June absolutely flew by, didn’t it? How very rude. I’m underwhelmed by my books read count this month, but I have to remind myself that I was traveling a lot, and also that I started several long books that aren’t finished yet. Let’s take a look at what I did finish.
Books Read: 8
Already Reviewed:
- The Shore by Sara Taylor
- Sit Like a Buddha by Lodro Rinzler
- The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
FICTION
I was traveling during the most of the #BlumeALong, but I wanted to participate informally by re-reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I adored this book growing up, and had already re-read it as an adult several years ago. I love this book so much, and I think it’s a really great book for pre-teen girls. I have no idea if they still read it or not. But if it crosses your path at the right age it can be such a positive experience, helping girls understand the awkward changes that happen as they become a teenager. I also love the treatment of Margaret’s spiritual search, and the honest and graceful portrayal of a young girl trying to figure things out on her own and only coming up with more questions, but realizing that’s ok. Judy Blume is just ridiculously awesome. Re-reading this made me want to re-read Summer Sisters too, which I’ve only read once, ages ago. I’d like to read her new novel, In the Unlikely Event, but one of my biggest fears is planes falling out of the sky and onto my house, so I’m not really sure if I should read it or not – I don’t want that to be on my mind more than it already is.
I also read Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead, and I’ll post a review close to the August 4th publication date.
NON-FICTION
The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer. This short little book is part of the TED Book Series, and is based off of Pico Iyer’s TED Talk. It’s a meditative book that reflects on the art of doing nothing – taking time out from our busy lives to just let ourselves be. An internet-free, plan-free, worry-free time to be still. It’s not an earth-shaking concept, it’s something that’s been written about in Buddhism for hundreds / thousands of years and something that’s becoming a trend topic in recent years as we struggle with being overwhelmed and constantly ‘on’ due to technology. But what makes this one great is Pico Iyer’s beautiful way of approaching this subject. Reading it feels reflective and calming. And it helps keep the important quest for stillness and time away from technology front of mind. I originally checked this book out from the library, but then ended up buying my own copy at Strand so that I can re-read it often. (If you’d like to get a sense of the book you can watch Pico Iyer’s TED Talk. I watched it after I read the book, and while I liked it, I think the book is better and more inspiring.)
I re-read (via audiobook) I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. I mainly picked this up because I wanted something light on audiobook at the time, some conversational essays. This was one of the first essay collections I ever read, and I also wanted to see how they held up after 7 years of reading dozens of other collections. I definitely was not as enchanted as I was 7 years ago. Part of that is probably changing tastes that happen as you change and evolve as a reader, and part of it is probably that I’m not an early 20-something who just moved to NYC anymore, like both Sloane Crosley and I were back then. The second time through I still enjoyed her writing, but found the essays less relatable, and therefore a bit dull. I am curious about her fiction debut this fall, The Clasp. (October 6)
And finally, I listened to the rest of an audiobook I started months ago, Animal Wise by Virginia Morell. For a long time most scientists stayed away from researching the thoughts and emotions of animals because it wasn’t taken seriously in the academic community. That stigma is slowly beginning to change, and in Animal Wise Virginia Morell takes us on a tour of dozens of incredible studies taking place around the world that are researching the minds of birds, fish, monkeys, elephants, rats, dogs, ants, and more. If you love animals, this is a great read.
After being so good for so many months in a row, I went a bit nuts book shopping this month. Mainly during my 10 days on the road, and almost entirely in Boston. 14 of these 17 books were significantly discounted, ranging from $4 to $8, so the haul didn’t leave as big of a dent in my wallet as it appears it could have. I’m so excited about all of these, but now feel even more overwhelmed with all of the incredible titles on my TBR list. The only one that I had already read is Hyperbole and a Half. I read an ebook of it while traveling last year, but loved it so much that I knew I would need it in print someday. Now that I own it I’m itching to re-read it, so even that one is still adding to my pile of books to read! :)
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So that’s the month in books! Here’s hoping that in July the books read and books purchased numbers will be reversed. How did your June reading turn out?
You had a busy month! I’m impressed with the reading you got done, with everything else you had going on. Your thoughts on Cake interested me. I tried to pick it up for the first time probably 5 or so years ago, when I was, let’s just say “well past” 20. Couldn’t get into them, which was a disappointment as I’d heard so much good stuff. Now I feel a bit better. :)
Thanks for the tip on Animal Wise, sounds right up my alley!
It’s interesting that you had a similar experience with Cake. I think the mark of a great essayist is that you shouldn’t need to relate to their situation to enjoy the essays – some of the best essays I’ve read are about topics I’ve never even thought about before. Still – I’m wishing her the best in her fiction endeavors, I have an ARC I’m going to try to read in advance of the pub.
I’m glad you noticed and commented on Animal Wise – I was thinking I should ping you about it too if you missed it here because I thought about you while I was writing this – I think this one is up your alley! The section on dogs toward the end was my favorite. :)
Wow. You show cover art for 25 books in this post and I haven’t read any of them (although I’ve seen the BBC production of Tipping the Velvet). I think this is the first time there hasn’t been some overlap in the history of P. Spree.
I’m in the middle of a reading resurgence and have been zipping through books lately. We’ve had a mild summer so far, so I’ve been taking books out on the front porch and reading them there. Sometimes I wave at the neighbors out walking their dogs.
Wow – that is impressive that it has taken this long and impressive that it happened on a P.S. post with 25 books! If I were to recommend any of the books/authors in this post to you for porch reading, I’d pick Stuart Dybeck. I haven’t read the collection pictured yet, but “I Sailed with Magellan” is one of my favorite short story collections. I think his style might be in line with other short story writers you like. I’m interested to read this new collection, as the stories are much shorter. It will be interesting to see how they are different from his more standard length stories that I’ve read and loved.
I’m listening to the Aziz book now on audio, and it’s okay so far. I can appreciate the amount of research that went into it, but it’s not blowing me away or anything. At some point I want to at least flip through the physical copy, because I hear there are pictures and things worth seeing.
I’m posting my review of Modern Romance tomorrow, and I wrote about the audio vs. print. I pre-ordered the audiobook but then ended up returning it when I saw how cool the print edition looked – I didn’t want to miss the infographics, which looked interesting and well-designed. Overall I thought it was interesting, but nothing incredible. I’m curious to hear how you ended up liking the audiobook – when I finished the print edition I couldn’t decide if I would have enjoyed hearing him narrate it more than the amount of enjoyment the graphs / charts provided.
I very much enjoyed Iyer’s book too. There was something gentle and wise about it but also challenging that pushed many of my happy buttons.
“gentle and wise but also challenging” – Perfect description of it! Glad to hear you enjoyed it as well, it’s so lovely. :D
The Art of Stillness sounds absolutely lovely! I’m going to find out if my library has it. I could use some extra tips about how to be still and just put. the. phone. down. Blog feed readers don’t encourage that very well. ;)
Also, no lie: my boss has a more than joking interest in starting up a “catnition” lab to study how cats think. I might just have to stay at my job forever if this ever comes to fruition.
Oh it’s so lovely! I hope you enjoy it. It’s something I’ve been working on all summer – focusing and staying present and being still, not trying to do a million things at once. So far I’ve needed to actually distance myself physically from the things that always distract me (mostly my phone and computer, but other things sometimes too). It’s still a battle!
ALSO – a Catnition lab sounds like the best idea ever. I’d want to work there too!!