Book Potpourri
As you know, I read a blog by storyteller, grade school teacher, and author, Matthew Dicks regularly. It’s easy to read him often because he posts something every day and has for years. He says the way he can write on this schedule is because he collects ideas all the time. Amazing.
I, however, only post weekly and have been known to struggle with getting a newsletter written. This week as I’ve thought about this column, I find I have too many ideas, but they are all half-baked. Therefore, I’ve decided to fall back on sharing some of the books I’ve been reading lately.
I read a mix of fiction and nonfiction. In the part of the library called genre fiction I tend to gravitate to the mystery and science fiction/fantasy shelves. But I also wander the general fiction aisles and pull down books that catch my attention and look interesting. Two very different but equally favorite authors in the science fiction/fantasy category are Charlaine Harris (of “True Blood”, Sookie Stackhouse fame) and Sherri Tepper. Both of them are amazing at world-building and creating interesting characters. Tepper, who is now deceased, wrote books from a feminist perspective. I’ve re-read books by both authors in the past couple of months and continue to enjoy them.
New to me in this genre is N.K. Jemisin. I’ve read one of her trilogies, the Broken Earth series and she is as amazing at world-building as anyone I’ve read. I’ve since added two more of her books to my to-be-read shelves.
If you like historical fiction, a modern book with a historical bent is Karen Olson’s An Inconvenient Wife, described as a modern retelling of Henry VII and his six wives. You don’t have to know too much about Tudor history to enjoy the book though it will help to find a list of King Henry’s wives to help you keep track of a complex cast.
Janet Skeslien Charles’ The Paris Library is a fictional telling of a true story of the librarians who kept the American Library open during the occupation of Paris during WWII. You can learn a lot from good historical fiction. I learned a surprising amount about the French Revolution and Napoleon from reading Annemarie Selina’s Desiree. I revisited it recently and it holds up well.
In the non-fiction side of the library, are Peter Turchi’s book about writing books, A-maze and A-muse: Writing as Puzzle, Mystery, and Magic, Lawrence Wright’s God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of Texas and Her Honor: My Life on the Bench… a memoir by the first Black woman to sit on the bench in of the Superior Court of Northern California by LaDoris Hazzard Cordell.
I’m still working my way through Paul McCartney’s memoir-ish book based on all of the lyrics he has written during his lifetime. It’s a great peek into a creative life. I’m also starting a book that I bought during the pandemic. Rebecca Solnit is a favorite writer of mine and has been very present on Facebook with thoughtful and informed commentary. Her book, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, feels newly relevant to me as the political world shifts yet again and we are facing much that is unknown for all of us, and scary for many of us. I’m only in the first chapter, but there is already much that is thought provoking.
I hope you find something interesting here or that you are inspired to talk a walk through your local library or bookstore. Reading an old favorite can be like snuggling under a blanket. Finding something new that challenges your thinking, both fiction and non-fiction may not be as comforting, but can be energizing. Making sure I have time to read (or listen if that’s what works for you) is one of the ways I both care for and challenge myself.
Happy Reading!
Gage