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.
I highly recommend Time of the Child at holiday time and follow up with This Is Happiness. If you can, do audio. The narrator is fabulous and it brings the book alive. It’s like having an Irishman sitting next to you telling you a story. You will find yourself laughing out loud.
As has been true for the last six years, Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. I almost never reread books, but this is my annual exception. It’s moody, atmospheric, and still thrilling after all the reads. I always pick up on something that I hadn’t caught before, and find myself wondering if I’d slept through parts of the book previously. The highest recommendation!
"Beatrix Potter's Art," published by Penguin UK, with text by art historian Anne Stevenson Hobbs. Potter is best known for those charming little books about mice and rabbits, but this book reveals that she was a skilled artist with an incredible eye for detail.
Like John Singer Sargent, she was raised in an environment of nature and nurture. Her mother was a watercolorist, and her father was a skilled professional photographer and friends with John Everett Millais and Randolph Caldecott (yes, *that* Caldecott!), both of whom nurtured and guided her as an artist, author and illustrator.
She was interested in everything, from Roman pottery and ancient pins to leaves, butterflies, birds and the patterns of their wings, interiors with fireplaces, landscapes, taxidermied animals, and yes, mice and rabbits. Her watercolors are astonishing and her work is wonderfully diverse in subject and style. As she gained prominence, she began to lay out and design her own books, and her illustrations increasingly tailored for the printing process. Such a lovely and insightful book!
My favorite of the month was American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee.
My daughter also loved the Wayside School books so may I suggest the Classroom 13 series by Honest Lee? They have some similarities and my daughter has devoured them!
Mightier Than the Sword by Jim Ruland. Such a wild idea for a heist book, four adjunct English professors set out to steal $ from their campus bookstore, fun but not a silly or fluffy book.
This month my best read was Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future by Caitlin Vincent. It was an insightful (although biased) look at the historical and current challenges of staging operas. Caitlin is definitely not of the traditionalist bent, but she does a wonderful job looking into all the elements of opera that make it (here's my bias) one of the most perfect art forms. Opera Wars isn't really for the opera neutral person but it is for those who love the form (even if you disagree with her perspective) and the opera curious.
Regarding Sideways Stories, I think I have shared my utter love of it before. For follow up, you might want to explore the Locker 37 series (starting with The Magic Eraser) by Aaron Starmer.
A hard choice this month, since I read at least 4 outstanding books, but THE LADIES’ PARADISE, by Emile Zola, is really the favorite and has opened up a rabbit hole of Rougon Macquart novels for me to address as well as readings in the history of 2nd Empire France. A shout-out to Karen Rodriguez of Literary Fancy for including this on my personaized list of 19th century French novels!
I quite enjoyed Against Identity: The Wisdom of Escaping the Self, by Alexander Douglas. He makes a highly cogent and persuasive case that our modern-yet-ancient quest to find security through identity is a trap rooted in imitation and is ineluctably linked to violent rivalry, and points to three philosophers (Zhuang Zhou, Benedict Spinoza, and Rene Girard) who make a collective case that escaping the self is the only way out. I found it very refreshing and readable, not to mention that he comes across as phenomenologically accurate in his take.
My favorite October read was "Everyday I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books" by Hwang Bo-Reum. Each chapter is 2 to 4 pages long and tells an aspect of ways to read books. Examples are Read Small Books, Read Big Books, Use a Timer App, Life-changing Reads, The Next Book to Read, Reading Multiple Books at Once etc. She said she "wrote and published an essay collection spurred solely by my love for reading."
With 53 Chapters you can read one a week, but I read one or two chapters a day. I might reread it reading one chapter a week on Sundays next year.
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.
Sounds like a good one; her fiction is high on my list.
I read her short story collection, Things We Lost in the Fire, a couple of years ago and really liked that one as well.
I just added this to my to read list!
I hope you enjoy it! I found it very entertaining and unique.
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.
Niall Williams has been on my list a while but I haven't read him. And I haven't heard of the other one — I'll look it up.
I highly recommend Time of the Child at holiday time and follow up with This Is Happiness. If you can, do audio. The narrator is fabulous and it brings the book alive. It’s like having an Irishman sitting next to you telling you a story. You will find yourself laughing out loud.
Sounds lovely, appreciate that tip!
As has been true for the last six years, Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. I almost never reread books, but this is my annual exception. It’s moody, atmospheric, and still thrilling after all the reads. I always pick up on something that I hadn’t caught before, and find myself wondering if I’d slept through parts of the book previously. The highest recommendation!
Never read that one! I'll have to remedy that.
I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 and Bradbury transcends the genre. He was a marvelous writer, innovative and fantastical.
Such a great book. An all-time favorite of mine!
"Beatrix Potter's Art," published by Penguin UK, with text by art historian Anne Stevenson Hobbs. Potter is best known for those charming little books about mice and rabbits, but this book reveals that she was a skilled artist with an incredible eye for detail.
