My long list of August reading led me to divide my monthly report into two posts to save my sanity. Here’s Part 1 in case you missed it, and thank you for your lovely comments.
I read this out of curiosity, having just come back from a cruise. The problem with this book is that it was written 13 years ago and SO MUCH has changed in the cruise industry! The author was impressed THEN with the rising numbers of passengers and the size of ships, so I can only imagine what he’d say now. Seriously, it is very outdated, but I was still fascinated at the marketing spin, environmental disasters, safety dangers, and other stories he tells. I skimmed some parts of it, but enjoyed it overall. And I wished I had tipped our wait staff and cabin steward much more.
This is just a quiet little book about Menaker’s experiences growing up, teaching, working as fiction editor at The New Yorker, as well as his own writing career and later career in book publishing. He tells of his life with humor and compassion. I was interested in his stories of life at the magazine and the people he worked with.
Amazon calls this a “stay-up-all-night” novel, and I can confirm that that is accurate. The story centers on a woman who wakes up in the hospital with amnesia, only to discover that her life is one of privilege with little meaning. And then she finds hidden love letters. This is a poignant romance full of substance and realistic characters.
And while what she was doing meant she might be disgraced in the eyes of those around her, she could show her daughter that there was another way to live. A way that did not involve anesthetizing yourself. A way that did not mean you lived your whole life as an apology for who you were.
Nothing in her life had prepared her for what she had done; nothing had suggested she might even be capable of it. And yet, from the moment she had climbed aboard the aircraft, for all her fear, she had felt curiously elated, as if this might be it: this might be the business of living.
How does one lift one’s own life out of the mundane and into something epic? Surely one should be brave enough to love? But I realized suddenly, in the midst of that little tableau of insanity, that to have someone out there who understands you, who desires you, who sees you as a better version of yourself, is the most astonishing gift.
I am an HSP and I was looking to see if maybe Elaine Aron had written a book about being a parent and managing one’s “HSP-ness” if you will, but I came across this book and she wrote the intro. The book is full of coping skills for HSPs (which constitute 20% of the world’s population), hundreds of practical suggestions, and is written in a respectful attitude toward HSPs. Zeff is sensitive to how difficult it can be to appreciate one’s sensitivity in a world of constant stimuli. I will write a separate post on this one as well so I can share some of my favorite of his practical suggestions.
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The following three I really can’t say I’ve read. I started them and just could not make myself finish them. Here are my thoughts:
This story is made up of a man trying to recall surreal memories of when he was a 7-year-old boy. There were horrifying events, but that they were so distanced from the present made it hard for me to get invested in the story. Many of the characters I really wanted to know more about, but Gaiman left them undeveloped. I was disappointed and had to put it down halfway through.
I really wanted to like this because Nelson is from Houston, speaks at events here often, and (as the cover shows) has won numerous awards. Maybe it was her writing style, but I just didn’t find the reading comfortable. She writes about real humans in real dramas and perhaps my issue is that I didn’t really want to go there.
As a person with some mild generalized anxiety myself, I thought this might be a humorous look at a common condition. The way Smith drills down into his own past to find the origins of his anxiety (through some mighty strange happenings) struck me as odd. He blames many of his issues on his mother. Oh please.
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“Once during the day, think of who you are as living energy and not as a goal to be achieved or an obstacle to be overcome. Feel yourself without inventory.”
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What have you been reading lately? And are you on Goodreads? I’d love to connect there.
Everything I’ve Ever Read (I think)
Thank you for sharing your reading list. I’m always curious to learn what people are reading. I’m currently re-reading “Boating for Beginners” by Jeanette Winterson.
I have been so inspired by the Highly Sensitive Person books and workbooks. Such an important tool for people who are sensitive.
The cruise ship one sounds terrifying, but an updated version would possibly be even more scary.
Thanks to CommentLuv, what I just read is handily attached to this post. Next thing on my list is probably a book of people tools to use in business.
SKJAM! recently posted…Book Review: Insurrections of the Mind
As an HSP as well (with an HSP CHILD) I look forward to yet another full review of one of your books (I need all the same ones you have planned so that is lucky for me xx)
I am currently reading the gift of an ordinary day by Katrina Kenison and loving it. It is one of the few memoirs I have read that include the transition to teens in the house. My girls are 9 1/2 and 11 and we are already dealing with hormones and wanting to wear makeup (just a little bit but still omg) and exploring boundaries. So much life wisdom in her books.
Deb @ home life simplified recently posted…Five blogs to make you laugh when you need a mood boost
You are too kind, Deb.
I LOVED that Katrina Kenison book and I read her blog too. I figure it can’t hurt to be prepared. 🙂
Right now I’m reading the Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson. Quirky and somewhat similar to his The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared. Parts have me laughing out loud and other parts have my tears welling.
I like the sound of your “My Mistake” and “The Last Letter From Your Lover.”
I’m not on Goodreads. Should I be?
Kelly L McKenzie recently posted…Big Mistake. Big. Huge.
If you join Goodreads, we can see what each other is reading and liking. 🙂 It’s also a great way to find out about books.