What I Read: July 2022
Speculative fiction + books on movement + middle grade gems.
Hi from the end of July. THE END OF JULY?!? What in the actual world has happened this month? Everything and nothing, as always.
As I write this, I’m supposed to be packing for a 3-day hiking trip in Door County — Scott and I’s first getaway without our children since 2019 (when we only had one kid!), so I’ll keep it short.
I hope you are reading good things. I hope you are squeezing the joy out of the last third of summer. I will see you here at the end of August and report back on whether or not I survived a collective 20 miles or so of hiking or if Scott had to carry me at any point. Off to finish packing!
Here’s what I read in July:
The Sparrow: A Novel
by Mary Doria Russel
As I predicted, this book has earned a space on my “Favorites of All Time” shelf. It’s about Jesuit Priests + Space Travel — which should not go together but it WORKS. The books follows a group who make contact with life on another planet, and throughout the journey there are reflections on faith and life and relationships and evolution and humanity and what we owe each other… it’s truly expansive and thought-provoking. It is equal parts sacred + salty, so be warned that it’s not religious in the sense of Christian fiction/nonfiction — there are swear words and not everyone leads a moral life — but I read it as a book that points to God in a myriad of ways. There’s a sequel and I shall be reading it.
If you’re read and loved this one, I’d recommend Lauren Groff’s Matrix. If you’d like something with less space-travel, read The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall. And for less religion and more relationships, Backman’s Anxious People would fit the bill.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michele Richardson
This was a pick for my local book club. The novel combines two based-in-history topics: the rural Kentucky pack horse library project where young women where hired to carry reading material to people in the hills of Kentucky, and the blue people of Kentucky, known as the Blue Fugates, whose skin was an extraordinary color because of a blood enzyme disorder. The writing was a little underwhelming, but the plot was good — and I really was rooting for the main character all the while.
Grow Wild: The Whole-child, Whole-family, Nature-rich Guide to Moving More
by Katy Bowman
This came highly recommended from an acquaintance and I enjoyed it, even if I felt a lot of it was just plain common sense. Katy Bowman is a bio-mechanist, someone who studies the way our biology and our movements interact and influence one another. She hypothesizes that the way we live in modern society works against our body’s innate need for movement — and gives recommendations on you and your family can integrate more and different movements into your everyday lives. Many of the ideas are out of reach for our family: where we live means we cannot walk or bike to a grocery store or school, period. But the book does have me rethinking my constance insistence that my children sit in chairs to eat or stand quietly in line at the library.
I could not find a copy of this at my library at all, so if you are local to the Madison area and would like to borrow it, let me know!
Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers
by Anne Lamott
This was short and full of the wit and lyricism that you can expect from Anne Lamott. The premise is that there are really only three prayers we ever pray: help, thanks, and wow. Lamott writes an essay on each, full of her trademark spunk and sacred imagination. I underlined a lot, and I think I’ll go back again and flip through to re-absorb some of the info when I need a reminder that simple prayers are often best.
Sea Wife: A Novel
by Amity Gaige
My friend Jenn Batchelor texted me specifically and told me to read this book — and she was right. It’s the story of a family who take a year off of real life to live on a sailboat in the Caribbean. But it’s also about marriage and motherhood and depression and creativity and identity and what it means to survive. It’s all layered on top of a plot-driven story, but it’s all there. I really enjoyed this book and would have underlined so much if it weren’t a library copy.
If you read it and love it, I’m going to rec another Lauren Groff: Fates and Furies. And something a bit adjacent: Caroline: Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller.
The Life We're Looking for: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World
by Andy Crouch
I just started this and am about 10% in but I loved The Tech-Wise Family and I think Crouch is doing something similar but more expansive here. Full review next month!
For the second (third?) month in a row, I haven’t even touched The Making of Biblical Womanhood. Maybe someday?
What I’ve been reading with the kids:
All the Jacqueline Woodson books. All of them are phenomenal, and almost all of them make me cry. Most recently:
Not for the kids, but one of hers I read last year (maybe 2020?) that I still think about often: Red at the Bone.
We also added a couple more books to our summer picture book list, and Arthur and I read aloud this great middle-grade that he also loves on audio: Big Foot & Little Foot.
What I’m reading next:
I have absolutely no idea. Isn’t that so fun?!?
We’re planning to listen to Nick Offerman’s Where the Deer and the Antelope Play {affiliate link} while we drive to Door County. I’ve been looking forward to it since hearing this interview with him. But otherwise: anything on my shelf (shelves) is fair game!
What’s next on your reading (or listening!) list? Hit “reply” — I’d love to hear about it.