No.298: My Latest Reads // September

#54. ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman
My Rating: ★★★★☆

These days, loneliness is the new cancer—a shameful, embarrassing thing, brought upon yourself in some obscure way. A fearful, incurable thing, so horrifying that you dare not mention it; other people don’t want to hear the word spoken aloud for fear that they might too be afflicted, or that it might tempt fate into visiting a similar horror upon them. (69%)

When you took a moment to see what was around you, noticed all the little things, it made you feel . . . lighter. (81%)

I don’t even know how to describe this book.  It was a character driven novel with a quirky, yet somehow endearing, protagonist.  It was odd and funny and surprisingly heavy and sad too.  A roller coaster of emotions in one book!  I enjoyed it. 

#55. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

For the first time, perhaps, since that land emerged from the waters of geologic ages, a human face was set toward it with love and yearning. It seemed beautiful to her, rich and strong and glorious. Her eyes drank in the breadth of it, until her tears blinded her. Then the Genius of the Divide, the great, free spirit which breathes across it, must have bent lower than it ever bent to a human will before. The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman. (25%)

We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it—for a little while. (92%)

O Pioneers! is a beautifully written pioneer story.  I love the way Cather describes the land.  My only critique was that the last section of the book felt completely different from the rest, and not necessarily in a good way.  All in all, a three star read for me.  (This was also my 1913 pick for the 20th Century Reading Challenge.)

#56. THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE: THE MYSTERIOUS HOWLING by Maryrose Wood
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

The Mysterious Howling was our first read aloud of the school year.  Clever and witty with a cliff-hanger ending.  The kids were begging me to buy book number two!  Three and a half stars.

#57. ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane
My Rating: ★★★★☆

“The thing is, Peter, grown-ups don’t know what they’re doing any better than kids do. That’s the truth.” (39%)

I heard about this fairly new release from another reader and was lucky not to have to wait long on the library hold list.  A fictional piece about the complicated lives of two families, this book was not particularly uplifting.  But!  Even so, I was quickly invested in these families and had to know how they all turned out.  A very interesting look at mental health and grief and the ripple effect of one’s actions.  I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for a more somber novel with lots to think about.

#58. I CAN’T MAKE THIS UP: LIFE LESSONS by Kevin Hart
My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Life is a story. It’s full of chapters. And the beauty of life is that not only do you get to choose how you interpret each chapter, but your interpretation writes the next chapter. It determines whether it’s comedy or tragedy, fairy tale or horror story, rags-to-riches or riches-to-rags. You can’t control the events that happen to you, but you can control your interpretation of them. So why not choose the story that serves your life the best? (2%)

Logically, no other response to the ups and downs of life makes sense besides gratitude. You are already in your experience. So you can either resent and resist it, and make it that much less enjoyable, or you can accept it and find something positive in it. (12%)

There is so much that is greater than us, whatever you believe. So while we get to choose the roads we take, we don’t get to know where they lead. Acceptance, then, is knowing that when your plan fails, or your road dead ends, it means a bigger plan is at work. And I’d rather be part of a big plan than a small one. (33%)

I’m always hesitant to read a book written by someone famous because generally, I think they just aren’t that good.  But in an effort to shake things up, I picked up this one by comedian Kevin Hart and it was actually better than I expected.  A little too vulgar to recommend and about 100 pages too long, but otherwise an interesting read.

#59. READING WITH PATRICK: A TEACHER, A STUDENT, AND A LIFE-CHANGING FRIENDSHIP by Michelle Kuo
My Rating: ★★★☆☆


…to know a person as a student is to know him always as a student: to sense deeply his striving and in his striving to sense your own.  It is to watch, and then have difficulty forgetting, a student wrench himself into shape, like a character from Ovid, his body twisting and contorting, from one creature to another, submitting, finally, to the task of a full transformation.  Why?  Because he trusts you; because he prefers the feel of this newer self; because he hopes you will help make this change last. (p.270-271)


Reading with Patrick is a memoir that tackles quite a few issues, including education, poverty, and racism.  It was equal parts inspiring and heartbreaking and thought-provoking.  Solid three stars.