Finding Comfort in Pages

It's been a rough week, and the news seems to keep getting worse. I am thankful this week for the many strategies I've learned through years of therapy that keep me from giving in to the darkness. I am thankful that my own kid is well and safe. And I am thankful for books that have given me a much-needed distraction when the news has been too much. I am someone who will fixate on upsetting things given the opportunity, so when the events of the world are upsetting, it's good for me to have a way to step back from them for a bit. My crafting, of course, is always soothing, but it often leaves my mind to wander. So I thought today I'd share some of the books I've read this past week that have helped me to focus on something other than the news for a bit.

Since my last reading update, I've finished five books.

I was really excited to read The Island of Missing Trees after hearing several of you rave about it and after waiting for it from the library for quite a while. But I am sorry to say that it didn't quite live up to my expectations. I'm not sure if I set them too high or what, but I didn't think the writing was as strong as it was in the previous book I read by the author. I did really enjoy the chapters that are narrated by a fig tree (yes, you read that correctly) and learning a bit more about the conflict between Greeks and Turks on Cyprus, but the rest fell a bit flat for me. Everything seemed a little too convenient for the characters and how their lives intersected -- certainly in fiction, that's the author's right, but it didn't feel realistic to me. I'll say I enjoyed the book, but it didn't blow me away. I gave it 3 stars.

Inspired by Bonny, I listened to the audiobook of Island of the Blue Dolphins over the course of last Friday. I knew that I had loved this book when I first read it in the fourth(?) grade, but I remembered nothing about it other than the basic premise of the plot. As I listened, I remembered why I had enjoyed it so much as a young girl. Karana is an inspirational character, and I loved her grit and determination in finding a away to survive on her own on her island. I don't think I knew until I got to the author's note at the end, however, that she was based on an actual person. I know this is one of several Scott O'Dell books I read back in elementary school, so perhaps I will revisit more of them soon. I gave this one 4 stars.

I finally finished Young Mungo after just barely starting it when we had our unexpected vacation extension in Florida last month. I mentioned last week that I was finding it troubling to read, but I am really glad that I stuck with it. It is a hard book -- it deals with alcoholism, parental neglect, sexual abuse, violence, homophobia, and many other serious topics -- but all the hard stuff is written about with such sensitivity. I could really see Douglas Stuart's growth as a writer from his debut novel, and I have to say that while this second novel was more difficult for me to read, I also enjoyed it more. I am really looking forward to the discussion about this one with the Read With Us group. I gave it 4 stars.

Last weekend I was looking in my Libby app for an audiobook to keep me company on my walks and while doing the weekly bathroom cleaning, and I found that Take My Hand was available with no wait (surprisingly, because it just came out last month). I'd heard about it on the What Should I Read Next podcast several weeks ago and bookmarked it at the time. This book takes place primarily in the early '70s in Alabama, though there are also some chapters set in more recent years. Civil Townsend is a newly minted nurse who is starting her first job at a federally funded family planning clinic. In the wake of the revelations about the Tuskegee experiment, she uncovers what may be yet another case of the U.S. government taking advantage of people of color and people who are poor. I could not stop listening to this book and finished it the day after I started. I gave it 5 stars and highly recommend it!

Finally, yesterday I finished The Bread the Devil Knead, which I'd picked up several weeks ago when it was a Kindle deal thanks to Katie. At 209 pages, this book wasn't very long, but it was a bit of a challenge to read, both because it's written in Trinidadian Creole and because it deals with some pretty heavy subjects (intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, incest). That said, I quickly grew used to the language -- though I frequently Googled some of the terms to figure out what they were -- and felt it was a worthwhile read. The emotional journey that the main character goes on over the course of the novel, in which we see how the trauma she endured as a child has influenced her decisions and her life as an adult, is both heartbreaking and inspiring. I gave it 4 stars.


I am currently listening to Sorrow and Bliss, which is the last title I have left to have read all the finalists for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction. And I am roughly halfway through Tracks, my latest Louise Erdrich, which I'm hoping to finish up in the next couple of days (it's only around 200 pages or so). It's a long weekend here in the United States this weekend, and I'm officially done with work at 2 p.m. today, so I am hoping for some more good reading to help me work through my sadness and rage.

I wish you the very best weekend possible. Don't forget to look for beauty and joy.