October Book List
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I read about a book a week. Sometimes for reviews. Sometimes for fun.
I get asked often what I am reading, so I thought I’d make this a regular feature on my website. Maybe you’ll discover a new read or reminded of one you’ve been wanting to pick up.
Nick Ripatrazone’s Wild Belief- The wilderness often has the connotation of being a place of pain and wandering. This book looks at wilderness through the lens of rejuvenation and wonder. The chapter on Gerard Manley Hopkins, is worth the price of admission.
Reread Catcher in the Rye this past month. This time I was struck by how this is a story of trauma. Holden loses his brother, sees the body of a classmate who committed suicide (while wearing Holden’s shirt) and hints to being sexually abused as a child. Never saw this in my first reading in high school.
The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World
This book will appeal to progressive women who, as Oakes describes French philosopher, Simone Weil, are “Catholic attracted.” This book will not satisfy those who came looking for religious reflections with a resolution.
A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
Most original apocalyptic tale I have read. Difficult to read in content but necessary. I would have loved to read this novel in a book club so I could discuss it.
The Wet Engine: Exploring Mad Wild Miracle of Heart by Brian Doyle
The book is a sort of prayer of thanksgiving for the miracle of son, Liam's recovery from a major heart defect. Always the storycatcher, Brian Doyle said “stories matter waaaaay more than we know... All stories are in some form prayers.” He researched the heart, including his glorious much-shared essay “Joyas Volardores” about hummingbird and whale hearts, he researched heart surgeries, and interviewed the team involved in the surgery.
But the story wasn't just about Liam, or about his heart, the story became about the man behind the miracle, Dr. Dave Mc Irvine.
"Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise, and live to be two hundred years old, or you can spend them fast, like a hummingbird, and live to be two years old."