Spring Reading Round-Up

 It's been awhile, my list has gotten a little long, so I thought I'd recap the books I've read or listened to of late here, in no particular order.

Blood Moon by John Sedgwick - this history of the Cherokee people, with an emphasis on the Civil War era, was eye-opening, disturbing, and had a lot more levels of nuance than I realized. I'd chalk this up to me being very unfamiliar with pre-Civil War American history, but since the emphasis was on the Civil War era... I can't say I have any excuse besides this part of the story not really being taught in my schools.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - I hated this book. I don't seldom finish a book that I detest that much from the beginning, but having watched the series to it's unfortunate non-ending, I wanted to see what from the series was present in the book. The answer is: very little. I would not recommend this book to anyone to read, unless female protagonists who don't ever seem in control of their mental faculties and racial stereotyping (ESPECIALLY IN DIALOGUE, UGH!) are things you enjoy.

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden - This was an interesting one as I realized more and more through the book that I really didn't appreciate just what was leaked with his leak, nor how he ended up where he did. It's a really fascinating story of how government bureaucracy works (or doesn't) as well as just how blatant our trust of the internet is and definitely worth your time.

The Pendulum: A Granddaughter's Search for Her Family's Forbidden Nazi Past by Julie Catterson Lindahl - Definitely worth the read! In a much more extreme way, she is traveling the path that many of us belonging to groups that have oppressed others are wandering around on these days. Such a mixed bag of emotions, such a struggle for uncovering the truth and allowing the terrors of others experiences to be acknowledged.

Winterlust by Bernd Brunner - I read this guy's book "The Mind of the Raven" a long time ago and found it very interesting. Winterlust was a pleasurable, snuggled-under-a-blanket-in-a-storm kind of light reading. I also felt that, unlike The Mind of the Raven, this book had almost no structure whatsoever. Chapters, yes, but within chapters it was practically a stream of consciousness writing exercise on whatever winter-science-history-cultural thing he had ever come across that was loosely related to that chapter heading... or to a random word from the sentence before. Still, it was an interesting read (would make a great bathroom reader) and had lots of good art plates that I appreciated.

Black Wave by Kim Ghattas - this is a book on Middle Eastern history with an emphasis on the countries of Saudi Arabia and Iran. It was very interesting, but I have to be honest and say that we listened to it at bedtime I fell asleep very quickly for this reader for whatever reason. As a result, I could only tell you the general gist of the thesis, which is that two different aspects of fundamentalist belief systems run both powerhouse countries, who in turn tug at the strings of everything happening in the Middle East. 

A Left-Hand Turn Around the World by David Wolman - thanks to this book, I've finally discovered that I can identify as left handed or "mixed handed" but never ambidextrous. It was an alright read, short, a little bit dated, and a tiny bit contrived at points (though the author admits to it when he's clearly up to something). If you're left handed and want to feel like that's something special, or find out that it might not be (some argue that us mixed handed people are the truly unique ones 😉), it's worth a read.

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler - I listened to the latest edition of this seminal anthropological work on modern neo-paganism/paganism/heathenism/witchcraft/wicca/etc. It was very interesting to hear about all these different people doing different things, why they did them, and what it looked like, as well as her revisiting the people and groups from her original first edition in 1979 and noting the enduring presence or total dissolution of the same. If you're always interested in world religion studies like I am, this is particularly fascinating. And also if you have oodles and oodles of time, because this book is HUGE.

And that's it for now! 8 more books to add (or not) to your own reading list. I'm still prioritizing books I own and audiobooks at present (3 of the ones just reviewed were in my home library, the rest were audiobooks), but I'm starting to at least stretch into the realm of ebooks again so that I can keep making some progress on my list. Somehow the list ended up in the 90s once more... so much easier to add something to it than to take something off! At present, my audiobook game is waning a bit since craft season is passing away into the warmer weather. But perhaps I will get into a habit of audiobook walks or similar, as they really are the fastest way to reduce my booklist. Furthermore, if I need to start commuting for work (a pending possibility) that would greatly up my audiobook game!

Alright! I've got carrot cake that's starting to smell done in the oven, so I'll see  you next time!