As I look back on the books I finished reading in early March, it seems like a lifetime ago. This new strangeness we’re living in… it creates a warped sense of time. And also of experience. When I look at the first couple of books on this list, I think of what a naive, unaware person I was then: quarantine would’ve seemed like something from a dystopian novel.
But here we are, my friends. And we’re still here — still carrying on and still reading. And that’s something we can be thankful for. I’m glad you’re here.
The March reading list: here it is…
Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of the Children’s Ship by Deborah Heiligman
3 words: vivid, urgent, gripping
Give this book a whirl if you like… British children evacuees during WWII, shipwrecks, true tragedy, quiet heroism
Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President by Betty Boyd Caroli
3 words: revealing, intimate, behind-the-scenes
Give this book a whirl if you like… learning the role and motivations of Lady Bird Johnson, stories of political partnerships, strong women, the power of subtle influence
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine
3 words: joyful, quietly enthusiastic, encouraging
Give this book a whirl if you like… developing a philosophy for living, envisioning the worst so you can appreciate what you you have, finding peace, diminishing anxiety
The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
3 words: atmospheric, menacing, unfolding
Give this book a whirl if you like… #OwnVoices, Southern mystery, current-day Southern plantation tourist site, single mothers
Welcome to Replica Dodge by Natalie Ruth Joynton
3 words: introspective, lyrical, intimate
Give this book a whirl if you like… beautifully written memoirs of everyday life, stories of religious conversion, fish out of water narratives, Jewish life, story of a new marriage and building a life together
Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
3 words: folksy, heartwarming, uplifting
Give this book a whirl if you like… cats, small town America, the importance of libraries to the life of a community, Iowa
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
3 words: sobering, nuanced, thoughtful
Give this book a whirl if you like… learning about Japenese American internment camps, blend of a child’s innocence and an adult’s reflections, WWII, memoirs in graphic novel form
What have you been reading lately?
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