Like John Singer Sargent, she was raised in an environment of nature and nurture. Her mother was a watercolorist, and her father was a skilled professional photographer and friends with John Everett Millais and Randolph Caldecott (yes, *that* Caldecott!), both of whom nurtured and guided her as an artist, author and illustrator.
She was interested in everything, from Roman pottery and ancient pins to leaves, butterflies, birds and the patterns of their wings, interiors with fireplaces, landscapes, taxidermied animals, and yes, mice and rabbits. Her watercolors are astonishing and her work is wonderfully diverse in subject and style. As she gained prominence, she began to lay out and design her own books, and her illustrations increasingly tailored for the printing process. Such a lovely and insightful book!
Sure sounds nice, thanks for sharing that Ann!
My favorite of the month was American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee.
My daughter also loved the Wayside School books so may I suggest the Classroom 13 series by Honest Lee? They have some similarities and my daughter has devoured them!
Glad to hear that about Min Jin Lee's new book — I've been looking forward to it.
And thanks a million for the Classroom 13 rec! We'll definitely check it out.
Ooo! I have Mad Mabel on my “want to read” list.
My best book of October was Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker.
The perfect blend of magical realism, unreliable narrator, spooky, and gore for the season!
Haven't heard of that one, I'll have to look it up! Thanks, Kelsey. And enjoy "Mad Mabel" when you get to it!
I just picked up Japanese Gothic, so I'm excited to hear that it's good! I'll have to bump it up higher on the TBR.
It’s a pretty quick read, too! I think it took me, total, about 4-5 hours.
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown. https://substack.com/@haveyounotread/note/p-222252305?r=2wk326&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Such a great book. One of my favorites!
Mightier Than the Sword by Jim Ruland. Such a wild idea for a heist book, four adjunct English professors set out to steal $ from their campus bookstore, fun but not a silly or fluffy book.
Interesting, thanks for the rec. Love a good heist story.
This month my best read was Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future by Caitlin Vincent. It was an insightful (although biased) look at the historical and current challenges of staging operas. Caitlin is definitely not of the traditionalist bent, but she does a wonderful job looking into all the elements of opera that make it (here's my bias) one of the most perfect art forms. Opera Wars isn't really for the opera neutral person but it is for those who love the form (even if you disagree with her perspective) and the opera curious.
Regarding Sideways Stories, I think I have shared my utter love of it before. For follow up, you might want to explore the Locker 37 series (starting with The Magic Eraser) by Aaron Starmer.
Opera Wars sounds pretty interesting.
And thanks for the Locker 37 rec — we'll look it up.
A hard choice this month, since I read at least 4 outstanding books, but THE LADIES’ PARADISE, by Emile Zola, is really the favorite and has opened up a rabbit hole of Rougon Macquart novels for me to address as well as readings in the history of 2nd Empire France. A shout-out to Karen Rodriguez of Literary Fancy for including this on my personaized list of 19th century French novels!
Never read any Zola.. glad you're enjoying it!
I read Blood on the River - James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone to my son. He absolutely loved it.
It is historical fiction. Really good book.
That sounds great, thanks for the rec!
I quite enjoyed Against Identity: The Wisdom of Escaping the Self, by Alexander Douglas. He makes a highly cogent and persuasive case that our modern-yet-ancient quest to find security through identity is a trap rooted in imitation and is ineluctably linked to violent rivalry, and points to three philosophers (Zhuang Zhou, Benedict Spinoza, and Rene Girard) who make a collective case that escaping the self is the only way out. I found it very refreshing and readable, not to mention that he comes across as phenomenologically accurate in his take.
Oh that sounds fascinating. Thanks for the rec!
For me, Partita by Barbara Kingsolver.
As a readaloud, the 2nd Wrinkle in Time Book, The Wind in the Door.
And 9 year old's independent reading, The Wild Zone by Rick Riordan and Annabelle Oh. In the same universe as Percy Jackson.
Glad to hear about Kingsolver's new one — I generally love her books.
And I totally agree about the Wrinkle in Time series; those are beloved in our house.
I remember reading book 1, but don’t remember the latter ones. But we’re enjoying them.
Oh man, I loved the Wayside School books when I was younger and so did my kids! Solid choice.
My favorite from October was The Survivors by Jane Harper. Heard about it on the Strong Sense of Place Podcast and it was a winner.
Harper has been on my list for a while but I haven't read her. Thanks for the rec!
My favorite October read was "Everyday I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books" by Hwang Bo-Reum. Each chapter is 2 to 4 pages long and tells an aspect of ways to read books. Examples are Read Small Books, Read Big Books, Use a Timer App, Life-changing Reads, The Next Book to Read, Reading Multiple Books at Once etc. She said she "wrote and published an essay collection spurred solely by my love for reading."
With 53 Chapters you can read one a week, but I read one or two chapters a day. I might reread it reading one chapter a week on Sundays next year.
Thr Cider House Rules by John Irving. A remarkable, absolutely consuming tale.