Reviewed: My October Reading

 

This month's reading turned out differently than most. While I only completed four books, I took my time with each selection in October. Each of the books that I read were remarkably rich and satisfying, with exceptional storytelling that felt like attending a literary banquet. 

I'm sure the weather change helped this along.  As it gets colder outside, reading becomes less feature and more fixture in my days. I've learned that living in a four-season climate has this effect for me: As soon as a new season arrives, I'm eager to conclude what I've been doing and fully ready to submerge in the joys of the season to come. In October, I felt a tension between a yearning to be doing cozy things inside and my end-of summer-to-do list, which is mostly outside. 

So what did I read? Here's the list. As usual, I'm giving simple ratings that make sense in my mind. 

DNF = Did not finish

1/5 = I really disliked this book

2/5 = I disliked this book

3/5 = I liked this book

4/5 = I really liked this book

5/5 = I loved this book

Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt.

We read this as part of our book club in October. Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is thoughtful, emotional, and so real in one sense, but also has funny and fantastical elements as well. Referred to as "that octopus book" in readerly circles, Remarkably Bright Creatures is so much more than a book about an octopus! 

This book felt like a breath of fresh air! According to the author, it's the story of four people who are stuck in their lives--people who can't see a way forward that is different from what they are currently living. Through interactions with one another, they find help. Set in the PNW where the author grew up, this book is saturated with that sense of place. Being from the Oregon coast myself, I felt right at home in this story.

I loved this strange book. I thought the characters were honest and believable, telling a story about family, loneliness, and what it feels like to be without anchor. 

My rating: 4/5

The Life Impossible, by Matt Haig.

This book has a very interesting protagonist and plot! I really hit the jackpot with unique perspectives this month. In this case, the story is about Grace Winters, a 72 year-old Englishwoman who has lived a largely unimpressive life. She has suffered a few terrible losses and finds herself feeling guilty for her mistakes and a little disillusioned with life. Then she receives a letter telling her that she has inherited a house in Ibiza, given to her by a colleague who she hasn't seen for decades. She travels to the Mediterranean and finds the place rife with magical lore, the existence of which she has never believed. But as the story progresses, Grace experiences things that can't be explained apart from the supernatural, and learns that her colleague's death may have been mixed up in this. 

I'll let the official book blurb tell the rest. "Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past. Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning."

My rating: 3/5

Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan.

This is the first novella I've read this year, and I just found out it was adapted into a soon-to-be-released movie starring Cillian Murphy. 

In 1980's Ireland, Bill Furlong, a business owner and devoted family man, discovers a shocking secret about the local convent. He finds out that while this information is known in the community, its people have chosen to be passive so as to maintain their good relationship with these religious leaders. Bill has to decide if his conscience will allow him to play it safe and quiet, or if he will go against the grain and do what is right.

My rating: 3/5

The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley.

This book was a huge disappointment to me and I rage-quit at about the 2/3 mark. Interesting premise, interesting characters, good writing. Sexual content that crept in at first with little comments, then longer mentions, and finally a very graphic scene that lasted so long I had to skip ahead 30 seconds more than 10 times. I returned it to the library and won't ever know how it ended.  I took issue with not only the length and lack of restraint in the sexual content, but also the fact that it felt entirely inappropriate in the context of the world that Bradley created. It was unbelievable that the male protagonist that she had written would instantaneously abandon his known behaviors, religion, and personal code of conduct, to go wild with this woman. A woman who, by the way, we have been given no indication that he's romantically interested in. It was either agenda-pushing or bad writing, but certainly not fitting in this story. 

I'm afraid I take particular issue with the popular surge of the Romantacy genre in today's literary landscape. I think there is a clear force behind it, and that it is having an affect on our culture. I can't tell you how often I see professing Christian women recommend these books, where I don't think the reviews or book blurbs make it obvious to readers, listeners, or followers that the books are thinly-veiled pornography. This is something I've been thinking about a lot in the last year or two. It's troubling and feels like a spiritual epidemic. Having all of that at the forefront of my mind probably contributed to my level of frustration at the author's clear objective with the sexual content.

My rating: DNF

Next, let's have:

Too Many Words About a Book that Stayed With Me

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt.

I ended the month on a high note, with Donna Tartt's The Secret History. This book was originally published in 1992. It's a dark tale about a group of exceptional students at a Vermont university in the 1980's, who are part of a cryptic program that one must be invited to join. Almost like a secret society except that it is only academic. Well, we are led to believe that is the case in the beginning...

Let me just say, woah. I didn't know what I was getting myself into with this one. 

Context: I don't like to be frightened or for my entertainment to stress me out. It just doesn't feel good to me. So I don't read Stephen King and I don't watch scary movies. Bearing that in mind, this story fell right on the line for me. 

We learn at the beginning of the story that the narrator and his friends committed a crime when they were in college. This is presumed to have happened far in the past and we're aware that at least the narrator is not in prison. He then walks you through the whole story, starting with how he ended up in Vermont. Let me tell you, it's gripping from the get-go. 

While reading this book, I was uncomfortable with how the characters were behaving, and the level of eeriness permeating the story was just about all I could bear, but the writing was unbelievably good and kept me going. The northeastern climate and weather might as well have been a character itself and the actual human characters were phenomenally interesting and quite difficult to nail down. I was absolutely wrapt. Basically what I'm trying to say is that Donna Tartt is an incredible writer.

Talking with Jeff about this book, I remarked about how drastically books must have changed over the past 35 years because there is no agenda in this story, and experiencing the lack of agenda made it clear that I'm not used to it! The author is not condoning or condemning the behavior of her characters. Thinking on this for a while, I realized that is because that's not an author's job! The author's job is to tell a story and let their readers consider and come to their own conclusions. But in more recent years, authors everywhere began to inject more of their own personal worldviews and directly tell their audience what to think. 

All of the other books that I read this month had this kind of author-directed agenda. Whether it was pushing an environmental issue or condemning a government or religion, all of them told me what to think in some way. I normally choose not to let those things trip me up and can enjoy a book despite whatever the author is trying to get me to believe, but it was refreshing to read a book that was simply telling a story!!! No platforms to subscribe to, no soap boxes to step up on. Just a very well written story to enjoy and consider. It makes me wonder if this is a one-off or if books published in the pre-woke world were often like this? 

So should you read this review as a recommendation? That depends. (See content warnings below).

Content warnings: Just about all of them. Language, violence, mentions of sexual situations, immoral worldviews and behaviors. These are worldly kids who are away from their parents for the first time in their lives, and there is an added element of exploring how people behave when there are no financial guardrails. As for sexual stuff, I skipped over a few paragraphs due to a sexual situation. I wouldn't recommend this to sensitive readers who can't handle considering the darker side of human behavior. Not that I would describe this book as gory or gratuitous in its content, only that some people would rather not think about these topics. I hope that makes sense. 

My rating: 5/5

Okay, that's it for October! Even though I only had one 5/5 read, my reading this month was really great. I wish every month could be filled with books that are so varied and captivating.