Reading

July Book Report

So, July sped by! I did not read as much as I wanted and so I don’t have a whole lot to report on. You can see June’s report here.

Completed
+The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless
I finished reading this book while we were on vacation in Port Aransas. I couldn’t put it down, though towards the end I did feel like things got a little repetitive. The short story is, Chris and Carine McCandless had very crappy parents. There’s emotional and physical abuse, not to mention the father was basically a bigamist–though technically not married to their mother when she had them but was living with her while married to another woman with whom he had several children—including having a child with the first wife right around the time Chris was born. Yes, you can do some oogly eyes at that! Oh, it was a messy, messy life.

Carine wrote the book because she felt like she’d betrayed Chris by not letting Jon Krakauer tell the truth about all of the background history of the family in Into the Wild. At the time she didn’t want to air the dirty family secrets but had given that background knowledge to Krakauer so that maybe there would be some allusion. As the years went by her parents continued to perpetuate many myths and gained sympathy from the many people who mistook Chris for an unprepared idiot who abandoned his family and caused them grief. What they world didn’t know was the last people Chris wanted to be around were his parents, according to Carine and the rest of their siblings.

I really enjoyed reading it but like others I was sometimes left with wanting more of a story that we will ever get. Chris has been dead for over 20 years and will never be able to give voice to his odyssey out west. We just have to accept it and move on.

+The Art of Influence
I grabbed this back in June off of the library’s books-on-cd rack. It looked interesting and self-help-ish in regards to business and positivity. It was incredibly short, about two hours, and ended up filling a gap on a day when the internet was down at work and I couldn’t stream podcasts. However, it was the most awful thing ever. I hesitated to even write about it because who wants to know about crappy books? But, I want to save someone else from reading it. It was the most smarmy business parable I’ve heard. Goodreads reviewers either loved it or hated it. I’m not sure how you could love it. The bullet points could have been written in a blog post and summarized simply instead of going through a roundabout storytelling session.

Don’t read it!

In the Middle Of
+Illiumination in the Flatwoods

I had every intention of finishing this book this month. Just haven’t gotten there. I think it’s a book to be savored.

Shelved
+The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
The library wanted it back when I tried to renew….someone else had requested it.

+Small Victories by Anne Lamott
Probably on hold indefinitely until I decide to read it in print. Just can’t handle the author’s voice on the recording.

On the Radar
SO MUCH!

I don’t have anything planned to read yet but here’s what I do want to read:
+Dragonfly in Amber—re-read with Elizabeth for the upcoming Outlander season.
+Brene Brown books. I’ve listened to several podcasts with her and her TED talks and she just makes you think hard about a lot of tough topics. This year has been difficult for me and I think it is right up my alley.
+The Signature of All Things and the soon to be released Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. She just launched a podcast, too, and it is fantastic.
+Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I really fought this book for so long but it took several reviews by various people for me to accept that it was *not* a thru-hiking book. We did watch the movie and I actually liked it a lot. I do have this one on hand that I’m borrowing from Chris’ mom so it will likely be my next read.

There’s a lot on my radar—just not enough time!

Ohhhh, I forgot…The Girl on the Train…the book that is taking the blogosphere by storm.

What’s on your reading list?

2 Comments

  • Patrice

    First of all, how do you read several books at once??? I have to do one at a time.

    Okay, based on your review, I may have to get my hands on “The Wild Truth.”

    Let me know what you think of “Small Victories.” I’m a big Anne Lamott fan. Here “Bird by Bird” is one of my favorites.

    You have to read “Wild.” I’m sure I was one of the people who told you this over and over again. I have it on audiobook if you want me to send it your way?

    I just finished “Girl on the Train.” Didn’t love it, but it did keep me on the edge of my seat and it was a quick read.

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