I'm linking up with
That Artsy Reader Girl for another Top Ten Tuesday.
This week's topic is a roundup of our recent reads. I do the
Quick Lit linkup once a month that has brief reviews of all my recent reads, but for this one we're just supposed to include one sentence for each, so here you go! (Psst: At the end of the month, choose your favorite recent read and link up with
Best of the Bunch!)
Broken by Jenny Lawson
Lawson has again delivered a book that literally made me laugh until I cried on multiple occasions, even if the alternation between hilarity and grave reflections on mental illness gave me a bit of emotional whiplash.
Rick by Alex Gino
The way that Gino wrote a character who is questioning and may be asexual and/or aromantic was pitch-perfect, framing it in terms that are relevant to a 6th grader (having crushes, hearing sexual jokes), and acknowledging that sexuality is still in discovery at that age but verbalizing the importance of having labels to feel valid, even if those labels could eventually change.
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
This Miss Marple book had an interesting setup and a lot of possible paths to follow, and I figured out just enough to feel satisfying but not enough to make it feel predictable or obvious.
The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
This is interesting as two personal stories of men with the same name, but the book falls short of having a central thesis that could propel any meaningful action.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
Wilsner doesn't wave away the power imbalance between a boss and younger assistant but takes it incredibly seriously, and they show how it's possible for a boss and assistant to transition into a relationship in a thoughtful, ethical, fully consensual way.
How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev
As an overview of the relationship between Irish immigrants to the United States and Black Americans (enslaved and free) in the early 19th century, this does a great job; as an argument about Irish Americans' relationship to whiteness, it meanders all over the place and seems to contradict itself at times.
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
I had a hard time getting into this book at first and thought about abandoning it because Tess was such an unlikable character, but I'm glad I stuck with it and got to see her transformation into confidence and healing.
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
A fantastic work in which the author uses extensive research citations, as well as accounts of his own research and his work with patients, to outline the ways that trauma affects the brain and body.
I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
I appreciate the research that went into this book about a woman disguising herself to fight in the Civil War, but unfortunately the plot was predictable, the writing was clunky, and the main character was whiny and immature.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
My 6-year-old mostly liked this, but I have found Dahl's books less charming and more disturbing as I've gotten older, and this was the first read-aloud with my son where I skipped over some problematic bits as I went.
What have you read recently?
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading:
Ain't I a Woman and
Team of Rivals
Five years ago I was reading:
A Long Walk to Water and
The Fellowship of the Ring
Ten years ago I was reading:
Milkrun
