Currently Reading
Even though summer officially ends tomorrow, a vacation week seems like the perfect time to read another long one from my 2020 Big Book Summer list.
Even though it’s too late to count towards the #BigBookSummer challenge, I’m hoping South of Broad (Doubleday, by Pat Conroy will be one of those big, family novels that I can sink into for the week and laugh and cry over. I have an irrational prejudice towards Southern literature and this will be the first book by Pat Conroy that I’ve read, although I’ve had it in the back of my mind to read Prince of Tides (Houghton Mifflin, 1986) for years.
At just over 500 pages and with my being six hefty chapters in, South of Broad looks to be about perfect for lakeside reading.
Good Talk by Mira Jacob is a graphic memoir (a.k.a nonfiction graphic novel) about living as a person of color with other people’s responses (often unkind and always inappropriate) to her brown skin – from childhood (her lighter-skinned Indian relatives’ comments) into adulthood, including an interracial marriage and motherhood.
I’m reading Good Talk on my iPad, and highly recommend it in print or as an e-book! I didn’t realize written as a graphic novel when I borrowed it because I had thought of listening to the audio edition. The audiobook may come with a PDF download, but it’s a multi-voiced production, so it could work!
Curious? Listen to a sample of the audio edition of Good Talk (Penguin Audio).
Recently Read
I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Wanted – and ALS (De Capo, 2006) by Darcy Wakefield is a short, powerful memoir of living with a diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). Inspirational and brave!
Temporarily Not Reading
My library ebook loan of Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell expired before I could finish and I decided not to risk taking library books on vacation, so this one is on hold for now.
Currently Listening To
Sarah’s 5-star rating of Smacked: A Story of White-Collar Ambition, Addiction, and Tragedy at Sarah’s Bookshelves alerted me to this audiobook. I’m not sure if it’s for me, though. I usually like memoirs on audio, so I’ll give it a little more time, but I’m taking a break from audiobooks for this week, anyway!
This post is linked to “It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?” hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. Check out the link-up party there for more book lists!
Interesting sounding variety of books. I almost never read nonfiction though. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
I’ve really enjoyed the handful of graphic novel memoirs I’ve read so I’ll have to look out for Good Talk.
As a North Carolinian, I love Southern literature and even hosted a Southern lit challenge before my blogging break. But I have to admit to owning but not reading (yet) South of Broad. I haven’t read any of Conroy’s novels or even seen Prince of Tides. There’s no particular reason except that there’s never enough time to read everything. Have you been to Charleston? It’s a beautiful city! I hope you enjoy the book and your trip to the lake!
Hope the Pat Conroy book works out for you. I did see the movie Prince of Tides many years ago but don’t remember what it was about. One day I’ll read it!