Whatcha Readin'?

Fall is in the air and so are soccer balls. I don’t know about your house, but ours is currently overrun with shin guards, socks and jerseys. The temperatures have finally cooled enough to make life outdoors tolerable again and if I’m not on a writing deadline inside, I want to be outside bucking wood with my husband or practicing soccer with my kiddos.

In August I read 15 books, of which 11 were four stars or better. Here they are, in no particular order:

Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro is medium-paced literary fiction that’s emotional and reflective. Centering around a car accident, it follows the lives of the people directly and indirectly affected as they come-of-age. It’s beautifully done.

With a Hammer for My Heart by George Ella Lyon is a fictional, slow-paced, emotionally reflective coming of age story. It’s the kind of book that sticks with me weeks after I’ve read it, making me question how I see things and what I “know” to be true. It doesn’t say that it’s for young adults, but I feel like it’s an I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings kind of book that ought to be read in seventh or eighth grade.

Waltzing the Cat and Cowboys Are My Weakness by Pam Houston are short story collections that are medium-to-fast-paced, emotional, and reflective. I had a hard time believing these are fictional stories as so much of them sound like her memoir writing, but sometimes you gotta take the author at their word. Either way, excellent books. Cowboys was a re-read for me and I have to say that after nearly thirty years, it still holds up.

Rabbit Foot Bill by Helen Humphreys is a historical fiction book that’s dark and reflective. I found it to be medium-to-slow-paced and difficult to put down. The story of a boy who grows up in the shadow of a murderous man deemed insane, it’s a fascinating coming of age book.

Hit By a Farm by Catherine Friend is a fast-paced memoir about a woman who leaves the city to become a sheep farmer. Hilarious and reflective, it’s a very quick read and I thank the Sanders County Bookmobile book sale for introducing me to it at the Huckleberry Festival.

Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello is a feminist memoir that’s slow-paced, emotional and reflective. I struggled with the intro, but then couldn’t put it down. It’s gritty and she doesn’t hold back on any of the private things, so it’s certainly not for everyone. I love truth and this book is loaded with it.

When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams is a nonfiction essay collection of emotional, reflective memoir pieces. It is a stunningly beautiful book. Some essays read like poetry, others like a journal. All are deliciously inviting.

A Little More About Me by Pam Houston is also a nonfiction essay collection of emotional, reflective memoir pieces. This one is adventurous, not at all quiet, although it too feels like a deeply private and personal conversation with the author.

The Little Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo is a nonfiction self-help book that makes me want to roll my eyes hard back into my head because I cannot believe I read things like this or like them, but here we are. It’s much too kitschy in a Tuesdays with Morrie sort of way, but if you can get past that, it has some wonderful insights and meditations in it.

Men Before 10 A.M. by Pam Houston and Veronique Vial is a nonfiction book of photography and writing. The photos are stunningly beautiful and the writings by Veronique and Pam are fantastically complimentary. A book about famous men, and men in general, and how women relate to them.

I’m currently in some stage of reading the following:

Cosmoe’s Wiener Getaway by Max Brallier (with the kiddos)

Straight Man by Richard Russo

Female Trouble by Antonya Nelson

A Life in Men by Gina Frangello

I hope your wood cribs are filling quickly, your pleasure in the outdoors has ratcheted up, and your bookshelves are loaded in anticipation of rainy days. Please take a moment to drop me a line and let me know whatcha readin’. I especially love photos of bookshelves gone wild!

Sunday Dutro is an avid reader and eBook convert living in Thompson Falls with her beautiful family and an enormous “to be read” pile. Reach her at [email protected] and sundaydutro.com.