Read:
Family in Six Tones – Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao (Putnam, 2020)
God in My Everything – Ken Shigematsu (Zondervan, 2013)
Hamnet & Judith – Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf Canada, 2020)
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead (Bond Street Books, 2020)
The Apothecary – Maile Meloy (Puffin Books, 2011)
How Much of These Hills is Gold – C. Pam Zhang (Riverhead Books, 2020)
Did Not Finish:
The Big Door Prize – M. O. Walsh
The premise – a machine that tells you what your life could have been, is fascinating but the characters weren’t engaging for me and the plot barely moved at all in the pages I read. Not to mention that it felt like the author had never spent significant time with either a woman or a teenager and yet two was attempting to write from their perspectives.
Currently Reading:
Mother Mother – Jessica O’Dwyer
Prayer – Philip Yancey
The Bird King – G. Willow Wilson
2020 Goals:
Books Read: 73/100
Books Reviewed: 63/75
Current TBR: 186 (previously 174)
What’s Next:
I don’t even know. Our library has re-opened, which I talked about in this post but I don’t predict I’ll do much browsing in the near future. I’ve just started The Bird King and have It Would be Night in Caracas still as well as a copy of Mona Awad’s Bunny to be picked up this week. I have new books by Marilynne Robinson and Kerry Clare pre-ordered and a middle-grade book called The Barren Ground by David A. Robertson that I’d like to read. I’m also tired. In all the hustle and bustle of September and new schedules I have not been good at making time for the things that refresh me. As I write this, I’m realizing that the stress and uncertainty of the past year is building up. While the summer offered some release of all that, as we enter the fall and winter months, it’s starting to feel really real and present again.
And if I’m being even more honest, I’ll admit that the transition of summer to fall is always hard for me because on the first day of autumn in 2016, I was in the hospital and we lost our baby boy. No matter how much time passes, that memory lies heavy with me.
Fortunately, September ends with us celebrating Rose’s birthday and from there we have Peter’s birthday and Thanksgiving and then we’re well into Fall and I can settle into rainy days and cosy rhythms. And, hopefully, better reading habits.
So what’s next? I will hopefully be catching up on some book reviews here because I actually did read some excellent books this month. I especially enjoyed Hamnet & Judith. The Nickel Boys was heavy but very good and I’d especially recommend it for readers today amidst the growing racial divides of the United States and the rest of the world. I am sitting with my thoughts on How Much of These Hills is Gold but I have a lot of them and will hopefully share some soon.
What was your September like? Do you love fall or you a little bit dreading the return of the cold? What was the best book you read this month?
Karissa Reads Books 
I didn’t know that you lost a son, though I do know you’ve spoken openly on your blog about fertility struggles before beautiful baby Pearl arrived. What was his name?
I had a late miscarriage between the girls. It usually feels like somewhere between losing a fully born child and a miscarriage of a few weeks (which I have also had). Because I was further along we had time with him after delivery and know he would have been a boy. We did name him but have always kept that name pretty private – a quirk of grief or obstinance, I’m not sure – but thank you for asking that.
Thank you for explaining ❤
I’m sorry, I don’t understand – what does the phrase “too many books” mean? 😉
It’s something strange my husband says sometimes. Who knows?