September 2022 Reading

September was a stressful month, which is reflected in my reading.  I finished eight books and seven of them were fiction.

Nonfiction first, with a caveat.  I did not read every word of Building Internet Firewalls by Elizabeth Zwicky, Simon Cooper, and Brent Chapman (the second edition).  I have no interest in actually building firewalls.  I read it because I’m married to that third author and he and I are considering writing a book on incident response; that means I get to read a whole bunch of technical stuff to get a feel for the style, learn information I need to know, and consider organizational systems for the kind of book he has in mind.  Nevertheless, I think I read enough of the book in detail that I am counting the whole thing.  Fortunately, Elizabeth and Simon and Brent are witty as well as knowledgeable, so I mostly enjoyed the gazillion pages on a topic I am not intrinsically interested in.

 

On to fiction.  This was the month when I finished reading Don Quijote in Spanish.  This counts, even though I also read it in English earlier this year.  It is truly a great book, funny and poignant and surprising and complex.  Two thumbs up.

 

I recently discovered that there were T. Kingfisher books out there that I had not read.  I bought them.  And now I have read Minor Mage.  It is hilarious and wonderful.  What’s not to like about a young mage with an armadillo familiar?

 

Everything else was by Ann Cleeves.  The newest Vera novel, The Rising Tide, just came out and it is awesome.  The books are worth it just for the depth of characterization.  Of course the mystery is good, but this and the other books are worth re-reading for the novel.  I’m working my way through some of her older books in the Inspector Ramsey series and this month polished off Murder in My Backyard, A Lesson in Dying, Killjoy, and The Healers.  They are not as developed as the later novels, but still have what I like about Cleeves’s work.  Would recommend.

 

Month total:  8

Fall total:       8

Year to date total:     76

August 2022 Reading

I had this idea that I would blow through a bunch of the nonfiction on my to-read shelf in August.  I was wrong.  Out of my August total of seven books, only two were nonfiction and one of them was a group project.  The other five were fiction.

 

Nonfiction first.  The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron is a book I had read before, but over the last months I have been reading it again with a group of lovely humans.  It is not as mind-opening as it was the first time I read it, but there is a lot of good stuff in there about how to recognize and nurture creativity in ourselves.  (There is also a workbook, right there in the picture, but I used the book itself.  Because I don’t like to write in workbooks and wreck them, obviously.)

 

I had been meaning to read some bell hooks for a while now and the moment came when I was hanging out in a bookstore in Davis.  All About Love is an interesting and challenging book, beautifully written, deeply felt, and well-researched.  Highly recommend for these challenging times.

 

I love Ann Cleeves and I was excited to discover that she has not one, but TWO series I have not read yet.  A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy was a pleasure to read.  I may have spent my piled-up gift certificates on a bunch more of the Stephen Ramsey mysteries.

 

Gail Carriger is a good human (yes, I know her in person!) and a very fun writer.  I enjoyed Etiquette and Espionage for the powerful women and the hijinks.  I may have spent the rest of the piled-up gift certificates on the rest of the series.

 

T. Kingfisher is another of my favorite writers.  I read three of her books this month.  Nettle and Bone is a fairy tale and incredibly satisfying in its darkness and its well-done characterizations.  It is so reassuring to read books in which there is a lot to overcome, but the characters get it together to triumph.  Paladin’s Grace and Paladin’s Strength follow the adventures of two paladins of a god who has died.  Making meaning in a complicated world is a worthy quest and both protagonists rise to the occasion.  The books are funny and sweet and dark and complex.  Highly recommend.

 

Summer total:  17

Year to date total:  68