August Booklist

July was spent finishing books started in June – The Dutch Girl which I loved and The Great Influenza and then, of course, my dad died.
The Great Influenza was so long and boy the end was really upsetting as it relates to current events and what to do to stop a future pandemic or help curb it. Grrr…to have an administration capable of running things…

Please November bring good things to us. So, here is August

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid – An excellent palate cleanser after The Great Influenza. This is fiction, set in present day, super light, breezy, fun and current. Totally engaging and expect it to be turned into a series or something.

Catch & Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow – Riveting. Excellently and meticulously reported without being too exhaustive like some historical accounts can be.

Grand by Sara Schaefer – Sweet and honest memoir by a comedian friend. Short so it was a very quick read and was sad when it ended.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander – God this makes me so fu*king sick of this fu*king godforsaken country. Yet another thing that makes me want to burn it all to the ground. It’s all stuff I know from past reading and experience but having it all in one spot to spotlight the harm our country has done and continues to do is nauseating.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin – <3 This work is what inspired “Between the World in Me” so if you’ve read the latter, you really need to read this.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle – Didn’t realize she was already fairly well known memoirist. So at first I felt like I was walking into the middle of a play in progress, but I quickly let that go and enjoyed her writing and style. Vignettes more than a throughline narrative.

American Dirt: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins – Oh so good. So, so good. Phenomenal. One of my favorites of the year, for sure. Fiction but very much set in current day events following a mother and her young son in their desperate attempt to get to Los Estados Unidos. Suspenseful and human and beautiful.

Trace Your Roots by Maureen Vincent-Northam – A book of tips on ancestry / genealogy research. It’s for Australia, Canada and Europe (England, specifically) so I only skimmed it but I still got a few useful tips.

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land – Memoir about a young mother …well, you get it, it’s in the title.

June 2020 Booklist
May 2020 Booklist
April 2020 Booklist
March 2020 Booklist
February 2020 Booklist
January 2020 Booklist