There are some books that demand your attention. That ask to be read slowly, as you mull over the words, and in that slowing down, connections are made — to thoughts that have been hidden away in the dusty corners of your mind, to ideas gleaned from other books, other sources.
When books like these come along, you no longer care about meeting arbitrary reading goals or worry that you’ve fallen behind in your reading. You just immerse yourself in the words and ideas in front of you, and let everything else fall away.
Reading wrap-up for March
I read just a handful of books this month, including two for the Book Bingo challenge. This month’s reading saw me taking a walk in the woods while contemplating mental health and meaning making, revisiting the charming Hill House and uncovering its mysteries, and wandering through Alaska and Europe immersed in an epic love story.
(Click on the book covers to purchase the book on Amazon.)
Something In The Woods Loves You by Jarod K. Anderson (A memoir)
Bats can hear shapes, plants can eat light, and bees can dance maps. When his life took him to a painfully dark place, the poet behind The Cryptonaturalist, Jarod K. Anderson, found comfort and redemption in these facts and the shift in perspective that comes from paying a new kind of attention to nature.
I absolutely loved this book! Anderson skillfully blends nature writing and memoir in this exploration of nature’s crucial role in our emotional and mental health.
Tracing his struggles with depression and suicide ideation, Anderson takes us on his journey towards finding the light, surrounded by the natural world, with meditative and often optimistic contemplations on mortality, meaning, whimsy, kindness and softness.
This was a slow read, in the best way, because I wanted to absorb his words and reflect on some of his observations. An absolute gem of a book that I cannot recommend highly enough.
The Mandeville Curse by Callie Landgridge (A dual timeline novel)
When her young protégé is killed in suspicious circumstances, celebrated photojournalist Hettie Turner is wracked with guilt. Worried by her withdrawal from her work and the mantle of grief and sorrow that surrounds her, her parents are thrilled when Edward Mandeville, a friend of the family, asks her help to help with an unusual request — to catalogue the eclectic collection of antiquities amassed by Sir Charles Mandeville.
Ever the pragmatist, Hettie dismisses the legend that a cursed object is responsible for the many tragedies that have befallen the Mandeville family. But as she delves deeper into her work, increasingly unsettling experiences occur around her, causing secrets formed in the frozen wilderness of Canada six decades earlier to unravel.
This is the fourth book in the delightful Mandeville Mystery series, though it can be read as a stand alone. I loved returning to Hill House, and its delightful cast of characters. If you’ve read any of the books in this series, you’ll enjoy this latest {and I suspect last} installment, too. And if you haven’t read the series yet, this is your nudge to add it to your reading list. It’s a delightfully charming, cozy series, with a hint of magical realism and time travel. Highly recommend!
The Hundred Loves of Juliet by Evelyn Skye
After a bad breakup, Helene Janssen flees to Alaska to find some peace and quiet, and finally write the book she’s been dreaming of for years. But on her first night there, she meets Sebastien Montague, a crab fisherman who inexplicably looks exactly like the hero in the book she’s working on. And somehow, Sebastien seems to recognize Helene, too, though he does everything he can to put some distance between the two of them.
What Helene doesn’t know is that not only does Sebastien know her, he also knows that their love story defies the ages: She is Juliet, reincarnated, and he is her Romeo, lost in time. The only problem? Their love story is cursed. Though they’ve met and fallen instantly in love time after time, Juliet always dies within a few months of their meeting, leaving Romeo to endure a never-ending life marked by loss, grief, and guilt.
This is an absolutely lovely re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet’s story. Delightfully charming and utterly heart-warming, it’s the perfect weekend read to cozy up with. Highly recommend!
Over to you: What was on your reading list this month?
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