I finished my 56th book this week, I have no idea if that’s a lot or little. I read everything, in all formats and often, several books at once.
I was not-so-subtly informed by several lovely people in my life that I have not shared my latest reads, trends, recommendations and more. I do apologize for my egregious error. Let me rectify this oversight immediately.
I had seen The Body Keeps the Score pop up over and over but had yet to commit. Then my friend Marcella asked me to pick it up. It’s dense but the info and commentary around trauma and how it is stored in the body is spot on. I brought the book up in therapy and my therapist commented that everyone she knew was also reading it. I’m not done with it, but I’m working on it when I’m fresh minded and able to absorb the content.
As someone who has had their fair share of trauma and medical complexities, it’s worth it. If you are trying to support someone in or through their trauma, it’s also worth it. It details EMDR (which I’ve struggled to explain to people after receiving it) as well as Eastern medicine healing modalities and the mind/body connection.
I’m a member of Book of the Month (BOTM) reading club, which never ceases to delight me with its on-point packaging and amazing book marks. Both Weyward (which also happens to have a stunning cover) and The Wishing Game were choices over the last few months. I enjoyed them for their lyrical storytelling, strong female characters and a different concept in general.
While I love a good hard cover, nothing beats the convenience of my Kindle. So, I also joined Kindle Unlimited at some point late last year. It’s incredible to see the diverse content library available. If you’re a voracious reader, it’s worth the nominal fee. Also, if you enjoy the spicier side of books, Kindle Unlimited is where to go. I gobbled up the entire Riley Thorn trilogy in a matter of days and highly recommend for a laugh out loud, absurd read. The books reminded me a lot of early Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series.
My two stand out, definitely-must-read, unequivocally recommend books recently read are Killers of a Certain Age and The Dead Romantics.
I am disenchanted and completely uninterested in romance as a genre. It’s finally entered my brain that romance books are written by women and for women because most men fail to grasp much of the female experience. I crave books that are different, unique and quirky. I want to think “that’s a really interesting concept!” or “I wonder how the author came up with that?” Additionally, I am over the story of 20-something girls. I don’t need a teenage or young adult coming of age but prefer heroines after divorce, starting over, and anyone over the age of 35. I have no beef with the plethora of books available that do not fit my niche interests at the moment, but I know what I like and what I want to read.
Both of these must-reads fit the bill of unexpected, wildly entertaining and wonderfully written.
Just for fun, and hopefully to spark a good ol’ fashioned book discussion, here are a few examples of books that some people loved, others liked, and I loathed.
Leave a comment below with a must-read or your favorite book.
My Chronic Library 
One response to “What I’m Reading (or read): Summer 2023”
Hey there, Carolyn! The latest book that I finished is Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. Best nonfiction I’ve read in YEARS! Nabeel’s journey as a child from a devout and loving fPakistani family to a curious and proud Moslem to some agonizing years as a young adult challenged to rethink what he had always believed, Nabeel’s unique journey somehow touches me, a lifelong Christian, deeply and repeatedly. Highly recommend.
Then there’s The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. You will learn about Kentucky’s blue people. Yes, blue. I was so intrigued I did some of my own research and interviewed some cousins who lived in the same area of the book’s setting and who actually remembered the blue people. This is based on a time in Appalachian history when book women did the job of what we now recognize as bookmobiles. A novel, it nevertheless rang true to me, as I, too, grew up in a small hamlet, but in West Virginia. This is the story of a remarkably strong-willed woman who battled sexism and racism among people in a peculiar Appalachian subculture. I found it fascinating and informative.
Finally, from what you’ve described as what you look for in books, I think you’d like Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Our protagonist is a young girl living near Bogota during the early days of Pablo Escobar. Her parents are very different individuals politically and in terms of parenting skill. They might be considered middle class, as they live in a gated community and hire a maid, Petrona. Petrona is only a few years older than Chula, but they begin a friendship and Chula realizes that Petrona’s life is very different from hers. In the front yard is a large tree about which she has always been warned because of its powerful fruit. She has only a vague understanding of what that means, and I think it is symbolic of her innocence regarding the world outside her community. Her keen interest in Petrona, coupled with her mother’s starry-eyed view of Escobar, takes her outside the gate and into a political rally that turns violent, then among teenage guerillas, and eventually to finding shelter in the slums of Bogota. The book covers several years of her life and and shares some similarities with the author’s own life story. And, yes, she comes to understand the danger associated with the tree.
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