What I've been reading: Books No. 39-40
Oct. 1st, 2021 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganBook No. 39 was "The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Puppy: How to Train and Care for Your New Dog" by Victoria Stilwell. My husband and I just adopted a puppy and were a little under-prepared. This book made me feel a lot better. Our author covers a lot of ground in this book, but she repeats some information more than necessary and leaves out some details I was interested in. Overall, though, a really great overview of how to raise a puppy that is well-mannered but not so over-managed that it loses autonomy.
Book No. 40 was "The Prophets" by Robert Jones Jr. I only picked this novel up because folks in one of my GoodReads groups picked it as a monthly read. I was feeling sort of burned out about novels set during slavery times, but I am SO GLAD I read this! It tells the story of Samuel and Isaiah, two slaves on a plantation their fellow slaves call Empty. Most of the other slaves don't pay too much attention to the fact that Samuel and Isaiah only have eyes for each other until one of the older slaves, Amos, decides to curry favor with their master, Paul, by learning and preaching the gospel. Amos systematically turns most of the other slaves against Samuel and Isaiah, leading them to contemplate fleeing the plantation.
This is so beautifully written. Most of the chapters are titled with the name of a character in the book, almost all of them corresponding with a book in the bible that (according to an interview with the author) either reflects the theme of the chapter or somehow counterpoints it. I've read several novels set in slavery times in the last few years ("The Underground Railroad" and "The Water Dancer" most recently), but this is the one that really stands out, because each character is so rounded and nuanced, even if they only get a few paragraphs devoted to them. Gorgeous, and highly recommended.
1. The Empire of Gold (Daevabad Trilogy #3) [fiction]- S.A. Chakraborty
2. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls [nonfiction/memoir]- T Kira Madden
3. Miracle Creek [nonfiction]- Angie Kim
4. The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) [fiction]- Philip Pullman
5. How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #9) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
6. They Called Us Enemy [graphic nonfiction]- George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, ill. Harmony Becker
7. Carmilla [fiction]- J. Sheridan Le Fanu (unabridged audiobook)
8. Pieces of Soap: Essays [nonfiction/essays]- Stanley Elkin
9. The Space Between Worlds [fiction]- Micaiah Johnson
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X [nonfiction/autobiography]- Malcolm X and Alex Haley
11. No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America [nonfiction/memoir]- Darnell L. Moore
12. Mostly Dead Things [fiction]- Kristen Arnett
13. Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
14. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower [nonfiction]- Brittney Cooper
15. Delirium [fiction]- Laura Restrepo (transl. Natasha Wimmer)
16. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
17. Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America [nonfiction/memoir]- John Waters (unabridged audiobook)
18. Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
19. The Mistress Of Nothing [fiction]- Kate Pullinger
20. The Graveyard Book [fiction]-Neil Gaiman (unabridged audiobook)
21. The Vanishing Half [fiction]- Brit Bennett
22. Certain Dark Things [fiction]- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
23. The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) - Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
24. Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd [fiction/short stories]- Wednesday Lee Friday
25. Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History [nonfiction/biography]-Yunte Huang
26. This House Is Haunted [fiction- John Boyne
27. An Unkindness of Ghosts [fiction- Rivers Solomon (unabridged audiobook)
28. The Incredulity of Father Brown [fiction/short stories]- G.K. Chesterton
29. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good [nonfiction/essays]- Adrienne Maree Brown (author and editor)
30. The Nature of the Beast (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #11) [fiction- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
31. The Sellout [fiction]- Paul Beatty
32. The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband [nonfiction/memoir]- David Finch (unabridged audiobook)
33. Paradise Tales: and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Geoff Ryman
34. A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #12) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
35. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism [nonfiction/memoir]- Dawn Prince-Hughes
36. Such a Fun Age [fiction]- Kiley Reid
37. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body [nonfiction/memoir]- Roxane Gay (unabridged audiobook)
38. I Am Legend and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Richard Matheson (unabridged audiobook)
Book No. 40 was "The Prophets" by Robert Jones Jr. I only picked this novel up because folks in one of my GoodReads groups picked it as a monthly read. I was feeling sort of burned out about novels set during slavery times, but I am SO GLAD I read this! It tells the story of Samuel and Isaiah, two slaves on a plantation their fellow slaves call Empty. Most of the other slaves don't pay too much attention to the fact that Samuel and Isaiah only have eyes for each other until one of the older slaves, Amos, decides to curry favor with their master, Paul, by learning and preaching the gospel. Amos systematically turns most of the other slaves against Samuel and Isaiah, leading them to contemplate fleeing the plantation.
