Ohler. History.

24. What Is The Panama Canal? - Janet B. Pascal. History.

25. Who Was Norman Rockwell? - Sarah Fabiny. Biography.

26. What Is The Story of Alice in Wonderland? - Dana Meachen Rau. Literary History.

27. Who Is Ken Jennings? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

28. Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust - Loretta Lynn. Memoir.

29. Still Woman Enough - Loretta Lynn. Memoir.

30. Who Is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? - James Buckley, Jr. Biography.

31. The Mayor of MacDougall Street - Dave Van Ronk. Memoir.

32. Cheeky: A Head-To-Toe Memoir - Ariella Elovic (graphic novel) Memoir.

33. Who Is RuPaul? - Nico Medina. Biography.

34. Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

35. Who Is Aretha Franklin? - Nico Medina. Biography.

36. Who Is Elton John? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

37. Who Was Andy Warhol? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

38. Who Is Judy Blume? - Kirsten Anderson. Biography.

39. Who Was Juliette Gordon Low? - Dana Meachen Rau. Biography.

40. Best Food Writing 2003 - Holly Hughes, ed. Essays.

41. Who Is Dolly Parton? - True Kelley. Biography.

42. The Andy Warhol Diaries - Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett, ed. Diaries.

43. Who Was Frida Kahlo? - Sarah Fabiny. Biography.

44. American Cheese - Joe Berkowitz. Food.

45. The Office - Andy Greene. Entertainment.

46. Inside Peyton Place - Emily Toth. Biography/Literary History

47. Fresh Off The Boat - Eddie Huang. Memoir.

48. Grandma Pottymouth's Fast as Fuck Cookbook - Peggy Glenn. Cookbook.

49. The Boys - Ron Howard and Clint Howard. Memoir.

50. What Is The Story of Dracula? - Michael Burgan. Literary History.

51. Dancing At The Pity Party - Tyler Feder (graphic novel) Memoir.

Notes:

You make me feel like a natural bookworm: 

Always Young and Restless, American Cheese, The Boys, Lindy West, Grandma Pottymouth, The River of Doubt, Blitzed, Fresh Off The Boat, Cheeky, Loretta Lynn, The Andy Warhol Diaries, Eleanor, The Mayor of MacDougall Street

Made me think: 

Atomic Habits

Yes, I cried:

  Dancing At The Pity Party

Give me back my time:

  The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, Eat A Peach, Best Food Writing 2003, Inside Peyton Place

Meh: 

Levi Strauss, Walt Whitman, Norman Rockwell, Essentialism

Favorite Who Was...? books: 

CATHERINE THE GREAT!!! Benedict Arnold, Juliette Gordon Low, Davy Crockett, The Story of Dracula, RuPaul, The Rock, Elton John, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Julia Child, Milton Bradley, The Beatles and The Brothers Grimm

DNF Sorry/Not Sorry files: 

What She Ate, Philip Roth biography

DNF We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when files: 

Doorstop-sized Andy Warhol biography, How To Change Your Mind

My first nonfiction book for 2022 will be Taste by Stanley Tucci, and it's a mouthwatering way to ring out the old and ring in the chew...I mean...new.

May, 2021: In The Books Part 1

 May was such a great month for reading that I wish I could rewind and do it all over again. Seven books. Two audiobooks. Who Was...? books! Brilliant nonfiction! Two new author discoveries!

1. The Splendid and the Vile - Erik Larson. Nonfiction. Audiobook. It's so satisfying to read books by your favorite authors the moment the books are published, but even more fun is to let several of their works pass you by. Then, in a few weeks or months, devour them in a reading frenzy. When The Splendid and the Vile came out last year, I knew I couldn't put off Erik Larson much longer. Set mainly during the first years of Winston Churchill's time as prime minister, it was also at the time when Germany was bombing England with impunity. Told mostly through firsthand accounts and diaries, including Churchill's teenaged daughter, Mary, Churchill's struggle to convince FDR that the United States must join the Allied effort is quite suspenseful, though even the most casual of history readers knows the outcome. Even better than getting a glimpse into Churchill's world, and even more affecting is seeing how the bombings affected English people of all classes. Larson somehow manages to show both the horror and the humor, as well as the absurd, as when one of the leaders of the Nazi party, Rudolf Hess, gets a wild hair and decides to fly to Scotland to negotiate a peace -- the farthest thing from Hitler's mind, and much to his extreme displeasure. Entertaining and educational. Highly recommended. Especially the audiobook version.

