Does it feel to you like this year has already been about 6-months long? Just me? But at the same time not, because when I look at the books I’ve read recently, it doesn’t seem like I’ve read that many. There is even a couple on that list I don’t remember reading at all! Clearly they didn’t leave me with memorable reading experiences.
I can group many of the books I’ve read into two categories: 1. Anger and rage inducing books about misogyny and hatred of women and 2. Uplifting and heartwarming books.
You can perhaps see why I veered so far apart in my reading categories can’t you? While I started the year off with a wonderful book, I’ll group that one in with the uplifting ones and start here with the anger and rage inducing ones:
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow and Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll were perfect companions in a way. In another way, it was almost as though Hoarder Elizabeth and I were reading them at the same time. Really, we did read Bright Young Women at the same time, but the number (the great and many number) of angry, ranting text messages I sent Elizabeth the entire time while reading Catch and Kill means she was reading it at the same time too.
Ronan Farrow’s meticulous investigative reporting for Catch and Kill was incredible. I rated the book 4-stars overall, because Mr. Farrow does tend to be long-winded, however it’s 5-stars for his reporting, his collection of information and evidence, and the building of trust he developed with the women involved. All of this leading to the exposure of these disgusting monsters and the incredibly stacked structures in place to protect these men over their victims and for his continued fight to ensure these women’s voices were heard and believed (all while he too faced threats and was under constant surveillance and exhausting attempts to destroy his reputation) made for 5-star reading for sure. I was exhausted at the end of reading this, exhausted by the vileness of Harvey Weinstein, exhausted by the executives at NBC and overall just exhausted by the fragility and misogyny of men.
Next up was Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. I was throwing myself right back into the misogyny! However, absolute kudos to Knoll for this so aptly named book: Bright Young Women. She brilliantly structured this novel around the young women that had their bright futures and lives cut short by a man the media glorified. However, never once is this man named and it made this book such an incredibly impactful and powerful one because instead, the focus was on giving voices to and creating portraits of the women lost. Excellent, highly recommend. This was a 5-star read for me.
On to the heartwarming and uplifting reads that dominated much of my reading these past two months:
I started my reading year with Christine Higdon’s Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue. I adored Higdon’s debut, The Very Marrow of Our Bones, so this new one was an automatic purchase. It also garnered 5-stars from me. She can spin an excellent tale with unbelievably fantastic characters! With this one we’re especially treated to the delightful character of Rue, the beagle. Rue’s wisdom and insights were just wonderful to read. As I felt after reading The Very Marrow of Our Bones, I was left again with, “what do I read now?” once closing the pages of Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue. Whatever will she come up with next, and more importantly, when?
I was keeping it Canadian when I reached for Craig Davidson’s Precious Cargo: My Year of Driving the Kids on School Bus 3077. Truthfully I was needing something very light and comedic following Catch and Kill and Davidson provided a perfect and humorous balm to my heart.
If anything came through for certain after reading this, is that we grossly take for granted bus drivers. I’m certain they are grossly underpaid considering the level of training they go through and the level of responsibility they have for these kids they are transporting. Davidson talked well about this tiny society he transported each day and the great responsibility of navigating everyone’s needs, personalities and disabilities (the bus he drove was for a group of special needs kids). Precious Cargo is told predominantly through a transcription-style of conversations he had with the kids on his bus and then poignant moments would pop up like his ruminations on the impact he had on these kids, but also the overwhelming impact they had on his own life. “That’s what I mean. You meet people and your life gets its shape by the things that happen when you meet.”
Sigh. These two books. If you need uplifting, heartwarming and lovely books that make your heart feel warm, I highly recommend reaching for Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore.
Anxious People was a gift from Hoarder Elizabeth. It also solidified my love for Backman, which I think was her plan. It’s wildly different of course from the Beartown trilogy, but contains all the same heart and fantastic characters found there. I loved how he connected the characters in Anxious People and how he revealed those connections to us. His wonderful moments of poignancy always made me pause and re-read sentences over and over because they were just so beautiful. This was a much needed uplift to my reading. Another 5-star for me.
I was in the library gathering books for our in-person book club one day when I peeked at the books on their Valentine’s Day display. The Lonely Hearts Book Club was there and I picked it up on a whim. While reading the description of the book’s contents I felt like it sounded like the sweetest book ever and just had to include it with the books I was bringing to book club. The book club ladies felt the same and were happy to choose a book that promised a sweet and uplifting story. It was indeed such a wonderful book. What I really loved about it too is it’s message about friendship. This isn’t a book where a character leaves her fiance and races into the arms of another man, but instead focuses on the love of newly found friends and the significant importance these people have on each other’s lives. Really wonderful – as with all the others here, I highly recommend.
So overall, not a bad couple of reading months eh? There’s only been two “duds” in the mix, with one I honestly don’t remember finishing? Anyway, they aren’t important and certainly didn’t overshadow the many wonderful books read up until now.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful start to your reading year too!
And yes, as you can see – the 2nd Year of Reading Chunksters kind of hit a wall! :-) The next books I have planned however are chunkers!
