It’s Thanksgiving tomorrow, which must mean it’s about time that I posted last month’s book reviews (she said sheepishly). Actually, I had this all typed up and ready to go on October 29th and just . . . forgot to publish it. So. That’s a little window into my mental status lately.
Also, hello and welcome to the handful of new folks around here! This isn’t strictly a book review Substack, though I can see how you’d get that impression. I’m currently immersed in a world of Ignatian spirituality (the Examen prayer! God in all things!) through my master’s program in Christian Spirituality at Loyola Chicago. A cradle Catholic with a lot of Evangelical threads in my adolescent years, I spend a lot of my time and a few of my words here detangling my thoughts about who God actually is, what it means to be Catholic these days, and and how all that fits in with modern life in the West.
Now, finally, on to the post I wrote nearly a month ago.
October is my favorite month, and this year it absolutely kicked my butt. It was my busiest work month of the year so far (hello, four overlapping editing projects), I’m smack in the middle of my master’s program semester, I was sick with a fever for an entire workweek, and every single weekend was packed full of Fun Fall Activities (TM).
Even with all that, I spent many foggy mornings, rainy days, and blustery evenings with my nose buried in a book. I’m calling October my best reading month of the year—my book choices were spot on for atmospheric reading. Even the books I was assigned for school are in the running for my best-of-2023 list. It will be seriously tough for November and December to surpass this perfect reading month.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Let’s start with the book that I (and half of bookish social media) am obsessed with.
Violet Sorrengail has spent her entire life training to be a Scribe at Basgiath War College—until her high-ranking general mother forces her into the Riders Quadrant, where you either bond a dragon and learn to ride it into battle or die trying. A petite woman with almost no fighting training and a chronic disability, Violet seeks help defying the odds from her childhood best friend Dain and her older sister Mira, who both warn her to steer clear of wingleader Xaden Riorson . . . because he, along with his crew of “marked ones,” wants her dead.
Fourth Wing is the first of a five-book “romantasy” series. Although I thought it was just fantasy going in, it quickly became clear that romantic tension was more than just a subplot. (Which makes sense once you learn that all of the author’s previous books have been romance! )
This is a New Adult book that reads like YA, which is great for readers like me who have trouble sticking with the more lofty writing and world building that tends to come with high fantasy. BUT, let me be clear: this is not a YA book. There are two *very* open-door romance chapters, hard swearing, and graphic violence.
The goal for this book series was to be a gateway into the fantasy genre for readers who haven’t given it a chance before, and I think it accomplishes that. There’s plenty of action and this book is utterly un-put-down-able. The second book of the series is out on November 7th and I’ve already preordered my copy and blocked off my schedule. A note from my November self: I read the 640-page sequel in three days. More to come in my next book review post.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
This is the first book of another fantasy series with romantic elements, which I’ve had on hold at the library since hearing Kendra Adachi (The Lazy Genius) recommend it. But full disclosure: I went in skeptical after abandoning Maas’s other hit, A Court of Thorns and Roses, barely a third of the way in.
Caelena Sardothien is a deadly assassin working as a slave in the salt mines when the crown prince chooses her to be his champion in the King of Adarlan’s competition. If she can defeat the twenty-three brutes and thieves she’s up against, she will win her freedom—but first she will have to serve four years working for the king she despises, who drove magic from the land and crushes all who oppose him. And of course, there’s more going on in the king’s glass castle than meets the eye . . .
The story is intriguing, but I will admit that the writing left something to be desired. I almost gave up at the halfway mark. It just seemed like nothing was happening! A fellow reader shared that Maas began writing this book in high school, so I can give a lot of grace there. Others assure me that the series gets better as it goes on, particularly around book three. TBD on if I’ll wade through another meh book so I can get to “the good part” of this eight-book series.
Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles edited by Martin Edwards
This short story collection was a random grab from a library shelf. I very rarely read short stories and have only recently begun exploring the mystery genre again (Mary Higgins Clark was my favorite author in middle school), so I was pleasantly surprised at what a perfect collection this was.
Each story is from the golden age of detective novels (1920s and 30s), and each features something to do with books. From a murder at a convention of mystery novelists to clues hidden in the pages of a book, these stories truly are a delight for bibliophiles. Murder by the Book is perfect when you need something easy to dive in and out of, and it has just the right tone for October reading that’s spooky but not scary. Highly recommend, especially for fans of Agatha Christie.
God Is a Black Woman by Christena Cleveland
Moving on to nonfiction books for my Christian Spirituality class, we have God Is a Black Woman. If the title caught you aback in any way, I would suggest giving this a try as an eye-opening exercise in expanding your definition of who God is.
Part memoir, part spiritual treatise, Cleveland shares her own spiritual journey of coming to terms with religious abuse she experienced as a child at the hands of “whitemalegod”: the god that is most often worshipped by white, US American Christians, the god who fits neatly into a conservative Republican box. whitemalegod shames those who don’t contort themselves to be as white and male as possible, and he uses fear to keep people from questioning what other forms God might take.
The spiritual form Cleveland focuses on is that of the Black Madonna, whom she visits in her many forms in a walking pilgrimage across France. Cleveland does a phenomenal job of being vulnerable in her spiritual journey, taking readers with her as she explains how she went from point A to point B in her perception of who God is.
As someone whose own spirituality is in flux, I can attest to how difficult it is to put this sort of abstract thinking and spiritual growth into words others can follow along with. I admire Cleveland for taking readers on an honest faith journey with clarity and grace. The ideas here will make many Christians squirm, but I think it’s worth reading to shed some light on how you perceive God—and how much those perceptions have been flavored by the culture that surrounds you, rather than scripture or actual encounters with God.
The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel
This classic book on the Sabbath is only 100 pages long, and I think I underlined passages and wrote in the margins of every single one of them. This book is phenomenal, a classic for a reason.
Heschel’s premise about the Sabbath can be boiled down to this: People tend to think that space is what is holy. It’s also where we focus our energy, where we shape nature and buildings to suit ourselves, where we try to grow in power. But true holiness is found in time, particularly the Sabbath, which is holy regardless of whether we take notice of it or not. Far from being “outside of time” (which is how I learned about God growing up), God is time. He is part of every moment, continually participating in the ongoing act of creation. It’s just a beautiful idea that has reshaped much of how I think about time, especially in our productivity-driven society.
In addition to all that, I think that Christians in general don’t spend enough time learning from our Jewish brothers and sisters. Judaism is a faith filled with rich traditions and ideas about God. We could learn so much from them if we only bothered to seek out and enter into these conversations. Highly, highly recommend.
That’s a wrap on October reading! On deck for November is a pile of library holds, including more fantasy and mystery to keep the excellent reading going strong through these dark autumn evenings.
What have you been reading lately? Your thoughts on my book reviews are always welcome! Just leave a comment or hit reply.