2. Who Was Davy Crockett? - Gail Herman, Nonfiction. First of all, *don't* call him Davy. Call him David, because that was what Mr. Crockett preferred to be called. Gail Herman leads young readers through David Crockett's colorful frontier life to his tragic end at the Alamo then his leap into immortality via tall tales and the 1950s Disney television show. The illustrations by Robert Squier add to the vividness of the narrative.

3. Who Was Benedict Arnold? - James Buckley. Nonfiction. Benedict Arnold reminds me of the old Animals classic with the refrain: I'm just a soul whose intentions  are good/ Oh Lord! Please don't let me be misunderstood! Buckley plunges right in, with Arnold fleeing for his life, as the Americans, who have learned about him selling secrets to the British are hot on his heels. Then Buckley steps back to the beginning of Arnold's life, fixing a steely eye on our most infamous traitor. He acknowledges that Arnold had some good traits, but he was also reckless, dishonest, petulant, and ambitious right from the very start. I can't remember any other Who Was...? book that adopted such a stern tone towards its subject, and rightfully so. Again, the illustrations really pump up the drama.

That's the first half of May. Coming up in the second half: The Hate U Give, Shrill, The River of Doubt, and The Witches are Coming. I can't help it; I am so impressed with my bookworm self.

There You Go, October Part 1

 Five books in October. An okay month, but I'm still going to have to haul eyes to make my goal of 59 books by the end of the year.

1. Poets In Their Youth - Eileen Simpson. Memoir. Eileen Simpson was married to poet John Berryman, and they were acquainted with other poets, troubled in various degrees: Delmore Schwartz, Robert Lowell, Randall Jarrell and Theodore Roethke. Because Berryman couldn't/wouldn't agree to a normal family sort of life, Simpson gave up the idea of having children and trained to be a psychotherapist. Eventually, she left Berryman, but remained on civil terms with him and his friendly rivals. As a result, Poets In Their Youth is less a gossipy tell-all than a compassionate, forgiving examination with an extra remove of having been written well past the time that she and the poets of the title were acquainted. Although she wasn't a poet, novelist and short-story writer Jean Stafford, who was married to Robert Lowell, is a fascinating presence.

2. Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg? - Patricia Brennan Demuth. Biography. I sought this out and read it shortly after RBG's death, and it tore me up. Ended up reading it twice. I even had a dream in which I popped in on Marty Ginsburg, and he was composing the most beautiful sonnet for RBG for their anniversary. Even in dreams, everyone is ardent about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and why not? She was ardent about people and expressed it so clearly and lucidly through changes she made in unjust laws, not just for women, but for everyone. It will be a long time -- but please, not too long -- before the law is in such good, capable hands again.

Seven in September

September was a good month for reading. I didn't make any reading plans; I just let my inclinations pull me about. The result was a richness of discovery:

1. Sempre Susan (memoir) - Sigrid Nunez.
In the 1970s, Susan Sontag was recovering from Stage 4 breast cancer (the treatment was as gruesome as the disease), and she hired Nunez to help her with correspondence. Soon, Nunez began dating David Rieff, Sontag's son, and all three lived together for a while. An honest and thoughtful memoir that gives readers a real glimpse of a formidable cultural icon.

2. The Pioneers (nonfiction) - David McCullough.
McCullough's stately and measured tone doesn't quite match up with the hardships and excitement of the settling of the Ohio valley. But McCullough is always good, and I was pleased to see that The Awakening Land trilogy by Conrad Richter influenced him to write this book. It made me want to read Richter again.

3. Dancing Fish and Ammonites (memoir) - Penelope Lively.
This was my first outing with Lively. I liked her reportage from the frontier of old age, and the careful and affectionate cataloging of her favorite objects, from which this memoir gets its title. I am eager to read her fiction now, particularly Moon Tiger.

