Waking the Witch

Since it's almost November now, (Weird. How did that happen?) I thought I'd finally do my travel through books post for September.

In September I read seven books.  They took me to many places and times, and dimensions even. here is where I went:

1.) The first book trip I took in September was "Further Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin. I believe there are seven books in the series and this is the third one. It took me back to San Francisco in the very early 80's. It was kind of sad going back there then, knowing that the AIDS epidemic was going to flare up in just a few short years.

2.) My second trip was to England in 1934, through Ian McEwan's brilliant novel, "Atonement". Wow. It was a well written and intense journey.

3.) "Slouching Towards Bethlehem" by Joan Didion was the third book I read last month. I can't believe I've never read any Didion before. It was non-fiction and took place in California in the mid-sixties. It was definitely a wild ride.

4.) Adam Haslett's "Imagine Me Gone" dealt with the legacy of depression in a family and took place in England and the East Coast and in the minds of some people dealing with severe clinical depression and anxiety. It made me feel much better about my own life.

5.) I went back in time and in an alien culture for my fifth book trip. My niece asked me to read the first book in her YA Science fiction series, "The Replacement" by Bianca Sierra-Luebke. It shows a lot of promise and I'm curious to see what she does with the rest of the series.

6.) Next I basically started my Halloween preparation reading with " The North Water", by Ian MCGuire (my second Ian author of the month). It took place in 1859 on a whaling ship bound for the Arctic Circle, It was a VERY dark "Moby Dick" type novel. It was graphically gross and bloody, and perfect reading for the season.

7.) My last read of the month was the third book of Margaret Atwood's trilogy, "MaddAddam". It took place in the distant future and provided some much needed hope in my reading for September.

So, all for very little money I traveled back and forth in time, went to the Arctic Circle, San Francisco, England, the East Coast and met a few new life forms all without having to deal with the  TSA. October is shaping up to be an even bigger, and scarier adventure through book travel.