It’s time, once again, to chat about our favorite reads of the previous month.
JEREMY: Just a couple days ago I wrote about how much I enjoyed David McCloskey’s Damascus Station. Definitely give it a read if you’re into spy fiction. I also really enjoyed Chris Hayes’ The Sirens’ Call; if offered a unique and compelling take on our smartphone age. I’ll review it in the newsletter shortly.
JANE: My wife had another good reading month and landed on Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel as her favorite. This novel stars an 81-year-old lady who, once upon a time, was Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. The underlying question of the story: was she “mad” or misunderstood?
GRAHAM (11 years old): The eldest child is re-reading The Hunger Games and loving it. He said it was easily his favorite of the month and definitely holds up on subsequent reads — I sure can’t argue with that.
WILLA (8 years old): We have finally reached the fourth and final book in the Wayside series. Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom has been quite fun and we’re all going to be rather sad when it’s done; it’ll be hard to find a new series to dive into that we’ll love as much as this one.
BO (5.5 years old): The Scariest Book Ever was perfect for spooky season. Bo grabbed it from the school library and it was a fun read for kiddos and parents alike.
Your turn! What was your favorite October read?
My best book of October was Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave: My Cemetery Journeys by Mariana Enriquez (translated by Megan McDowell). It's a combination travelogue/memoir describing the author's visits to well-known cemeteries in North America, South America and Europe. Enriquez was a great tour guide, providing a lot of information about the cemeteries, but it wasn't all serious; there was a lot of fun and humor along the way as well.
Confession by Kanae Minato translated from Japanese was the most engaging book of the month. However, it is difficult to not mention Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams which is in a class of its own. Mad Mabel was great! I read it in September.