Even though March lasted for 87 years, I still only managed to get through 4 books. 😉 I was busy painting the mural in my girl’s room for most of the month, so I did more listening (love me some Audible!) than actual reading. And the last couple weeks of March I was just too distracted to focus on anything, but I’m feeling a bit more calm about our current situation and ready to get back into a reading groove this month. Here’s the recap of my March reads!
American Dirt
I tried to steer clear of reading any of the think pieces about this book before reading, but I knew enough about the controversy surrounding this book before I began. It’s my personal opinion that any author should have the creative freedom to write about whatever they want. That being said I do think when you write about something outside of your own lived experience, writing about a culture and a people that is not your own, you have a responsibility to get it right. Even if it’s fiction.
For anyone that doesn’t already know, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is a fictional story about a Mexican woman and her son migrating to the United States. The author is a white woman, and much of the controversy surrounding the book had to with who is allowed to tell certain stories.
But while the book has provoked a great deal of controversy, it has also been widely applauded and even touted as being the Grapes of Wrath of our time. I tried to read it with an open mind.
The story includes a great deal of trauma, and a few inaccuracies that even I, being just 25% Mexican, caught pretty quickly.
But apart from that, some hurtful stereotypes and a couple other pieces of the story that just didn’t make any sense to me as a reader, when I finished listening, my first thought was, “This is what is being touted as the Grapes of Wrath of our time?” There’s no doubt it’s well written, but it didn’t seem to be very well researched, in my opinion. And nothing about this story changed or impacted my view. I get that it’s fiction, but it felt so unauthentic that the main character was almost unbelievable to me. I didn’t think this story was great. It was just an okay read for me. I definitely don’t get the hype on this one.
But I am glad that the controversy surrounding this book is shining a light on the lack of diversity in publishing. Have any of you read it? What did you think?
The Scent Keeper
If you loved Where The Crawdad’s Sing, I think you will enjoy The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister. For me, it wasn’t as good as Crawdad’s, but it did have a similar vibe. In contrast, The Scent Keeper’s storyline feels much more magical.
This is a coming of age story about a young girl who is raised by her father on an uninhabited island. And the story explores the beauty of scent and it’s power to elicit emotions and bring back memories.
While it reminded me of Crawdad’s, it definitely had an interesting, original storyline.
The Dutch House
I wanted to love it. I mean, Tom Hanks narrates the audible version! And he does an incredible job. But I felt like The Dutch House by Ann Patchett was just kind of depressing. It kept my attention, but I did feel like the storyline kind of jumped around a bit.
The characters were vivid, but there was something about this dysfunctional family drama that missed the mark for me. The main characters obsession with the house they grew up in was something I just couldn’t relate to very well. The house was definitely a main character in this story, and it felt cold, not warm or welcoming at all. And I think maybe that’s why I just couldn’t fall in love with this storyline.
But I did come away wishing that Tom Hanks could narrate every book. His voice makes for very easy listening.
The Immortalists
This was my book club pick for my Instagram Book Club – @4readingwomen. I picked it because the premise of the book was so intriguing to me. It was originally released in 2018, and the Washington Post donned it as The Best Book of The Year. So it had been on my TBR list for quite some time. But I had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to be a book I would want to talk to someone about after reading, so I waited for the right time to dive in to this story. And I was right, now that I’ve read it, I want to talk to everyone whose this read book! So I’m glad I waited until I was once again in a book club to read it with friends!
There’s just so much to discuss!
The basic premise of the book is wrapped up in answering this question: How would you live if you knew exactly when you were going to die? And as a reader we follow the lives of four siblings as they live out their lives knowing when their life will end.
The story really examines the line between destiny and choice. And while I can’t say I loved any of the characters, the storyline was so interesting that it brought up a lot of self reflection for me. And reading this story at this particular moment in history, self isolating due to a global pandemic, made me really stop and think about what really matters in life and what I think constitutes a life well lived.
I’d give The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin 4 stars, not because I loved the story but because of how much this story made me think, feel and reflect. I really love stories that you make you ponder things long after reading.
I’ll be sharing more of my thoughts on this book over at 4 Reading Women on Instagram. We’d love for you to join us!
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So what did you read last month? What else are doing to the pass the time?
