#13 What to Read
divorce, consent, dyslexia, and refugees...
I have zero problems putting aside a book I’m not loving (why you should read books you hate), but August was a great reading month. Four highly-recommended books for you…
YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE BEAUTIFUL by Maggie Smith. Oh this book. Ann Patchett blurbed, “This books is extraordinary.” I concur, as evidenced by the many dog-eared pages. It’s both sad (divorce & loss) and terribly hopeful (love, children, writing). I am a huge fan of
‘s poems (Good Bones), and loved this memoir, reading it in nearly in one sitting, sorry when it was over…I loved it.There are years that question and years that answer.
- Zora Neale Hurston
CONSENT by Jill Ciment. After listening to an NPR interview between Terry Gross and Jill Ciment, I was curious. Jill Cement was 17. Arnold was her 47-year-old art teacher. He was married with two children (uh…NO.) But Jill and Arnold stay happily married for forty-five YEARS (he died at age 93). MeToo forced Ciment to dive into some good and uneasy questions….
Had Arnold experienced the sea change of the MeToo era, would he have come to believe that he crossed a line when he first kissed me?
Does a story’s ending excuse its beginning?
Does a kiss in one moment mean something else entirely five decades later?
Can a love that starts with such an asymmetrical balance of power ever right itself?
FISH IN A TREE by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. Sixth-grader, Ally, is incredibly smart, but has an embarrassing secret…she can’t read. To get around this, she creates clever, yet disruptive distractions. “She’s afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb?” (break my heart). The other hero of the story? A TEACHER who knows how to help Ally with her undiagnosed dyslexia.
If you judge a fish by is ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.
No, great minds don’t always think alike. I think you’ll love this.
REFUGEE by Alan Gratz. Josef is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany, the threat of concentration camps looming. Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994, with riots and unrest plaguing her country. Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015, his homeland torn apart by violence. All three will go on harrowing journeys across the sea facing unimaginable dangers. Separated by continents and decades, all three will have a connection to one another as they escape…in the same vein as Ruta Septys, an engaging and important book for kids and adults.
What are you reading?
Amy <3
Painting:
painted books this week (I adore this stack) and here’s a replay link so WE CAN ALL PAINT THE BOOKS! Excited to give this a try.
What I painted: Inspired by Jon Haidt’s (THE ANXIOUS GENERATION) and
’s post entitled FOMO: We now fear taking part more than we fear missing out.
The Last Part:
A Race: I was runnnnnnning (said Forrest Gump) a 10-miler with my nephew over the weekend. So many hills. I’m just so happy I can still run.
Back to school: Fall is my favorite, but I usually have days of melancholy with the transition to school days…I’ve decided not to be sad for long. We get to live and that means time ticks forward. It could have been otherwise.
Cold Plunge: This morning my daughter and I biked to the lake, plunged into the cold, and biked back home dripping wet. It was glorious. Do you cold plunge?
Yes, but how, I live in Iraq. If I find a way, I will tell you to get your book, but I know this is very hard.
I love your painting, Amy! And great stack—I’m hesitant to try the Jill Ciment memoir, but maybe I will!