4. The Government Lake (poetry) - James Tate.
What a strange read. Imagine if Raymond Carver wrote poetry instead of prose, and he just let his train of thought steam merrily into the hinterlands of absurd dream-logic with all its hard left turns. I enjoyed the playfulness of Tate's poetry while managing to understand that something more serious was afoot. I'll probably read this one again.

5. Happy All the Time (novel) - Laurie Colwin.
Colwin seems very mannered to me. Her characters interact in a way that feels almost brittle. But then, my God, there's all these dazzling pops of description, and they are so sensual, so cozy. It's like the reader could fairly snuggle down between the lines of print as if it were the softest of comforters. Clearly, domesticity was Colwin's genius. I think she'll be best remembered for her later work, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking.

6. A Ladder to the Sky (novel) - John Boyne.
This was my favorite read, my most pleasant reading discovery for September. Reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith and The Talented Mr. Ripley, this novel is about Maurice, who wants nothing more than to be a writer. His problem is that he can't seem to generate an idea of his own or escape his own deadly boring prose style. Cold and opportunistic, Maurice doesn't let his shortcomings stand in his way. I could not put this book down.

7. What Is the Story of Frankenstein? (nonfiction) -Sheila Keenan.
I made a little foray into juvenile nonfiction to read about the first creature to observe that "it's not easy being green." I've always loved the story of the genesis of Frankenstein, how teenaged Mary Shelley beat the crap out of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron at their ghost-story writing contest. Although boiled down for younger readers, everything is here: the contest, Mary's background and influences, how the novel went through three drafts, how the monster in the novel is different from his famous screen incarnation. I was surprised to learn that there is a 1910 version available for viewing on YouTube. At the end, I was fired up to finally read Frankenstein for the first time in October.

August Reading: Bump Up The Intensity

My August reading seemed intense. Just before I sat down to write this post, I found this quote on my Twitter feed by the absolutely fabulous Nancy Pearl, quoting Angela Carter:

"Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel...all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms."

As true with nonfiction as with fiction.

Anyway, this month I brought to my reading all the emotions that keep my nerve endings crackling nonstop. Somehow, the books answered me in kind:

1. Swimming in a Death Sea - David Rieff.
This short but powerful memoir of Susan Sontag's final illness by her son, her only child, was intense. I'm glad it was short. Almost too much to take. I was reading with an odd sort of triple vision. One, I was reading about an author who I've come to admire in just a short time who was fighting to cheat death from cancer a third time in her life, as well as her son, who was put in the unenviable position of not being able to discuss his mother's illness with her candidly, nor was he allowed to lie to her or sugarcoat anything.  Two, I read this with the full weight and grief of what I'd just been through with my own mother. Not cancer, but a steady. sharp decline with stalled conversations as a sense of unreality covered us like a shroud. Three, I read it with an eye to a possible, no, probable future: Myself (Susan) as elderly, ill patient-parent, and my own son, my only child by my side, and wanting to spare him that sort of experience, but also knowing that I probably cannot.

2. The Escape Artists - Neal Bascomb. 
Take The Great Escape, back it up to a WWI setting, and double the efforts and intensity of pilots trying to escape a "perfect" POW camp with a sadistic Kommandant in the German wilderness that was more than a hundred miles from the Dutch border. Fun fact: James Whale, the director of the 1931 version of Frankenstein was a prisoner there.

3. Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid.
So much to love about this "oral history" of a fictional 1970s rock band. Reads enjoyably like an episode of VH1's Behind the Music. I plan to revisit this novel in audiobook form; the cast list is a Who's Who of my favorite audiobook performers. I'm starting to feel quite attached to Taylor Jenkins Reid. I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in July and absolutely gobbled it down. Now I want to read all of her books.

4. Incoming Assets - Stephanie Williams and Celestian Rince.
Young, thirtysomething Canadians Steph and Cel live in Vancouver, B.C. which is, by all accounts, expensive. They are also planning to retire around the age of 35. They also want to keep their favorite hobby of globetrotting twice a year. Achieving all of this with regular-paying incomes takes intensity and focus, especially since they just started this endeavor less than 10 years ago, but there's nothing grim about these two. I was happy to discover them and I enjoy reading their blog of the same name.

