Nonfiction Review: Why We Read

Every spring, my mom and I attend Booktopia, a weekend book event held at Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, where readers and about eight authors talk books, hang out together, share meals, play a rollicking game of book trivia, and more. This year, this unique event is being held the last weekend in April (tickets still available; my recap/vlog from Booktopia 2023). My first book read for Booktopia 2024 was Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed, a very entertaining nonfiction/memoir perfect for any book lover.

Each chapter aims to answer the title question, with some expected chapter titles like To Learn About (and From) the Past and Because We Had To and To Feel Less Alone. But she also has some surprising chapters like To Break the Rules and Because I Wanted Free Pizza. Interspersed with these essay-like Why chapters are some fun lists like How I Choose a Book: A Thirteen-Step Guide and Signs You May Be a Character in a Popular Children's Book. Throughout the book, Shannon shares details of her own reading life, from her grandmother teaching her to read at age two (!) to her childhood and adolescence as an avid reader to some of her adult experiences reading. Shannon is also a teacher, so she shares fascinating stories of teaching English and Literature to high school students and her current role as a Creative Writing and Literature professor at a university. In every chapter, there is enough book name-dropping to make your To-Be-Read list burst, though many of the books she talks about are comfortingly familiar to any avid reader. Best of all, from my point of view, is Shannon's wonderful sense of humor that runs through every page.

This was definitely a book that I could relate to! Shannon's stories and memories often had me nodding along or laughing out loud. Her different perspectives, as both a reader and a teacher of literature, were always intriguing. Reading this book made me feel like Shannon was a friend--certainly, at least someone with whom I share a common passion. I can't wait to meet her at Booktopia! I very much enjoyed this hilarious, informative, and comforting journey through books and reading. And yes, don't worry--there is a lengthy list of books mentioned at the end.

329 pages, Hanover Square Press

Harlequin Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - category: Published in 2024

Literary Escapes Challenge - Pennsylvania
 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 
  

Memoir Review: The Invisible Girls

A few years ago, I downloaded The Invisible Girls by Sarah Thebarge from the SYNC annual summer audio book program and finally began listening to this beautiful, moving memoir that I finished reading in print.

Sarah, twenty-seven, was riding the train into downtown Portland, Oregon, one day when she met two adorable little girls and their exhausted-looking mother. Sarah was kind and played with the girls (one of whom fell asleep in her lap) and began talking to the mother, Hadhi. That was the start of a unique friendship that enriched the lives of all involved. Hadhi was a Somali refugee and had five little girls under twelve at home (the older three were in school when they first met). She invited Sarah to their apartment, where Sarah soon understood that the family was barely surviving. There was no food in the house, no furniture, and Hadhi had no means of support. Her abusive husband had recently left them, after a particularly violent episode, and Family Services had moved the family for safety to a new subsidized apartment. But Hadhi was lost in this country and culture that was completely unfamiliar to her, and she knew little English. The older girls were learning English in school, but they also felt out of place in their new country and had been placed in grades well below their age-levels due to the language barrier. All five of the little girls, though, were full of joy and adored Sarah (and Justin Bieber!). Sarah began helping the family in any way she could, though she didn't have much herself. She had recently moved to Portland from the East Coast after a horrific, harrowing years-long experience with breast cancer that had left her physically and emotionally damaged. As Sarah got to know the family and helped them adjust to life in the U.S., she found that their love and friendship helped to heal her.

When I first read the synopsis, I worried this might be a sort of "white savior" type of story, but that's not it at all. It's a story about the power of kindness and connection to heal all kinds of trauma. While Sarah did buy some groceries and other necessities for the family (the girls were so excited to receive socks and underwear as gifts!), much of what she did for this family was from her heart, not her pocket. And in return, they helped her to recover from her own traumas. Sarah had almost completed a Master's degree in journalism when she got cancer, and she is a talented writer, bringing the reader along not only on this journey of friendship and belonging but on everything that came before it (she endured a lot). Brought up in a fundamentalist Christian family with a pastor father, she could relate to some of the challenges that Hadhi and the girls dealt with. She understood what kinds of support the girls needed to grow up to be strong, educated, independent women (which their mother very much wanted). It's a beautiful story of the bonds between two very different but damaged women, and the joyful little girls they both love.

