I turned over a new leaf this month, y’all. I have committed to raising the bar on my reading. From now on I am going to try to alternate escapist fiction from McKay’s and Amazon Prime with the many other higher-brow tomes that fill my new bookcase! Yes, I have a new bookcase! You are probably familiar with the picture I often display with these book posts of a coffee table with books all over it. Well, all those books have been relocated to a new-to-me bookcase (a hand-me-down from a dear friend). They are still in my bedroom, right where I can see them as I lay in bed. The shelves are nicely organized by subject and there are even a few empty spaces.
Now, I have a list of books to read that I DON’T own. It’s probably 20 pages long, typed. I accept that I will never read all those books. But I hated to think I would never read all the books I actually own. Once they were on the shelf and counted, I realized that I could read them all in five years at my current rate, if I read nothing else. I may not be able to hold to that, but I can read them all in ten years if I alternate!
To that end, I strove to finish all the books I had lying around downstairs to read so that I could tackle the shelf in October. Toward the end of the month I achieved that goal.
Babyland by Holly Chamberlin
I picked this one up while wandering through McKay’s. It’s the story of a woman who never wanted to be a mother, until she finds herself pregnant. This leads to her re-evaluating her life, her romantic relationship, and her firnedships. I remember liking it well enough, but as I write this in July I had to look up a description to remember what it was about.
Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
Most people know about Anne of Green Gables, but L.M. Montgomery wrote a lot of other books too, and the Emily series is my favorite. I’ve been using a sleep app that reads me bedtime stories, including excerps from this book, which is why I chose to read them all gain. This one is the story about how newly-orphaned Emily comes to live at New Moon farm, and it is delightful.
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
Emily leaves New Moon to attend high school in Shrewsbury. She grows as a writer and becomes a young woman.
Emily’s Quest by L.M. Montgomery
There is plenty of heartache in this installment, in which Emily finally publishes her first book. It has a happy ending, though.
If I Go Missing by Leslie Wolfe
We read the above thriller for book club, and I cannot think why. I read a lot of thrillers, and this one was nothing special. Also the ending was unsatisfying and the resolution does not make good sense.
Ward D by Freida McFadden
Someone at book club recommended this one, and it was a lot better than the book above, although it still was not great. If you like horror-adjacent stories about the violent insane this will be right up your alley.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
This is non-fiction, and I had been reading it for awhile, and telling everyone about it as I do. It’s probably no surprise to you that smart phones are bad for kids, but maybe you didn’t know about the sharp rise in anxiety in today’s youth and how it correlates with the introduction of these devices. I am so glad that most of my kids were grown before smartphones. If you have younger kids, read this book–it’s not too late to make changes.
Gone South by Robert McCammon
I read this because I loved Boy’s Life so much. This story of a man who does a terrible thing on one bad day and what happens after couldn’t be more different–except perhaps for something slightly mystical about it–but it was a great read.
As far as “finishing the books I had lying around,” as I write this I am doing that AGAIN. More on that later!