There were 8 books altogether in the month of August. I need to make this a two-parter. Next time, the remaining 4, which I'm still trying to process as we climb farther into September.

Fourteen So Far In Nineteen

What did you read in January, Bybee?

1. Elevation (novel) - Stephen King. Uncle Stevie was phoning it in with this short novel, but I appreciate him always.

2. Nomadland (nonfiction) - Jessica Bruder. Journalist Bruder, in sympathy and solidarity, follows a group of people, mostly senior citizens who have taken to the road to avoid homelessness. Depending on where you are in life, you will either read this book as horrifying, heartbreaking, or hopeful. I found it hopeful.

3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (novel) - Gail Honeyman. This one was a surprise. I thought it was going to be chick-lit, but it was so much more.

4. The Nightingale (novel) Kristin Hannah. Two sisters work for the Resistance during World War II in Nazi-occupied France. Quelle cinematic! I couldn't put it down. Kristin Hannah is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors.

5. If Beale Street Could Talk (novel) - James Baldwin. Gritty, sad, and wise. James Baldwin's 1974 novel about Tish and Fonny, in love and in jail (Fonny) and expecting a baby, has been made into a movie, and I can't wait to see it. The trailers look like both cast and crew internalized the book and captured the very soul of it on film. I read it back when I was a teenager, but of course it was infinitely more beautiful and devastating this time around.

6. My Life in Middlemarch (nonfiction) - Rebecca Mead. The author has been reading and rereading Middlemarch since she was in high school. I admire her triangulation in this work: She examines George Eliot's life, especially the writing Middlemarch part.  She breaks down the book into its various sections and looks at the characters. She also compares her life to the characters' and Eliot's. It's so rich and satisfying, and put me in the mood for my every-ten-years reread of Middlemarch.


And February???

7. Clock Dance (novel) - Anne Tyler. In the midst of bad news, it was comforting to sit down with a new Anne Tyler novel. I can't explain it, but it's like being home sick from school with all the creature comforts such as Lipton chicken noodle soup, the living room couch and a soft old afghan. Clock Dance feels like vintage Tyler. She makes it look so easy, but there's some careful, masterful writing going on here.

8. Becoming (nonfiction) - Michelle Obama. I audiobooked this one, and so glad I did! Becoming is great, but even more so with Michelle Obama's voice in my ears. I love and respect her even more than I did before, which was considerable.

9. Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters (nonfiction) - Anne Boyd Rioux. A scholarly and ardent fangirl examination of Louisa May Alcott's enduring classic. Rioux looks at the novel (is it really one, or two?) and the movie and TV versions. She also examines how and where the book is still being read and the history of its readership. Surprise! Males as well as females read and enjoyed the novel in its earlier days of publication. There's something for everyone in Little Women, as well as this enjoyable tribute.

10. The Library Book (nonfiction) -Susan Orlean. In 1986, the downtown Los Angeles Public Library caught fire. Susan Orlean follows the search for a possible arsonist, and also goes back more than one hundred years to its roots and some of the more colorful characters who influenced its growth, then flashes-forward to what it's like to work within such a large system. She also muses on the future of libraries and their place in communities. I am eager for my son, who works for a large library system, to read this one so we can discuss it.

11. The Dwelling Place (novel) - Catherine Cookson. I don't think I'm going to read any more Catherine Cookson. I hate that she writes with great depth and knowledge about a particular time and station in England and creates complex, compelling characters, then seemingly tosses it all away and throws characters under the bus (or carriage wheels, in this case) because she must have her creaky, cringe-y, old romance novel plot. Boo.



What about March? In like a lion...???

12. An American Marriage (novel) - Tayari Jones. I couldn't help comparing this novel to If Beale Street Could Talk, and I mean that as highest praise. Both books feature men of color mistakenly and unfairly for the same crime. Both have the same level of searing honesty. Both broke my heart. I hope An American Marriage wins the Pulitzer for fiction this year.

13. Dopesick (nonfiction) - Beth Macy. An examination of how the opioid epidemic began in Appalachia and spread throughout the country. It's sickening to read about the greed of the pharma reps and salespeople, the mostly-guileless medical professionals, the cluelessness of the government concerning recovery, and the overwhelming hardship of addicts and their families left to pick up the pieces after the disaster perpetrated by these insidious drugs.

14. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend (nonfiction) - Susan Orlean. I was always a little afraid of German Shepherds, so as a child, I was more of a Lassie person than a Rin Tin Tin one. I really enjoyed this look at the canine legend who was born on a French battlefield near the end of World War I, and his rise to Hollywood stardom, then his resurgence as a television icon. Orlean also surveys the humans devoted to Rin Tin Tin in all his incarnations who never doubted that they were part of an everlasting mystique.


What are you working on now?

Unsheltered (novel) - Barbara Kingsolver.   Two lives, one house, 130 years apart. I love the storylines and the structure. It may because I'm reading Middlemarch right now, but I'm getting enjoyable whiffs of the novel in the 19th century sections.

Middlemarch (novel) - George Eliot. I've been working on the book since early February, but in this reread, it's slow going. I still love it, but I'm not as engaged as I was the previous two times. Hoping this will change. I'm only 20% in, so there's time.

The Story of a Marriage (novel) - Andrew Sean Greer. This short novel is surprising, with all its layers. Greer won the Pulitzer for Less, which felt very slight to me. The Story of a Marriage is dreamlike, ruminative and complex.

Readjoice: 2018 Is In The Books

Here are the 77 books I read in 2018.

Not a bad number; I only pledged 57 on Goodreads!

Fiction, nonfiction, picture books, graphic novel, a book of essays, a play, poetry, letters. Lots of audiobooks. A couple of DNFs.

Reading trends: True crime, Sylvia Plath, Ottessa Moshfegh, Movies, Intermittent Fasting, Memoirs, Pulitzer fiction

1. Caroline - Sarah Miller. (novel)

2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff. (nonfiction)

3. Rotten Ralph - Jack Gantos (picture book)

4. The Great Influenza - John M. Barry (nonfiction)

5. The Cooler King - Patrick Bishop (nonfiction)

6. The Girls in the Picture - Melanie Benjamin (novel)

7. Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge - Becky Aikman (nonfiction)

DNF
Reckless Daughter - David Yaffe (biography of Joni Mitchell)

8. Our Souls at Night - Kent Haruf (novel)

9. Pachinko - Min Jin Lee (novel)

10. Swearing is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language - Emma Byrne (nonfiction)

11. Ten Days in a Mad-House - Nellie Bly (nonfiction)

12. Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi (nonfiction)

13. The Six: The Lives of The Mitford Girls - Laura Thompson (nonfiction)

14. The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson (nonfiction)

15. The Getting of Wisdom - Henry Handel Richardson (novel)

16. The Stranger in the Woods - Michael Finkel (nonfiction)

17. Turtles All the Way Down - John Green (novel)

18. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren (novel)

19. World Enough and Time - Robert Penn Warren (novel)

DNF
Traveling Sprinkler - Nicholson Baker (novel) so bad. not writing but typing.

20. In This Our Life - Ellen Glasgow (novel) omg, hated. this. book.

21. Not My Father's Son - Alan Cumming (memoir)

DNF
Vein of Iron - Ellen Glasgow (novel) Totally breaking up with Glasgow.

22. October, 1964 - David Halberstam (nonfiction)

23. Life Plus 99 Years - Nathan F. Leopold (memoir) what a self-serving piece of crap.

24. Compulsion - Meyer Levin (novel)

25. The Crime of the Century: The Leopold & Loeb Case - Hal Higdon (nonfiction)

26. The Teammates - David Halberstam (nonfiction)

27. Less - Andrew Sean Greer (novel)

28. Wishful Drinking - Carrie Fisher (memoir)

29. Bust Hell Wide Open: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest - Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. (nonfiction)

30. Woe To Live On - Daniel Woodrell (novel)

31. Destiny of the Republic -Candice Millard (nonfiction)

32. The Optimist's Daughter - Eudora Welty (novel)

33. Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer, 1953 - Elizabeth Winder (nonfiction)

34. Calypso - David Sedaris (essays)

35. Birthday Letters - Ted Hughes (poetry)

36. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (novel)

