What I Read: August 2022
I now *love*... audiobooks?
I said in April that I didn’t love audiobooks… I might have changed my mind.
While I will always and forever prefer paper books, I’ve long recognized the value of a good ebook: you can check them out from the library without leaving your house! you can read one-handed while holding a nursing baby! you can make highlights and then export those highlights with a copy + paste! you can take 10 books on vacation and not have an overweight checked bag!
And I’ve long-loved podcasts, but could never quite make the bridge to audiobooks unless I was on a long-ish car trip.
Then I found myself with a kid-free weekend and listened to almost the entirety of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, narrated by the incomparable Tom Hanks, while I scoured the long-forgotten corners of my house and I think I’m hooked.
It didn’t hurt that August has also meant an onslaught of garden produce, which has meant copious amounts of time spent in the kitchen. I have been doing very little sitting-and-reading and lots of standing-and-canning-and-listening, so my book list for August is surprisingly audio-heavy (which also means almost no pictures this time around — oops!).
Here’s What I Read (or Listened To!) in August:
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside
by Nick Offerman
Scott and I listened to this while we drove to Door County at the end of July (it was lovely — we hiked almost 20 unhindered-by-kids miles in 2 days!), and finished it up the first few days of August back at home. Offerman is a comedian, and reads this book himself, which is a delight — however, Offerman is a comedian, so this is definitely a not-safe-for-the-minivan (NSFMV) listen. The book is a discussion of nature and conservation, and tucked in are Offerman’s own reflections on agribusiness, farming, politics, climate change, and more. It’s no surprise to Offerman’s hardcore fans that he leans pretty hard left of the political spectrum, but if you’ve only ever seen Parks & Rec and think this might be Ron Swanson in book form, it’s definitely not. We enjoyed it — it gave us lots of discussion points as we spent 48+ hours immersed in nature on hiking trails, even if we scoffed at he and his wife’s cross-country road trip and the equipment they spontaneously purchased for it.
Goodreads | Bookshelf | Libro.fm
Perestroika in Paris: A Novel
by Jane Smiley
A charming, just-for-fun novel that focuses on a runaway racehorse, a stray dog, a raven, some ducks, a couple of mice, and a little boy as they find each other and a home. This was one of Ashley Brooks’s recommendations in our end-of-year podcast in 2021, and my neighborhood book club chose it for September. It was a delight — a bit funny, a bit smart, a bit heartwarming — an all around fun read.
The Dutch House: A Novel
by Ann Patchett
I hugged my kids goodbye before their dad drove them off to their first weekend at their grandparents house, then I slipped on my earbuds and proceeded to scour my house from all the accumulated grime of the past… years. YEARS. It’s been years since I have been home and kid-free for any amount of time and I reveled in Tom Hanks narrating The Dutch House as I dusted and vacuumed and organized. The Dutch House focuses on two siblings and the events that surround them as they are sent away from their home — an architectural marvel called The Dutch House — and off into the rest of their lives. It’s probably my favorite Patchett novel yet (I read Commonwealth = okay; and Bel Canto = lovely, but unsatisfying), but I loved her essay collection, These Precious Days. This interview with Patchett is particularly delightful, and one of her essays is also the reason you’ll see two Kate DiCamillo books later on in the list.
Goodreads | Bookshelf | Libro.fm
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
by Karina Yan Glaser
I picked this for Arthur to listen to, but I might have listened even when he wasn’t around. It’s a charming book about five siblings, ages 12 down to 4 3/4, who live in a Brownstone in Harlem, New York City — but who are afraid they are going to have to move at the end of the year. They launch a plan to convince their recluse of a landlord to like them and let them stay, and the story that follows shows just how precious their neighborhood is to them. This middle grade novel offers enough plot to keep 5yo Arthur engaged, but does a great job at building fully-formed characters and introducing them to young readers. The best part: it’s the first of a series, so there are many more Vanderbeeker adventures in our future. Set at Christmastime, this would be a delight to read or listen to as the snow descends in December!