(Note: The audio production was excellent, and I was very much enjoying it, but I only had about half of the audio book downloaded, which was likely my fault and not SYNC's. My son would say "I suspect user error, Mom!")

287 pages, Jericho Books

Hachette Audio

This book fits in the following 2024 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge - Memoir/Biography

Diversity Challenge

Literary Escapes - Oregon

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     
  

Memoir Review: How to Forget

Renowned actress Kate Mulgrew, best known for her roles at Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager and Red in Orange Is the New Black, has written a deeply moving memoir, How to Forget, about her parents and their deaths from cancer and Alzheimer's disease. It was excellent on audio.

The first half of the book focuses on her father. Kate was starring in a play, touring in Florida, when her older brother called to ask her to come home to Iowa. He said their father had a doctor's appointment coming up, and it was serious. Kate dropped everything, leaving the play to her understudy, and hurried home to Iowa. It was, indeed, serious. The doctor said their father, a lifelong smoker, had late-stage lung cancer and probably only had a few weeks to live (this was the first time he'd agreed to finally see a doctor). Kate stayed home, they called the rest of their siblings, and Kate set about trying to make the best of her father's last weeks, enjoying his company, bringing him comfort, and finally being at his side for his last days. In flashbacks, it's clear that her father wasn't perfect, and their relationship had its bumps, but in those final weeks, Kate was completely devoted to him and to making his end-of-life as comfortable and easy as possible. Then, Kate turns to her mother's story, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease fairly early and was already deep into its clutches by the time of her husband's death. She tells of her mother's childhood and life as a young woman, her hopes and dreams, her artwork, and her relationship with Kate. Kate relates her mother's early symptoms, diagnosis, gradual decline until she no longer knew her daughter or other family members, and her eventual death. Again, Kate did everything she could to seek out the best medical care and to make her mother as happy as possible in those later days.

Yes, these are very difficult topics, especially if you've had similar experiences, as my family and I have. But Kate brings a much-needed sense of humor and deep compassion to these dark stories. The book is not only about her parents' deaths; it is about their lives. She brings them each to life on the page, highlights what made them unique and special, and describes honestly  her complicated relationship with each of them. Kate also perfectly describes the experiences of seeing family members die of cancer and dim from dementia, which is especially moving if you have experienced it yourself. It turns out that Kate is as good a writer as she is an actor, and this memoir is beautifully written, with a flare for the dramatic at times (to be expected). The audio was immersive, read by her in that distinctive voice, feeling as if she is your good friend, sharing her stories with you in an intimate setting. While difficult at times due to my own personal experiences, I could very much relate to Kate's stories and enjoyed listening to her beautiful tributes to her parents and her honest account of the end of their lives.

352 pages, William Morrow

HarperAudio

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader's Challenge - Relationships

Literary Escapes Challenge - Iowa

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/ordownload it from Audible. The sample showcases the honesty and emotional complexity of the narrative and its beautiful writing.

 

Or get this audiobook from Libro.fm and support local bookstores (audio sample here, too).

 

Print and e-book from Amazon.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     
  

Middle-Grade Review: A First Time for Everything

I finally have an iPad Mini to replace my very old Kindle, and I finally learned how to download review PDFs to it and open them up in the Books app. That means I am back to reviewing graphic novels (which went all digital last year). Yay! I missed them. The first one I read was a winner: A First Time for Everything, a graphic memoir by Dan Santat.

Dan wasn't very happy in middle school. Like many kids that age, he felt very self-conscious. He had some friends but found that the bullies in middle school were really mean. Then, a teacher asked him to recite a poem in front of the entire school at an assembly, and the teasing really ramped up. He was not looking forward to high school. His parents encouraged him to sign up for a three-week European study abroad program during the summer before high school, and he did, reluctantly. The only kids going that he knew from his school were some girls who were sort of mean to him usually, so Dan didn't have high hopes for the trip. But that trip changed his life. As the group from two cities traveles across Europe to four different countries, Dan experiences a string of firsts. He discovers a popular soda in Europe called Fanta, and aims to try every flavor. He makes new friends. He sees amazing things and, when his camera breaks, discovers how much he loves to draw. Maybe he'll even meet his first girlfriend?

