Bookish Chatter | A Post Covering Two Weeks

Hello, Wednesday! I’ve gotten a few messages checking in about the flooding in the Northeast – isn’t it terrible? I feel awful about being so happy with all this rain now that people are losing their homes and becoming stranded on rooftops. But please do not worry about me because my area isn’t experiencing any flooding other than some minor road washouts. More rain is forecasted tomorrow through Tuesday. It’s too bad we can’t share some of it with all of you who are having such dry weather!

Last Wednesday I published my monthly reading review and not my typical weekly post, so today I’m sharing what I read in the last two weeks. On Monday I hinted that I hadn’t read too much, but I had a big finish yesterday that requires an amendment to that statement!

Finished in the last two weeks:

Fight Night was just delightful in so many ways, despite the cover and The Fight Club vibe I got from the title. I was so happy to see that the humor and wit from Women Talking carried over into this novel! It’s told from the perspective of a 9 year old girl who is writing a letter to her father who has walked out on her family. It portrays a highly dysfunctional life with her grandmother and mother, both of whom are incredibly loving and doing the best they can. I love books like these – they build such empathy for non-traditional families and help the reader recognize that life is different for everyone.

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Telephone was the June Book Club choice for Fiction Matters and it had our Discord group all in a tizzy. Three versions of this book were published in 2020 – each leading the reader to their own conclusions based on the version they read. Of course, I missed the book club conversation and have no idea what the other versions were even like!

Even with all of the Discord chatter, I was completely surprised by the plot; it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. In my version, the main character is a geology professor with a terminally ill daughter and very rocky marriage. In the middle of all of this, a shirt he orders from Ebay includes a note asking for help in Spanish. He takes off to help the note writer in an effort to find some control in his life, despite having no idea what he’s walking into.

I won’t tell you what happened next in my version until you’ve read it! (or if you’re genuinely curious and want to chat about it via email.)

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The Covenant of Water was my big finish of the week! Goodness, it was long but SO worth the effort, friends. This story is told across the 20th century in India and follows a family who seem to be cursed by water. The writing is gorgeous, the ideas are beautiful, and the food at the beginning is divine. I highly recommend it as your next slow and steady book!! I think this one is a contender for the Booker prize and it would help to read it NOW due to its length.

This was such an interesting pairing with The Garden of Evening Mists and the book I’m currently reading, Pachinko. All three include periods of time in Asia during WWII, but The Covenant of Water doesn’t really dwell on it. It’s interesting to see the different ways colonialism (British, Japanese, and American missionaries) affected cultures in Malaya, India, and Korea. And with every book I read that’s set in Asia, I begin to understand the politics and history of the area more. There’s so much to learn!

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Bronwyn and I finished Kit’s Surprise this week. Kit is not looking forward to Christmas this year because her family has no extra money. On top of it, they are worried about losing their boarders because they don’t have the money to pay the electricity bill that’s due. No boarder is going to stay in a house with no electricity. When her grumpy Uncle Hendrick develops some health problems, Kit spends more time with him and he pays her for all of the work that she does around his home. Will it be enough to pay their looming bill? Kit’s going to make sure of it!

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Bryce and I finished two Captain Underpants books over the last couple of weeks, numbers 4 and 1. I think the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopy pants is one of his favorites because we have read it countless times. When I logged the first Captain Underpants into Goodreads I was surprised to see that this was the first time we’ve read it this year. I thought for sure we’d gone through the whole series in 2023, but I guess we must have started in late 2022, so this one counted as a new book for me this year. Bonus!

Currently reading:

I have switched from the audio version of Pachinko to the paper version and that’s been very helpful. The audio was hard for me to follow given that almost all of the nouns are Korean or Japanese – languages that I’m not familiar with! I feel much more settled now that I can see the character names and places rather than simply hearing them. Does that happen to any of you?

I have less than 100 pages left and am still captivated by Sunja and the story of her family; I’m so nervous to find out how this ends. I think it might be heartbreaking.

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I have the audio version of Where the Line Bleeds queued up and ready to start while cleaning today. This book is free if you have audible! It’s the third book in the loosely connected Bois Sauvage trilogy, which I have slowly been making my way through. All three books are set in the sweltering Mississippi Delta and Ward’s writing can make your body sweat in response to the humidity she describes. She’s incredible and I’m glad to be finally getting to this one — despite the fact that this is sure to be a difficult book.

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I’m so happy with my summer reading progress. I was most worried about being able to finish The Covenant of Water – and it’s done! The other two long books on my list – Pachinko and The Luminaries – are still unfinished, but both are started and Pachinko should be finished.. today? Everything else on my list should feel much more manageable compared to those three!

I hope to be back on Friday with an update on what’s going on around here. Hint: the update will involve big stacks of books and some lovely knitting. Surprising, right?! I hope the rest of the week treats you well. Take good care!

PS – 20 days until the Booker longlist is revealed.