37. No Ordinary Time - Doris Kearns Goodwin (nonfiction)

38. The Good Daughter - Karin Slaughter (fiction) so disliked this book. I want my time back!

39. A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry (play)

40. Kitchens of the Great Midwest - J. Ryan Stradal (novel)

41. Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol I 1940-1956 - Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil, eds. (nonfiction)

42. Killing and Dying - Adrian Tomine (graphic novel)

43. Lover of Unreason - Yehuda Koren, Eilat Negev (nonfiction)

44. Born a Crime - Trevor Noah (memoir)

45. The Bell Jar: A Novel of the Fifties - Linda Wagner-Martin (literary criticism)

46. Dad is Fat - Jim Gaffigan (memoir)

47. Priestdaddy - Patricia Lockwood (memoir)

48. Heartbreak Hotel - Anne Rivers Siddons (novel)

49. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh (novel)

50. Conviction - Juan Martinez (nonfiction)

51. 90s Bitch - Allison Yarrow (nonfiction)

52. The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson (nonfiction)

53. Fast Diets for Dummies - Kellyann Petrucci, Patrick Flynn (nonfiction)

54. Amy Falls Down - Jincy Willett (novel)

55. Homesick for Another World - Ottessa Moshfegh (short stories)

56. Girl [Maladjusted] - Molly Jong-Fast (memoir)

57. Eat Stop Eat - Brad Pilon (nonfiction)

58. Educated - Tara Westover (memoir)

59. Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber and the Making of a Legendary American Film -Don Graham (nonfiction)

60. Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton (nonfiction)

61. Unbecoming - Rebecca Scherm (novel)

62. Heroes of the Frontier - Dave Eggers (novel)

63. Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Lee Israel (memoir)

64. The Obesity Code - Jason Fung, M.D. (nonfiction)

65. Dead Wake - Erik Larson (nonfiction)

66. The Laid Back Guide to Intermittent Fasting - Kayla Cox (nonfiction)

67. The Camerons - Robert Crichton (novel)

68. The Nix - Nathan Hill (novel)

69-77 are December's reads. Except for one, I haven't posted about these yet:

69. You Can Sleep in Your Car, But You Can't Drive Your House to Work - Sutton Parks (memoir) Sutton loses everything because of drinking and immature behavior. He joins AA and moves into his car and attempts to get perspective. An interesting account, but it could have used one last stern rewrite. I looked for Parks on social media and he hasn't updated in a year. I hope he's OK.

70. The Wonky Donkey - Craig Smith, Katz Cowley (picture book) Thank you, Scottish Granny for introducing me to the Wonky Donkey. I hope with all the hits your video got that you were able to bring out an extra figgy pudding at the holidays.

71. In Such Good Company - Carol Burnett (memoir) Audiobook, read by the author. So much fun to listen to Burnett reminisce about her show. I felt as if I were sitting at her feet, basking in the warmth of her voice.

72. Montana, 1948 - Larry Watson (novel) A stripped-down but brilliant novel that reminded me of Richard Ford's work.

73. Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol 2, 1956-1963 - Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil, eds. (nonfiction) The last six months of letters will rip your heart right out of your chest. I never wanted a time machine so badly.

74. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (novel) I've read this before, but this time I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal. There were lines I was so familiar with, but never realized the humor until I heard them read aloud. Great performance by Maggie G.

75. Year of No Clutter - Eve O. Schaub (memoir) I like books about clearing out clutter and I love memoirs, but this was a hard go. It felt as difficult as Schaub's dogged efforts to tame her "Hell Room". There is a video on YouTube of her process.

76. The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah (novel) I was so looking forward to reading this book all year and I was not disappointed. On the contrary, I was swept up in the story of a family attempting to homestead in Alaska during the 1970s. Kristin Hannah paints a picture of an Alaska that is both terrible and beautiful. The women were magnificent in the novel. I can't say too much; I'm still processing it and I don't want to blurt out any spoilers! One more thing: I was strongly reminded of Educated, the memoir by Tara Westover. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has made this observation.

77. Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook - Alice Waters (memoir) A difficult read. Alice Waters is a sensory person. She seems to have 'talked' this book, but words aren't her strong suit.  She is charming but flitting and fleeting and maddeningly vague at times. I really felt her ghostwriters' struggle to get the essence of Alice down on the page; I bet it was like herding cats.