Sunday, July 2, 2017

Books I've Read This Summer

My Friends! It has been so very very long since I've written on here. Many things in my life have changed - for those of you who were a part of my small but loyal band of readers, I apologize for my unannounced absence! There were a few things I needed to do this spring in order to recalibrate myself, and taking a break from publicly writing was one of the things that helped push me deeper within my own spiral bound notebooks, the place where my true, nitty-gritty writing self comes clean.

I have been hiding myself away in the Rocky Mountains of Northern Colorado for the past two months, and it has been one of the best choices I've ever made - despite the fact that not all the consequences of this decision have been easy or expected. There are days so hard I feel like my eyes are the charred windows of a house on fire and I can barely open them - it feels like pain has sealed them shut and like I will burn to the ground alone inside myself. 

A lot has happened. 

I won't go into details, but I will say that along with the pain, there are moments of such intense beauty that flowers bloom in my heart and the clouds in my brain dissipate. I look around and see the amazing scenery of the mountains during a fiery sunset, or the contagious smile of my vibrant, kindhearted roommate, or even the strong flexing of my own legs beneath me as they carry this worn body up boulders, and I am grateful, so grateful, to be here. 

But, I did not come here to tell you all this - although, I think it needed to be said - I came to share with you all the BOOKS I'VE READ THIS SUMMER!


So far this summer, I have read NINE BOOKS. Pretty impressive considering this number might beat my track record for the entire past YEAR. I've always been a reader, but since starting college, working five days a week, and throwing myself into my OWN writing, I haven't read as much as I would like. However, the limited wifi of the Rocky Mountains has really inspired me to throw myself into some delicious pages, and I'm going to share with you the wonderful friends I've made out here - yes, I just referred to books as my friends - because Lord knows I haven't made too many friends in the flesh lately! 

*coughs nervously*

 Wild Mind  by Natalie Goldberg - This book explores the psychology of our human brains and perhaps of our SOULS as well, and then connects this knowledge with the writer's task of storytelling. Natalie is a favorite of mine. Ever since I discovered her book Thunder and Lightning this past winter, I haven't been able to spend a week without reading at least a few pages by her!

Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott - Wow. Did this book get me through some hard times or WHAT. It accompanied me on a spur of the moment four day trip to New Mexico, half of which I spent trying to drown myself in my hotel room bathtub and the other half, crying on the side of the road by the Rio Grande. Yeah, tough week. But Anne's amazing capacity for soul-soothing language was a comfort and a guide to me. Her advice stretches FAR beyond writing, and Bird by Bird is a mercy of a book that will make you laugh, sigh, and maybe even deter you from jumping into the Rio Grande - yeah, it's that good!

The Great Failure by Natalie Goldberg - There she is again! This is a memoir about a betrayal from a trusted authority figure. It hit very close to home. Tears were shed over this book, and while it left me feeling sort of dry and tired at the end, it felt good to share somebody else's sorrow - that can almost help heal you of some of your own. 

The Spy by Paulo Coelho - my dear friend Garrison gifted me a copy of this book before my pilgrimage out west. It's sort of historical fiction meets biography, and if you enjoy World War I history, the City of Paris, and women who are FIERCE, then you'll like this one a lot. I did. 

Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block - Dang, this was a strange little book! I read the whole thing over the course of my lunch and dinner breaks one day. It's a mystical, whimsical, fantastical little novella set in Los Angelos. It was the first truly "fiction" book I've read in a while, and it jump-started me back into the genre after spending far too long reading books about "how to write". How to dream, imagine, have fun, and be delighted are also important things. 

Wasteland by Francesca Lia Block - This book kept me in suspense. It's written in a psychotic manner and I was never quite sure who was speaking and how reliable the narrator was, nevertheless, the story was told, and I stayed awake LATE into the night to get to the (shocking) end of this little manic episode. 

The Hanged Man by Francesca Lia Block - Simply HAUNTING. Another tiny, bite-sized read that left me cringing and gasping. I'm not sure I could ever broach the uncomfortable topics Block does, but it sure is fascinating to take a peek into her strange and hazy world. 

The True Secret of Writing by Natalie Goldberg - This book really is less about how to write and more about Natalie's own journey as an author. It was touching. There were so many beautiful and heartwarming descriptions of the people she's met and the places she's been. It took me a while to get into the calm and laid back way she wrote this book, but I eased into it, and by the end I had laughed, cried, and said out loud, "YES, Natalie, YES!"

The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer - This is a fictional work, and a  much meatier one than the tiny Block novels I've been gobbling up. It's sad, frustrating, and very realistic. I found myself relating to the main character (the narrator) who is a 23-year-old female who at times is simply AWFUL in the book. At the same time, her broken heart shines through the story, and when I finally closed the book at the end, I felt a sense of relief flood my own life. Really, it's going to be okay, and all the colorful heroines I've read about have proven that, despite their flaws, they are strong and so am I.

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