I happened upon the book, Letters From Prison , an anthology of letters to and from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor imprisoned by the Germans in WW2 for his opposition to Hitler. The letters were written during Bonhoeffer’s two-year imprisonment before being executed just before the end of the war.
The letters have remarkable continuity and tell the story of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts and concerns during his imprisonment. Far from being despondent, Bonhoeffer used the time for study and reflection. It was this studying that added an unexpected benefit to reading the Letters from Prison.
Bonhoeffer had wide-ranging interests and enjoyed reading on a variety of subjects, sharing his opinions of his readings in his letters to friends and family. This led to that wonderful reward for my own reading, that ripple-effect of secondary exposure to new books.
Since reading Bonhoeffer’s letters I’ve read three other books that were nowhere on my radar, but were influential to him: The Microbe Hunters (Kruif ) and two different versions of the story of Reynard the Fox (Goethe’s poem and Anne Avery’s new prose version). This expansion of one’s horizon is one thing that makes reading so precious to me.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad. A blistering account of the West betraying its values, particularly in regard to the Palestinian crisis.
My favorite November books are "Red Scare" by Clay Risen - a non fiction on facism in America's past and present and "The House of Beauty" by Arabelle Sicardi which I have almost finished - another non fiction about things that have contributed good or bad to the beauty industry
My favourite November read has been Autumn Chills, a collection of short seasonal stories. Agatha Christie for the colder weather, great to snuggle up to!
I have tried/started Tom Holland 's book several times but never can quite get past the first 30 pages or so... I'm curious (perhaps it will give me hope I can get through it some time): wat was it that challenged you? The content or the writing style or something else entirely?
November was my month for cozy books aside from one! And that one was such a great departure from the creature comforts the other provided. I read “The Art of Gathering” by Priya Parker. While she can get a little pretentious/preachy, the book is super applicable to my job (and my personality)!
Which Way to the Future by Cressida Cowell as our readaloud, and Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time for Me as my favourite book of the month. I also read Zadie Smith's new book of essays, but wish it wasn't a library hold and I could have just dipped in and out, rather than reading them all at once.
The 8 year old started reading Anzu and the Realm of Darkness by Mai Nguyen and keeps saying "this is so, so good!"
My best spend of the month was an international membership for Queens Public Library. $50 a year and such a huge collection of books and audiobooks. I think it's saved us the membership fee in the last 4 weeks.
Blindness by Jose Saramago. It was beautiful and inspirational and disgusting and heartbreaking, all at once. And it seemed like a pretty realistic take on how society would respond to that kind of situation, both for good and for bad.
My favorite book this month was Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. A wildly inventive journey through Hell.
Oh nice, I haven't read that one yet. I've enjoyed her other work though.
Just that title alone had me scurrying to Amazon. Thanks, Mimi!
Can't wait to read this one!
I happened upon the book, Letters From Prison , an anthology of letters to and from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor imprisoned by the Germans in WW2 for his opposition to Hitler. The letters were written during Bonhoeffer’s two-year imprisonment before being executed just before the end of the war.
The letters have remarkable continuity and tell the story of Bonhoeffer’s thoughts and concerns during his imprisonment. Far from being despondent, Bonhoeffer used the time for study and reflection. It was this studying that added an unexpected benefit to reading the Letters from Prison.
Bonhoeffer had wide-ranging interests and enjoyed reading on a variety of subjects, sharing his opinions of his readings in his letters to friends and family. This led to that wonderful reward for my own reading, that ripple-effect of secondary exposure to new books.
Since reading Bonhoeffer’s letters I’ve read three other books that were nowhere on my radar, but were influential to him: The Microbe Hunters (Kruif ) and two different versions of the story of Reynard the Fox (Goethe’s poem and Anne Avery’s new prose version). This expansion of one’s horizon is one thing that makes reading so precious to me.
For me, without a doubt, it was "Rebecca" from the Big Read. And I can't beleive no one has mentioned it yet.
Heart the Lover is a classic
One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad. A blistering account of the West betraying its values, particularly in regard to the Palestinian crisis.
I've seen a lot about that one - glad to hear you found it worthwhile.
My favorite November books are "Red Scare" by Clay Risen - a non fiction on facism in America's past and present and "The House of Beauty" by Arabelle Sicardi which I have almost finished - another non fiction about things that have contributed good or bad to the beauty industry
I've read a couple other Risen books - I'll check this one out too.
My favourite November read has been Autumn Chills, a collection of short seasonal stories. Agatha Christie for the colder weather, great to snuggle up to!
Oh that's fun, I've read a bunch of her novels but never the stories.
My favorite book is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Spiciness warning.
She’s been on my list a long time but I haven’t read anything from her.
I finally got around to reading Dominion which I enjoyed — and was challenged — more than I expected
I have tried/started Tom Holland 's book several times but never can quite get past the first 30 pages or so... I'm curious (perhaps it will give me hope I can get through it some time): wat was it that challenged you? The content or the writing style or something else entirely?
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. Hark The Lover what’s my favorite for October.
Hawaii by Michener
November was my month for cozy books aside from one! And that one was such a great departure from the creature comforts the other provided. I read “The Art of Gathering” by Priya Parker. While she can get a little pretentious/preachy, the book is super applicable to my job (and my personality)!
That’s a great one! Very practical - and I love the overarching heart of it.
Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido. And as far as delightful reading experience, the Emma M. Lion series!
Never heard of it! I'll look it up.
Which Way to the Future by Cressida Cowell as our readaloud, and Laurie Colwin's Happy All the Time for Me as my favourite book of the month. I also read Zadie Smith's new book of essays, but wish it wasn't a library hold and I could have just dipped in and out, rather than reading them all at once.
The 8 year old started reading Anzu and the Realm of Darkness by Mai Nguyen and keeps saying "this is so, so good!"
My best spend of the month was an international membership for Queens Public Library. $50 a year and such a huge collection of books and audiobooks. I think it's saved us the membership fee in the last 4 weeks.
Love Happy All the time. And all the Colwins
I want to be a author completist in 2026 and the Colwin books seem manageable.
Marvelous, thanks Coree! I'll definitely look up Anzu. :)
Blindness by Jose Saramago. It was beautiful and inspirational and disgusting and heartbreaking, all at once. And it seemed like a pretty realistic take on how society would respond to that kind of situation, both for good and for bad.
“Nobody’s Girl.”