Goodreads | Bookshelf | Libro.fm
Fortunately, The Milk
by Neil Gaiman
Ashley Brooks also told us to read this one a year or so ago, and we finally jumped on board. It’s a delight. Almost exactly one hour long and narrated by Gaiman himself with his fantastic British accent (watch the preview above!), the story follows a dad who goes out to get milk — but ends up in a succession of wild adventures involving space aliens and pirates and dinosaurs and cave men and more. Our whole family found it funny, and it’s one we could listen to over and over again.
Goodreads | Bookshelf | Libro.fm
My Name is Memory
by Ann Brashares
I am not shy about loving Ann Brashares. Her novel for adults, The Last Summer (of You & Me) is one of my favorite reads, and one I return to most summers. I also really liked The Whole Thing Together, and thoroughly enjoyed the Sisterhood books when they came out. So when I saw a Brashares title on the used bookstore shelf that I hadn’t heard of before, I purchased immediately, no questions asked.
Daniel has been reincarnated more times than he can count — but he retains his memory through all of his lives. And in all of his lives, he has loved Sophia — even if circumstances always manage to keep them apart. But in this current life? They are the same age and in the same place and could finally be together, if only Daniel can convince Sophia — who never remembers him from one life to the next — that they are meant to be.
What a premise! The beginning was strong, there was a lot of world-building and stage-setting — and then the last third of the book fell apart for me. It felt rushed and unpolished and not at all like her other works. I’d recommend it and read it again just for the setup, but I really wish the ending had gotten a rewrite before publication.
The Beatryce Prophecy
by Kate DiCamillo
“Answelica was a goat with teeth that were the mirror of her soul—large, sharp, and uncompromising.” - p. 5
What an opening line! And the whole book is full of beauty and light and love and bravery. Beatryce awakes in a goat shed knowing only her name. A monk finds her and takes her in, but they soon find themselves off on an adventure in which Beatryce will fulfill a prophecy — one that most people ignore since it concerns only a girl. The tale turns a lot of preconceived notions on their heads, and is a story about stories and how they shape us, if only we will let them. This could be especially powerful in the hands of an ~8 year old girl, but I think boys and 30-something year-old women will not easily put it down in order to go to sleep.
I was already inclined to read DiCamillo’s books based on Patchett’s recommendations, but then I listened to this interview with DiCamillo and found myself sobbing the happy tears of feeling seen while driving to physical therapy and knew I had to start right then. I went to the library after physical therapy and could not decide which of the six books of hers on the shelf to choose, so I took all of them. All six. Because of course. I started with Beatryce because of the cover and the epigraph before the story starts: “It is written in the Chronicles of Sorrowing that one day there will come a child who will unseat a king. The prophecy states that this child will be a girl. Because of this, the prophecy has long been ignored.”
Wouldn’t you start there, too?
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamillo
The full title of this book is “The Tale of Despereaux being the story of a mouse, a princess, some soup, and a spool of thread.” In case you need more reason than that to read it: Despereaux is a mouse. A mouse who loves a human; a princess, to be exact. He is kicked out of his mouse community because he doesn’t act enough like a mouse, but his exile only kicks off a quest in which Despereaux can fulfill his destiny and save the day. This is not a picture book for young children — I think, again, this one’s for ages ~7-10. The story tells the truth: that there is dark and light in every person. It might be a tiny bit scary for a really little kid; I’ll wait to read with Arthur until he is a bit older, but I am already excited for that day.
I promised a full review of The Life We're Looking for: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World by Andy Crouch, but I’m not quite done with it yet. Next month!
What I’m Reading With The Kids:
Arthur (age 5) and I have been working through The Princess in Black series, which are short chapter books but a lot of fun. We also really enjoyed The Bee Book and will likely buy a copy for ourselves — and go tour a beekeeping farm this fall.
Tennyson (age 2.5) is stuck on a rotation of three: Blueberries for Sal (adorable), Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (she has it almost memorized), and Goldfish on Vacation (which she requests by name, even though we’ve already taken it back to the library).
What I’m Reading Next:
I’ve got four more Kate DiCamillo books to choose from, haven’t I? Ha!
What are you reading that you can’t stop talking typing about? Hit “reply” and let’s chat!