Y’all, I read TEN books this month!

I kicked it off with Anne’s House of Dreams. You know, I never realized before how wildly varying in style the Anne books are. In contrast to the primarily epistolary structure of Anne of Windy Poplars and the episodic structure of Anne of the Island, this one has much more of a narrative structure, which I enjoyed.

I bought White Fragility last year when everyone else was buying it. I’ve since realized that there’s something problematic about getting my racism education from another white woman, but I still found valuable insights here.

I did not find Boundaries to be as good as I was expecting. It was very elementary and I don’t personally  need Biblical reassurances that it is okay to set boundaries. Still, it confirmed some of the things I have already been working hard on for awhile.

I have been reading The Silmarillion via the Tea with Tolkien book club. Although I did not have time to participate in the discussions, I found the weekly podcast episodes summarizing each chapter to be super helpful. This was my second read of this book, which sat largely untouched on my shelf most of my life because it was so challenging, and I think I really have a handle on it now. It is so beautiful.

I read Anne of Ingleside this month too, which brings to a close my reading of the Anne books from my childhood (the two short story volumes were not included in this boxed set.). Two books remain to read, mostly about Anne’s children, but they were out of print when I was a little girl and I did not read them until I was an adult. This volume is again more episodic. I “get it” more now because Anne’s midlife musings are way more relevant to me these days!

I ordered The Psychic Hold of Slavery a couple of years ago after attending a discussion led by the authors at one of my Georgetown reunions. It was a challenging, academic read–a collection of essays examining the issue of why Black people cannot just “move on” from slavery, through lenses of poetry, novels, television, art, and movies.

I took to heart a lot of what I read in Health at Every Size, which debunks the notion that you have to be thin to be healthy, and promotes body acceptance and rejection of the modern diet culture. As someone with a life-long struggle in these areas, I found this message welcome.

I almost did not get to read a a Brother Cadfael book this month, but
Emily brought me one right before John and I went to visit our middle son, Teddy, in Boulder, and I read Dead Man’s Ransom in the hotel.  I continue to relish this series and I am relieved there are still so many left to read.

Amazon Prime offers subscribers one free e-book each month. I always take advantage but not being a big fan of e-reading I save these books for airplane rides.  I read The Darkest Flower on the way to Boulder. Besides being a fun legal thriller this one also offered some food for thought regarding legal ethics and the legal profession that felt relevant (my husband is a lawyer and I’m his assistant).

And finally, I read The Next Wife on the flight home. While I was entertained by the story throughout, I really don’t like books in which everyone is horrible. I want to be able to root for someone!

Thanks for following my reading adventures. I am as usual linking up with An 
Open Book. By clicking below you can find other great reads!