Based on the author's real middle-school experiences taking a European trip, this graphic memoir captures the awkward, embarrassing, funny, and unforgettable moments of adolescence that most of us can relate to. It's part coming-of-age memoir and part travelogue, with the illustrations showing both traditional story-telling panels and also Dan's wonderful drawings of the trip and the things that they saw. It's a wonderful story that reminded me of my own trip to England and France in high school. I enjoyed every page of this beautiful graphic memoir.

320 pages, First Second

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - F

Nonfiction Reader's Challenge (my first of the year!) - Memoir category

Travel the World in Books - UK, France, Switzerland, Germany

 

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

 

 

Or you can order A First Time for Everything from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Nonfiction Review: The Sun Does Shine

I heard Nikki of the Red Dot Reads channel on YouTube rave about the memoir The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin. When I was planning for Nonfiction November, I discovered I had already downloaded the audio. Given Nikki's recommendation, I made sure to get to this audio book last month. And she was right! Wow, what a stunning, inspiring true story.

Anthony Ray Hinton, known as Ray, had gotten into a little trouble as a teen, but he was determined to get his life together and be a good man. By his twenties, in 1985, he was working steadily for a temp agency and living with his beloved mother, helping her take care of the house and yard. He was out mowing the grass one day when a police car drove up. In front of his mother, the police handcuffed him, arrested him, and drove him to the police station. He kept asking why they were arresting him, and finally, in the car, the detective told him they were arresting him for armed robbery and murder. Ray told them he was innocent and that he would never hurt anyone. He assumed this case of mistaken identity would be straightened out. But Ray was detained in prison, given a public defender, and convicted of two counts of capital murder. It didn't matter that security records showed he was at work at the time of the crime or that the bullets from his mother's gun, found in her house and not fired for decades, didn't match those from the murders. The judge sentenced Ray to death. Ray spent almost thirty years living on death row in a solitary cell, as one court after another upheld his verdict, and 54 of his fellow inmates were put to death. With the help of an incredible lawyer named Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy, the U.S. Supreme Court finally overturned Ray's conviction, and he walked out of the prison in 2015.

That's a brief outline of the bare facts of Ray's unbelievable case, but there is so much more to this moving memoir. Hearing the story first-person--and particularly on audio (though read by a professional narrator)--was absolutely compelling and so powerful. If you read about Ray's case in a crime novel or saw it on a TV series, you'd say, "That's not realistic; that could never happen," but the stunning series of problems, issues, blatant racism, and outright lies that led to Ray's conviction really did happen. I've read other nonfiction books about wrongful convictions, but this one is special. It's not just about Ray and his case but about what it's like to live on death row. Ray befriends the other inmates (even though they are each isolated in solitary cells) and reaches out to them with compassion. He found purpose in connecting with others while on death row for a crime he didn't commit. It's heartbreaking and poignant but also very inspiring. This powerful memoir should be required reading for every U.S. citizen. I'm so glad I read it.

(I see there is also a version for Young Readers, so this book should be in every classroom, too!)

368 pages, St. Martin's Griffin

Macmillan Audio

To hear directly from Ray, listen to this powerful interview with Kate Bowler, from her Everything Happens podcast (one of my favorites for inspiration). He not only talks about his remarkable story but also his commitment to forgiveness.

Kate also recently interviewed Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer who finally got Ray released and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Nonfiction Reader Challenge (category - linked to a podcast)

Diversity Reading Challenge

Literary Escapes Challenge - Alabama

Fall Into Reading Challenge - nonfiction

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the foreward by Bryan Stevenson, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

  

    

 

Or you can order The Sun Does Shine from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Nonfiction Review: Walden

This spring, I read Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck, a beautifully-written memoir about the author taking six walks (really, five walks and one canoe trip) that Thoreau described in his books and journals. The memoir included excerpts of Thoreau's writing, and that inspired me to finally read Thoreau for myself. Walden by Henry David Thoreau was my first book read for Nonfiction November, and while it was a bit of a rocky start, I ended up enjoying this chronicle of his time spent in an isolated cabin he built himself, on the shores of Walden Pond in Massachusetts.

