Books Bough Books Read May 2022

 

Books Purchased May 2022

Drover’s Secret Life (Hank the Cowdog Book 53) by John R. Erickson. (audible audiobook). 16 May.

Wink by Rob Harrell. (kindle). 23 May.

Henry and Cato by Iris Murdoch. (kindle). 26 May.

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon. (hardcover). from Amazon. 30 May.

this big fake world by Ada Limon. (paper). from Amazon. 30 May.

frank: sonnets by Diane Seuss. (paper). from Amazon. 30 May.

 

Books Read May 2022

The Idiot by Elif Bateman. (library hardcover and Libby audiobook). 423 pgs. 423 running pgs. 2 May.

Freshman year at Harvard for a second generation Turkish-American student with a doomed romance. I am looking forward to reading her new book Either/Or.

The Giant's House by Elizabeth McCracken. (kindle and Libby audiobook). 308 pgs. 731 running pgs. 5 May.

Another romance; this time with a librarian and a young man who grows into a giant. Perhaps not as funny as McCracken's more recent work, but I did enjoy the novel.

The Pill vs. The Springhill Mine Disaster by Richard Brautigan. (kindle). 108 pgs. 839 running pgs. 6 May.

Clearly, Brautigan is no longer the "it" author, but there was a time when he was a voice of his generation. A light read that will not take you long.

Ms Ice Sandwich by Meiko Kawakami. (kindle). 97 pgs. 936 running pgs. 6 May.

First, take a moment to admire that cover. It is great. A Japanese minimalist novel or novella about a young man in love with a woman at the grocery store. I like the tone.

Aviva vs the Dybbuk by Mari Lowe. (kindle and Libby audiobook). 176 pgs. 1112 running pgs. 8 May.

A middle grade novel with an unreliable narrator set in a small Jewish community. 

I loved Betsy Bird's review of this book. Here is an excerpt of her review:

It helps if you can write, of course. That first chapter. It reads completely differently after you finish the book and you have all the information. The knowledge you acquire by the end of Aviva vs. the Dybbuk deepens your understanding of the beginning so well. From the outset, I knew it was a great first chapter anyway. Heck, it even has a great first sentence (which is by no means a given in novels for kids these days). Listen to this: “When I was nine years old, I slipped out of our little apartment and hid in the woods, just to see if anyone would notice I was gone. Only the dybbuk saw me leave.” Technically that the first two sentences, but I doubt you’ll penalize me for its inclusion. This first sentence also outlines the chapter precisely. Aviva goes into the woods. She stays there a long time. Finally she goes home and runs into a search party, frantically trying to find her. She’s young and not having any information, the reader assumes that the people looking are upset for the ususal reasons. It’s only when you find out later what must have been running through their minds (and entirely escaping young Aviva’s) that the chapter takes on a more desperate, more urgent tone. These people are scared to death of that girl’s disappearance and not simply because it’s cold and dark. Something has happened to make them particularly wary and frightened. The whole book is like that. You read it once. You discover the ending. You read it again. And as you do, you begin to notice things, like how the water of the mikvah does bless Aviva, just not in the way you’d think. Lowe also has the ability to destroy you with the most careful of sentences. Near the end of the book a woman says to Aviva something incredibly important, and the book notes that her eyes, “have seen more evil and more kindness in this world than anyone else I’ve ever known.” It is good to put yourself in the capable hands of a great writer sometimes.

The Lock-Eater by Zack Loran Clark. (kindle and Libby audiobook). 356 pgs. 1468 running pgs. 10 May.

Betsy Bird summed this book up by saying, "Imagine, if you will, what would have happened in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz if Dorothy had ditched the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion and traipsed off with the Tin Man to defeat the corrupt Wizard and witches of the world. That’s not a perfect description of what you get with The Lock-Eater by Zack Loran Clark, but I also don’t think it’s the worst way to explain what’s going on here."

We Own This City: A true story of crime, cops, and corruption by Justin Fenton. (library hardcover). 352 pgs. 1820 running pgs. 14 May.

A non-fiction book about how the gun trace task force in Baltimore went bad. In case you are wondering, the David Simon HBO adaptation is better than the book.

The North Water by Ian McGuire. (kindle and Libby audiobook). 270 pgs. 2090 running pgs. 15 May.

Hard to describe the book, but it is an intense adventure story. I wrote my thoughts about this book elsewhere.

Drover’s Secret Life (Hank the Cowdog Book 53) by John R. Erickson. (Kindle and audible audiobook). 95 pgs. 2185 running pgs. 16 May. 

Everyone who is serious about fiction should read a children's novel every once in a while. This is a silly book that is entertaining, especially if you are nine years old.

War Trash by Ha Jin. (kindle). 370 pgs. 2555 running pgs. 22 May. 

A novel about a Chinese soldier held prisoner of war by the Americans during the Korean conflict. My first experience reading Ha Jin; it will not be my last.

The League of Picky Eaters by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic. (kindle). 304 pgs. 2859 running pgs. 23 May.

Another book with a great cover. I think this is a good book if you have ever wondered if people might be taking their food too seriously.

Wink by Rob Harrell. (kindle). 300 pgs. 3159 running pgs. 25 May.

A YA or maybe middle grade novel about a boy with rare form of eye cancer based, in part, on the author's own life. The book has hilarious moments, but it is also about pediatric cancer. Hat tip to Rand Bellavia for recommending this one. Worth my time.

The Bell by Iris Murdoch. (kindle). 322 pgs. 3481 running pgs. 29 May. 

This is my second or third Murdoch book. I will read more. Here is how Miles Leeson, Director of the Iris Murdoch Centre at the University of Chichester, describes the book in a good essay on the best Iris Murdoch books:

 

The Bell was very well received. In the first year it sold over 30,000 copies, which was far more than any of her novels had ever sold before. It’s very well developed around a small community within Imber court and it focuses on the experiences of Dora Greenfield, a young woman of 21, who’s married a completely unsuitable man called Paul. Paul has gone off to this quasi-religious community which is attached to the religious community of the abbey, to undertake historical work relating to documentation. And he invites Dora, who is at that point in London, down to be with him. It’s got one of the most famous opening lines of any Murdoch novel, which takes a lot from Austen: “Dora Greenfield left her husband because she was afraid of him. She decided six months later to return to him for the same reason.”

And from that moment, we’re drawn into the novel. We want to know what’s going on with Dora. It has all the elements of a bildungsroman. Dora very much develops and works her way through the book, and in the end, ends up leaving Paul and having a life of her own. She’s going off to fulfill her vocation as a teacher. There are various characters along the way; certainly those that she meets when she gets to Imber, who influence her journey and her thoughts on life. And also her experience with nature, and with art as well, those are certainly important factors within the novel.