October Book List
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If you don’t know by now, I read A LOT.
People keep asking me what I’ve been reading lately so I thought I’d put them down in one post to share.
Reading Frankenstein for perhaps the tenth time… because , well because it’s October and I like to read this novel in October. It is in my top 5 favorite books of all time. This time with Karen Swallow Prior’s series as a guide. Prior writes a wonderful introduction and includes footnotes and questions that makes me want to have a book club or teach this marvelous novel.
Not a horror book but about life, death, the longing for connection with our creator and our community.
This reading I am struck by the structure. Did you know it is told through a series of letters… and letters within letters? That the main letters are not written by Frankenstein or the creature? I think that too surprises people.
Christian Poetry in America- Edited by Micah Mattix and Sally Thomas
This collection just came out. As a soon as I hear about it, I put it on my wish list. You can imagine my delight when I found it in my swag bag at the Catholic Imagination Conference! This collection includes poets born in 1940 forward. There is a fantastic little bio on each writer and I am savoring moving through it.
The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
This story of love and family, myth and complications of a large Mexican family in San Diego is the Seattle Reads book of 2022. My family has been reading it in preparation for Urrea’s visit to the Seattle Public Library this week. Urrea’s character depictions has me laughing aloud as I feel I know his family from people in my own life.
I'm only allowing myself 2-3 poems a day to make this gorgeous collection last. Pastor writes of joy and grief—time and hunger. I have lots of little stars on the poems that I like the best but I keep coming back to the poem “ Nine Kinds Of Blindness” which is worth the price of the entire book. This would be a tender book for a gift.
Dante’s Indiana by Randy Boyagoda
I am reading this one for a Zoom class with Collegium. Their Zoom explorations are always rich and thoughtful. Boyagoda tells the story of Prin, a middle-aged man, distanced from his family and his God who gets involved in a wild haired plan to create a Dante theme park in middle America.
Another reread. Doyle’s love letter to the Pacific NW, especially small towns. I love how he portrays commonalities between Native and Irish cultures. I like stories that connect us, instead of divide. This small-town story feeds the soul with love and friendship and people who do the right thing.
Fashion Climber by Bill Cunningham
This book has been on my Wishlist since it first came out soon after Bill Cunningham’s death. It was recently only $4 so I had to snag it. Hilton Als introduction is worth the price already as he reminds me of why I loved New York Times fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham, he had “a light that lit from within” and “knew that part of the privilege of life is our ability to have hope.”
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Marina Hoy-Gross suggested this book after our Zoom panel discussion for Collegium on the Art We Live With. Odell argues our attention is our most precious resource. We should be more thoughtful about where we spend it. Looking forward to diving into this.