Walden begins with a 73-page chapter titled Economy, in which he explains why he wrote the book. Unfortunately, he goes on to complain, criticize, and ... well, rant about the "modern" ways of living in general and how people wouldn't need to spend their lives earning money if they would just stop buying so much unnecessary stuff (my husband's new favorite word is frippery). He's got a point, but I was relieved when that very long chapter finally ended, and he moved onto his time actually living in the cabin at Walden. As I had hoped, he beautifully describes how he immersed himself in the natural world. He talks about how he spent his time, what it was like to live in the small, rustic cabin (he lived there for two years but condensed the narrative into a single year), and his detailed observations of nature. He portrays every aspect of the natural world: the trees and plants, the pond itself, and birds, animals, and insects living around and with him. His narrative moves through each season of a year, sharing how this small ecosystem around him changed and the varying beauty in the different seasons. In one chapter, his very apt descriptions of the bizarre way a squirrel moves had me laughing out loud and reading the section to my husband.

As I mentioned, in that first section--and occasionally in later chapters--Thoreau gets wrapped up in criticizing the way others live. He comes across as arrogant and privileged in those parts (clearly, he himself has never actually been poor or had any real responsibilities). Thankfully, the rest of the book, about three-quarters of it, were as I had hoped, with beautiful nature writing and in-depth observations of the natural world. I love the outdoors and have myself experienced many times the sense of peace and joy that come from being immersed in nature, so I could relate to his experiences living at Walden. In fact, I read part of this book while camping, sitting outside with my book in the woods, overlooking a small lake; I highly recommend reading this outdoors if you can. I loved his descriptions of the seasonal changes, the sights and sounds of nature, and his experience of solitude. My book is filled with dog-eared pages of beautiful passages I wanted to come back to. His writing--about nature and about simple living--often touched me and made me think. I loved this description of the changing colors in fall:

"Already, by the first of September, I had seen two or three small maples turned scarlet across the pond, beneath where the white stems of three aspens diverged, at the point of a promontory, next the water. Ah, many a tale their color told! And gradually from week to week the character of each tree came out, and it admired itself reflected in the smooth mirror of the lake. Each morning the manager of this gallery substituted some new picture, distinguished by more brilliant or harmonious coloring, for the old upon the walls."

I read another short passage about fall in one of my Friday Reads videos, if you want to listen. It's a dense book that took me two weeks to read, but I thoroughly enjoyed most of it and am glad to have finally experienced Thoreau for myself. If you'd like a taste of his writing in a much shorter book that is delightful on its own, I recommend Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck. Or just skip over the ranty bits in Walden and immerse yourself in the beauty of Thoreau's Walden Pond.

384 pages, Clydesdale Classics

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Back to the Classics - Classic set in a place you'd like to visit

Nonfiction Reader Challenge

Fall Into Reading Challenge - Classic

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, from the beginning of the books as he described why he wrote it, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

 

Or you can order Walden from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

 

Nonfiction Review: These Precious Days

I usually try to write my reviews in the order I read the books, so according to that rule, I should be writing about another (very good) book, but I just finished listening to These Precious Days by Ann Patchett yesterday on audio, and I couldn't wait to tell you about this warm, funny, moving collection of personal essays by the renowned novelist.

Ann has put together a wonderful collection of personal essays, written at different points during her writing career. Some were previously published (there's even one that was a talk she gave), but she says that most were revised and updated for this collection. While the topics sort of jump around, as a whole they cover her entire life, from childhood to unsure young adult to author to bookstore owner. It's difficult to review such a varied group of essays, so I will highlight some of my favorites. In the first essay in the book, Three Fathers, Ann describes her biological father, her stepfather as a child, and her second stepfather when she was an adult. She talks about what makes each of them special and unique and delves into her relationships with each of them. Either here or later in the book, she also describes the end of each of their lives and her role. All of her father writing was very moving to me, as I lost my dad seven years ago and helped my father-in-law the past few years during his slow and difficult decline. 

