The Skinny: Latest Reads

Happy Tuesday! Looking back at my Google calendar from September and October I realized there is one very important thing I never got around to blogging about - my bookshelf! A Reunion of Ghosts and The Children's Crusade were our October and November book club reads, respectively. I was recommended Astonish Me by a magazine that I read monthly; it's only been on my to-read list for a few months. I find myself oscillating between more serious and more light-hearted reads. If I read too many serious books in a row I feel myself fall into and slump (aka reading less and less each week). So here are a brief collection of thoughts on these three novels!

1. A Reunion of Ghosts by Judith Mitchell This story explores the notion that great grandchildren can pay for the sins of their forefathers. As the book delves deep into one family's lore and curse, we learn more about three sisters and how they've decided to simultaneous commit suicide in the present day (decades after the atrocities of their great grandfather commited). I think it's so fascinating to read about family dynamics (particularly between siblings, since I was never very close to my ow brother) and how they can shape who we eventually become.

2. The Children's Crusade by Ann Packer This novel follows four children as they navigate their childhoods and present day lives in the wake of their father's death. The book's narration alternates between the voices of each child (in present day) and third person omniscient. It adds an element to the novel that reveals how differently four children can view the same set of parents.

3. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead I actually listened to Astonish Me on OverDrive when I was driving up to the Northeast for a medical school interview. The book tells the tale of a (mediocre) professional ballerina and how her former ballet company, former lover, and former life exert their impercetible forces in her current life as a suburban mother and wife. Of these three reads, Astonish Me probably had my least favorite plot line but the most beautiful language. The author was never a dancer but describes ballet so beautifully (and accurately, as I'm told) that it leaves you wanting to reread some of her sentences over and ove for their lyricism.

I hardly ever read for fun before college (when I was in high school). I always found myself saying, "Oh I don't have the time." The truth is that I probably spent at least 30 minutes each day scrolling through social media. Taking those 30 mintues and turning them towards reading has brought a lot more productivity & enjoyment to my evenings after work than endlessly scrolling through my newsfeed ever could :)