Courtney Maum’s memoir opens with a scene of a young daughter refusing her mother’s help to put on her socks despite the fact that they’re going to be late for an appointment. Maum is the mother and her frustration, veering into internal rage and the immediate weight of guilt, is so well-written my jaw clenched reading it and I don’t even have children. The book is called The ... Read More...
June Reading Recap
June. What a month. Normally, this is a recap of my reading, but no matter how I try to stick to the subject of books my brain refuses to cooperate. By this time next week we’ll be starting the 2,200 mile trip from Ann Arbor to Seattle. The unending list of what needs to be done before then is one of the things that has me awake at 4am. But that’s not it, I can power through ... Read More...
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
When twins Julius and Jeanie’s mother, Dot, dies it signals an end to their life as they’ve known it. They live quietly in a small rural cottage on enough land for Dot and Jeanie to sell vegetables and eggs by the roadside and to a local grocer. Julius works in construction and does odd jobs. Their needs are small as they don’t pay rent on their house; their free time spent ... Read More...
A Girl is a Body of Water
I came upon Jennifer Makumbi’s novel, A Girl is a Body of Water, in my efforts to further diversify my reading. It’s a multi-generational saga centered around a young Ugandan woman named Kirabo. The novel begins in the 1970s when she’s 12. She lives in a sprawling rural compound with her grandparents and many relatives. Although she is surrounded by family, her parents are not ... Read More...
October Reading-Wrap-Up
I realize it's already the first week of November but last week was taken up with family and I could not get myself pulled together until the weekend. Having said that, as much as I'd like you to read on, if you haven't voted...GO VOTE. Done your civic duty? Super! Well, October was not a big reading month, mostly because I took on a 700 page novel, but the majority ... Read More...
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Mini-Reviews
I haven’t had a great year of reading (until recently), but generally it felt pretty clear that it was the books not working, not me. Except for these two recent reads, which is why they’re It’s Not You, It’s Me books. In both cases, the writing and story were good, but they were missing whatever indefinable element I need to keep me invested. Given the title, it ... Read More...