But, I don't want you to think this is a depressing book. Certainly, Ann tackles some difficult topics--including death--with honesty and openness, but the collection is a lot of fun, too. She has a wonderful sense of humor, which comes across in many of her essays, including To the Doghouse, where she writes about how she was a Peanuts-obsessed child and how Snoopy was her greatest influence in wanting to become a writer. Beside the amusement of listening to this delightful essay, I could so relate to it, as a fellow Peanuts-ophile who read all the books and had Snoopy everything as a kid (I still wear a Snoopy watch!). Similarly, her descriptions of discovering Kate DiCamillo's magical books as an adult were pure pleasure that had me smiling ear-to-ear as I listened. The heart of this collection, though, is its title essay, These Precious Days, that recounts the bizarre chain of events that led her to a life-changing friendship with a woman. Sookie worked as Tom Hanks' assistant, and--through a series of events I will leave you to discover yourself--she ended up living with Ann and her husband in Nashville during the pandemic while undergoing cancer treatments. Ann writes about Sookie and the strange course of their relationship in a loving, tender way. In all, there are 22 essays here, and each one is unique and wonderful in its own way.

I loved every moment of this book! The essays are each very different, yet linked together in a way that paints a picture of Ann and her life, and the people she loves. She is very close to my own age, so there was a lot I could relate to in her memories of childhood and her relationships with her parents. But, I was also fascinated by the inside look into her life as a famous author and bookstore owner (I must get to Parnassus Books!). I wish I could share some quotes or excerpts with you, but that is one downside of listening to an audio book. However, I would definitely recommend listening to this book on audio, hearing these beautiful stories told directly by Ann (listen to a sample from the introduction). I always enjoy listening to memoirs read by the author, but this one is extra-special. I am, though, thinking of also getting the print copy of this book because I think this is one I will want to return to. This wonderfully-written collection of essays is moving, funny, heartfelt, and powerful. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

336 pages, Harper Perennial

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

 

2022 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

Literary Escapes - Tennessee

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here, read by Ann Patchett, from the introduction, and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

     

 

Or you can order These Precious Days from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

Memoir Review: The Year of the Horses

One of the last books I read for this year's Booktopia event in May was a memoir, The Year of the Horses by Courtney Maum. This moving personal story of depression and healing is sometimes wrenching and sometimes joyful but always engaging. 

The author shares her story of a depression so severe, with insomnia so horrible, that she finally seeks professional help. Her new therapist, who barely seems old enough to have completed his schooling, is actually quite helpful and eventually suggests she try horseback riding, which leads Courtney back through a torrent of childhood memories, both good and bad. She was once a pretty typical horse-crazy little girl, who took riding lessons and cared for "her" horse, and dreamed of Pegasus and other magical horses. Her beloved time with horses came to an abrupt end. Now, thirty years later, she returns to the stables, uncertain where this will lead but feeling an immediate peace with the smell of hay and warm horse bodies. She gradually, slowly, relearns how to ride, finding an activity just for her, in the midst of her busy life as a wife, mother, and writer. Just riding isn't enough, though, and she soon becomes fascinated with the sport of polo, something she never encountered before. Throughout her telling of this present-day story of horses and healing, Courtney returns back to her childhood, sharing memories that show early indications of depression and anxiety in the midst of a chaotic, unsettled adolescence. Bit by bit, Courtney's past and present merge, as her therapy and her love of horses--and newfound love of polo--begin to help her heal and move forward.

I'll admit, I was never one of those horse-crazy girls as a child and have never experienced severe depression, so I wasn't sure I would be able to relate to this memoir going into it. I've enjoyed horseback riding--as a child and as an adult--but was never really zealous about it. But, Courtney writes about her experiences with such depth and passion that I was pulled right into her story, and I could certainly relate to her experiences as a wife, mother, and writer. She writes about her feelings and her life with a visceral openness that engages the reader. In fact, despite the differences in our experiences, I marked many passages in her memoir that spoke to me, like this passage about the experience of being mother to a child who is growing up:

"Positive, selfless touch was something I was in need of in my thirty-eighth year on earth. The baby who had lived her life strapped to my chest, cooing and blowing bubbles into my exposed skin, was now a toddler who wanted to do everything herself, who squirmed out of my arms when I was craving intimacy, who survived on cheese crackers and apple cider instead of my own milk. My body seemed invisible; it wasn't looked at by my husband, and because we lived in the middle of the woods in an already rural area, it wasn't looked at by anyone else."

