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Did September and October go by as quickly for everyone else as it did for me? Even as I type this, we're already half way through November! Time needs to STOP for a second so I can get caught up! In the last two months, my mind was busy with shop collaborations (did you check them out yet?), reorganizing different spaces in our home, planning Harper's first birthday and taking care of her that I ended up starting more books than I finished. It is rare for me to do this, but there were a few books that I picked up over these last two months that I knew a few chapters in just weren't for me. Instead of forcing myself to see if the book(s) progressed as the pages turned, I cut my losses and moved on. September & October didn't leave me with the brain capacity to pay attention to anything that didn't hook me. Let's look at what I did read:
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
I cannot tell you how many people reached out to me over the summer and told me that I needed to add this to my list. I heard "It's my favourite book of 2020" by more than one person and had many people compare it to Where the Crawdads Sing. I was intrigued. It took me a bit really to get into this book, but once I did, I was hooked. The Great Alone is about a 13 year old girl (Leni) who moves to Alaska with her parents. Her father is a Vietnam War Veteran who came back from the war with PTSD which turned him into an abusive alcoholic who couldn't keep a job. The move to Alaska was to get a new start, but the isolation only made his condition worse. This is a story about overcoming fear, creating your own support system, and finding yourself when all of the cards are stacked against you. I agree with everyone who suggested this to me: you need to read this.
"Wild. That's how I describe it all. My love. My life. Alaska. Truthfully, it's all the same to me. Alaska doesn't attract many, most are too tame to handle life up here. But when she gets her hooks in you, she digs deep and holds on, and you become hers. Wild. A lover of cruel beauty and splendid isolation. And God help you, you can't live anywhere else." The Great Alone page 347
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
I am late to the Rupi Kaur game. I have heard her name many times, but have somehow only gotten around to reading The Sun and Her Flowers now. I'm sorry. I enjoyed this masterpiece so much, that I immediately bought a copy to keep and asked for her other books for Christmas. Rupi covers dark topics like trauma and abuse, but also teaches empathy and love. It is a quick read if you want it to be, but I found I had to let myself sit with some of the passages to really absorb them. This is a book I will absolutely read over and over, and I hope Harper also does the same one day.
"why are you so unkind to me my body cries because you don't look like them i tell her" The Sun and Her Flowers page 62
Not The Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher
This is the book I would recommend for someone who wants an easy, entertaining read. Without trying to be sarcastic, if you are one of those people who love rom coms because you can predict the entire movie in the first five minutes, this is for you! Not The Girl You Marry is a lot like How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days- sometimes, too much so. But, if you can just accept that that is the premise of the book, I found it such an enjoyable read. Will everything blow up and they get back together? Of course! But I fell in love with Jack and wanted to be Hannah's bff just the same.
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
I have a habit of getting books through CloudLibrary (digital library books), putting them on my e-reader, and using them to fall asleep at night. I try to make these books easy reads that I can literally fall asleep while reading and pick up right where I left off the following night. Mrs. Everything was a book that instead kept me up and I needed to continue reading it throughout the day. This story follows two sisters born in the 1950s through to present day. Jennifer Weiner tells the story from both girl's perspectives as they battle adolescence and finding themselves as women. These sisters are complex characters who face an array of women's issues and topics: abortion during a time when it wasn't legal, rape, molestation, being gay, being a stay at home mom, running a business, being taken seriously... the list goes on and on. Mrs. Everything is not what I expected it to be, and yet was everything I needed it to be.
What's Next? Well, if you haven't noticed, we are well into November right now! I just finished reading "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle (that book is going to need a post of it's own), and have a few holds at the library ready to be picked up. That being said though, I am in the thick of holiday sales (thank you!!) and we will see how much reading I can actually get done before Christmas! Stay tuned!
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