September Reads

A cool, windy afternoon perfect to be lounging with the fire on.  I'm somewhat with it and don't have my mental faculties screwed up by the pain medications I'm on post surgery.  So taking advantage of this recovery time to get in some writing. 

September Reads... no particular order.

"This is the Story of a Happy Marriage" by Ann Patchett
Really enjoyed this book and again think I should maybe give "Bel Canto" another try as I really enjoyed her book "State of Wonder" and now this one.  Maybe I tried reading "Bel Canto" at the wrong time. 
"The tricky thing about being a writer or about being any kind of artist is that in addition to making art you also have to make a living".
This book is filled with many interesting quotes and each chapter is a different essay she has written over the years.  As goodreads states "an irresistible blend of literature and memoir".  Couldn't have described it better.

"The Leopard" by Jo Nesbo (audiobook, except the last 3 chapters).  So I started this one awhile ago and once I was done with the big Pigman Training it took me awhile to finish it.  When I went to finish the last disc that I had downloaded to my Ipod it unfortunately was scratched and kept skipping so I had to go to the library, borrow book, and finish by reading the last three chapters.  This is the #8 in Harry Hole series and I still think "The Snowman" is my favorite thus far of the series.  I somewhat didn't enjoy reading the end of the book, because I didn't have the narrator/audiobook guide to read the Norwegian names correctly so I was stumbling over saying them in my head myself.  It was a good book and I will continue to pick up Harry Hole mysteries in the future.

"Mountain Dog" by Margarita Engle
This was a book I read with my daughter. I picked it up because she is really into dogs these days.  This book is a bout a rescue dog named Gabe.  The other main character is Tony.  Every other chapter is from either Tony or Gabe's point of view.  My daughter enjoyed the back and forth nature of the narrator.  Tony comes to live with his uncle after his mother is put in prison for illegal gambling and use of pit bulls inappropriately (AKA Michael Vick saga).  My daughter didn't get hung up on the story line about the mom in prison and not caring for her son, but she did really enjoy the part of the story focusing on what rescue dogs do out in the wilderness.  I thought it was a good story, easy to read with a some good life lessons.

"Team Seven" by Marcus Burke
We read this book for our Sept book club month.  This author is going to be at the Iowa City Book Festival this weekend and prior to all my knee stuff I had planned on going and listening to him talk with other bookies.  We even invited him to join us for book club at the Wig N Pen for pizza, beer and book discussion.  He was out of town however, and couldn't attend, but sent a nice Facebook message reply.  One of the bookies did go and listen to him talk at the book festival and also got to meet his sister.  He came across as a genuinely nice guy.  His book gives you a true picture of growing up in a middle to lower class neighborhood in Boston.  The different parts of life that come with living in Boston and being raised primarly by his mother with his father missing in action quite regularly throughout the book.  It starts with him at age 8 and ends when he is 18.  It was a quick read and ideal way to read about his life over time.  I'm glad we picked this book for book club.

"Pen on Fire: A busy woman's guide to igniting the writer within" by Barbara De Marco Barrett
"biggest stumbling block for aspiring writers (especially woman) is not fear of the blank page, but frustration with the lack of time". I think lack of time is one of the biggest road blocks in life just not writing.  I thought this book was good and liked how every chapter ended with a "writing prompt" or exercise.  It was an easy read with some good pointers and good way to jump start one's writing.

"The Books that Mattered: A reader's memoir" by Frye Gaillard
Good reads wrote " will make you study your own shelves to find clues into your own literary heart".  Agree totally.  It didn't give me tons of books I want to add to my "to read" list, but it did remind me of different memories I've had throughout my reading life of different books being special at different times.  Gaillard grew up in the south and so many of the books he referenced to in this book were Southern authors and Southern based themes in the books. 

Great month of reading- really looking forward to what October has in store for me as I will be layed up on the couch for most of it.