It's these kinds of raw, honest emotions that drew me into this memoir, despite my different experiences. Isn't that what the best memoirs do? They give us insight into lives different from ours while also presenting universal truths of human nature. Courtney Maum is quite talented in this regard, and I was fully immersed in her story. She is a new-to-me author, and I would like to try some of her novels.

266 pages, Tin House Books

Blackstone Publishing

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Alphabet Soup Challenge - Y

Nonfiction Reader Challenge (category = Published in 2022)

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

      

 

Or you can order The Year of the Horses from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

 

Memoir Review: Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau

Booktopia 2022 is quickly approaching (click Events for more info; my recap of Booktopia 2019), and I am continuing to read the new releases from the authors who will be there for the weekend. Last month, I read a memoir,  Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, by Ben Shattuck. This unique nonfiction book is filled with nature, beautiful outdoor writing, and the kind of introspection I love in memoirs.

The author began retracing some of Thoreau's walks spontaneously during a low point in his life. He set out to walk the coast of Cape Cod, wholly unprepared and poorly equipped, on a whim (it felt a bit like Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods at that point!). But he met some fascinating people, saw some amazing sights, and came out of that walk a little bit better in mind and body, so he continued his mission. He based the six walks on both the published books and essays written by Thoreau and also on Thoreau's personal journals (which I guess have been published). As often as possible, he tried to re-experience the exact same places in similar ways to Thoreau, though of course our modern world has changed things quite a bit. Besides two walks along Cape Cod (along the inner and outer shores), he also ventures up a mountain in Massachusetts, along the MA/RI coast starting from his own home in the salt marshes where his family has lived for generations, up Mount Katahdin in Maine's Baxter State Park (the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail), and canoeing with a friend in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northern Maine, to the exact island where Thoreau and his colleagues camped on his own canoe trip there. Throughout the book, Shattuck shares his most intimate thoughts and feelings, as well as his observations of nature, and quotes from Thoreau himself. The result is both an emotional and physical journey.

From Thoreau, on how walking echoes life, quoted in the book:

"There is, however, this consolation to the most wayworn traveler, upon the dustiest road, that the path his feet describe is so perfectly symbolical of human life,--now climbing the hills, now descending into the vales. From the summits he beholds the heavens and the horizon, from the vales he looks up to the heights again. He is treading his old lessons still, and though he may be very weary and travel-worn, it is yet sincere experience."

From Shattuck, comparing nature to life:

"Grief and joy are in the same life, but it's only in the forest where you notice the shafts of sunlight spilling through."

As someone who loves nature, loves walking (as much as I am able), and has visited Cape Cod and Maine (one of my favorite places), I thoroughly enjoyed taking this journey with Shattuck. His nature writing is lyrical, bringing the forests, lakes, and coastlines to life on the page. I'm embarrassed to admit I have never read any Thoreau (I plan to rectify that), so I also enjoyed reading these passages from his many writings. And I could appreciate the healing power of nature and the author's own personal journey in this book. He accompanies this lovely writing with his own sketches, which were so beautiful that I ordered a hardcover copy of the book, even though I've already read an ARC on my Kindle. All of these elements come together in a beautifully written memoir that combines nature, travel, literature, and personal experience. I can't wait to meet Ben Shattuck at Booktopia in a few weeks!

175 pages, Tin House Books

Audio: Blackstone Publishing

PLEASE NOTE: Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau will be released on April 19, 2022.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Nonfiction Readers Challenge (category Wild Animals)

Literary Escapes Challenge - Maine 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. There is an audiobook, narrated by actor Jonathan Todd Ross. I'm guessing the audio sample will be posted on the book's publication date.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

 

Or you can order Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.