October Book Club Reads

October isn’t over, yet but my Book Club reads are close enough to get this post done and done.

Pints and Prose (Greece Public Library)  

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon.  I finished this one in September so it was in my last wrap up post. It started off pretty strong with a lot of wonderful feelings of creepiness and dread. But then it ended up meh, in general. I really liked the writing. There was just a lot going on in it, like the author was hoping it could cross all the genre lines. The general census in the book discussion was also meh, because some people loved the hell out of it and two people put it down without finishing. I’m not planning on reading the November book but I haven’t decided to abandon this gathering, yet. The group is a little too large to be really invested though, so it’s the book club I’m most likely to drop if I have to. I love the cidery, though.

Read Women (Gates Public Library): 

This month’s pick was My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares. In this book, there is a man who remembers each of his past lives and is always on the lookout for the soul of a woman he fell in (questionable) love with during his first go around. The discussion is tomorrow night. It ends in such a way that there should be a sequel but it’s not part of a series. I’m still pissed about the ending, actually, now that I remember it.

Read Harder/ Read Harder Rochester 

The two categories for October were A comic book written or illustrated by a person of color and a book of true crime. I’m using that awful book about the Fundamentalist Mormon church dude for my true crime. I think it was called Losing Innocence or something like that.  It was a book club book earlier in the year and I’m glad that I can double dip with it. It was awful. I kept having to remind myself that the writer was traumatized and that she may have also really wanted the book to highlight her attempts to seek help during her time on the compound. But jeez. It was awful. Also, the content was hard to read due to the assault, etc. Oh, I’m going to use Black Panther for my comic. Or Monstrous.

"Regular" Book Club

I should really think of a better name for this group... I’m still reading this book. It’s called Between Earth and Sky, written by Amanda Skenandore. It’s the story of a white woman, Alma, who grows up at a school formed so assimilate First Nations children into “civilized” life.  Alma’s father runs the school and she is torn between his white men know what’s best and her increasing understanding the “redskins” are being stripped of their rich and valid cultures. As an adult, she learns of an old classmate being accused of murder and she sweet talks her husband into helping with the investigation. I teeter twice per page, rolling my eyes at Alma, the quintessential well- intentioned naïve white woman who really is trying to learn and do her best. The book alludes to a falling out with her friends after they finished school and a falling out with her father. I’m hoping it’s not leading to a ho hum reveal. I’m also hoping the marriage stays intact, because jesus, why do books hate marriage so much? Update: Here's the link to the full review. Apparently, I'm writing reviews again. Who knew!?