This is so beautifully written. Most of the chapters are titled with the name of a character in the book, almost all of them corresponding with a book in the bible that (according to an interview with the author) either reflects the theme of the chapter or somehow counterpoints it. I've read several novels set in slavery times in the last few years ("The Underground Railroad" and "The Water Dancer" most recently), but this is the one that really stands out, because each character is so rounded and nuanced, even if they only get a few paragraphs devoted to them. Gorgeous, and highly recommended.
1. The Empire of Gold (Daevabad Trilogy #3) [fiction]- S.A. Chakraborty
2. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls [nonfiction/memoir]- T Kira Madden
3. Miracle Creek [nonfiction]- Angie Kim
4. The Secret Commonwealth (The Book of Dust #2) [fiction]- Philip Pullman
5. How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #9) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
6. They Called Us Enemy [graphic nonfiction]- George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott, ill. Harmony Becker
7. Carmilla [fiction]- J. Sheridan Le Fanu (unabridged audiobook)
8. Pieces of Soap: Essays [nonfiction/essays]- Stanley Elkin
9. The Space Between Worlds [fiction]- Micaiah Johnson
10. The Autobiography of Malcolm X [nonfiction/autobiography]- Malcolm X and Alex Haley
11. No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black and Free in America [nonfiction/memoir]- Darnell L. Moore
12. Mostly Dead Things [fiction]- Kristen Arnett
13. Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
14. Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower [nonfiction]- Brittney Cooper
15. Delirium [fiction]- Laura Restrepo (transl. Natasha Wimmer)
16. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
17. Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America [nonfiction/memoir]- John Waters (unabridged audiobook)
18. Storm of Locusts (The Sixth World #2) [fiction]- Rebecca Roanhorse
19. The Mistress Of Nothing [fiction]- Kate Pullinger
20. The Graveyard Book [fiction]-Neil Gaiman (unabridged audiobook)
21. The Vanishing Half [fiction]- Brit Bennett
22. Certain Dark Things [fiction]- Silvia Moreno-Garcia
23. The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) - Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
24. Creepy, Stabby, and Mentally Odd [fiction/short stories]- Wednesday Lee Friday
25. Inseparable: The Original Siamese Twins and Their Rendezvous with American History [nonfiction/biography]-Yunte Huang
26. This House Is Haunted [fiction- John Boyne
27. An Unkindness of Ghosts [fiction- Rivers Solomon (unabridged audiobook)
28. The Incredulity of Father Brown [fiction/short stories]- G.K. Chesterton
29. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good [nonfiction/essays]- Adrienne Maree Brown (author and editor)
30. The Nature of the Beast (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #11) [fiction- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
31. The Sellout [fiction]- Paul Beatty
32. The Journal of Best Practices: A Memoir of Marriage, Asperger Syndrome, and One Man's Quest to Be a Better Husband [nonfiction/memoir]- David Finch (unabridged audiobook)
33. Paradise Tales: and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Geoff Ryman
34. A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #12) [fiction]- Louise Penny (unabridged audiobook)
35. Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism [nonfiction/memoir]- Dawn Prince-Hughes
36. Such a Fun Age [fiction]- Kiley Reid
37. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body [nonfiction/memoir]- Roxane Gay (unabridged audiobook)
38. I Am Legend and Other Stories [fiction/short stories]- Richard Matheson (unabridged audiobook)
