Summer Reading, Had Me a Blast.

Well, kids. It's almost October, so I better get crackin' on my August books post.

In August I took six book trips, and I went to some fantastic places.

1.) My first jaunt was to Turkey and Syria via Elliot Ackerman's "Dark at the Crossing". It was a very sad book. It was also the first novel I've read about what's been going on in Syria the last few years.

2.) My second trip was a non-fiction book by Mary Karr called "The Liar's Club" about her childhood in a very dysfunctional family. It was a trip back to the 60's and early 70's in Texas and Colorado. It was very well written as well.

3.) My third adventure involved trolls and changelings in modern day NYC. I really liked this novel a lot. It was "The Changeling" by Victor Lavalle.

4.) My fourth book has been getting tons of hype this Summer. "Where the Crawdads Sings" by Delia Owens was a perfect Summer read. It takes place in North Carolina and is about a girl who was basically abandoned by her family members when she was very young and how that has shaped her as an adult. If you want a very escapist, read, this is your novel.

5.) I traveled to a part of England in "Elmet", by Fiona Mozley. This book was in keeping with my theme during August of brutal allegory/fantasy texts. The world in this novel felt dreamlike and then later turned into a nightmare.

6.) What a way to end my month in book travel. My sixth book was "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J. R. R. Tolkien. I don't think I ever read the trilogy when I was a kid, and I wanted to wait a while after having watched the movies to dig into it, but man, what a voyage. My daughter tells me the other ones get more boring, however. I just loved the novel and it was another perfect Summer read.

Now that the sun light seems to be getting weaker and setting earlier, it will be interesting to see how my book travel changes.