But Just Like the Peace Sign, That Vanished in Our Dreams. Never Had a Chance to Grow

Let's talk about books. In January I read ten of them. Some were amazing and some barely held my interest. Here's how my book adventures went:

1.) The first book trip I took was called "Queenie", by Candace Carty-Williams. It took place in London in the recent past. It was about a 25 year old woman of Jamaican descent, who suffered a ton of trauma as a child, and never really worked through it, and now it is all coming back to bite her. Having lived something similar to this, it was uncomfortable for me to read, but I thought it was very realistic.

2.) My second novel vacation was pretty fantastical. It was "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift. If you want a book adventure, here's your story. It has giants and Lilliputians and there is much talk of peeing and gas and all the issues you have to deal with during your travels. So much satire, so much silliness.

3.) My third novel was "Divisadero", by Michael Ondaatje. It took place in California and France and followed the lives of three young people who grew up together on a ranch in Northern California. It was beautiful and sad and hopeful.

4.) My fourth January book was "Embroideries", by Marjane Satrapi. It is the first graphic novel I've read in a while. It took place in Iran and it was basically women telling stories about how they dealt with the men in their lives.

5.) "Do Not Say We Have Nothing", by Madeleine Thein took me to Canada and China during the revolutions and uprisings surrounding Mao and his aftermath. It was a slow, careful read. The stories were so rich and sad and you can see how scary things can be under a dictator and how close we are getting to that here. The whole thing of the government blaming the celebrity elite and the media for everything and using fear to get its people behind the government read a little too close to home these last few years.

6.) "Children of Blood and Bone", by Tomi Adeyemi is a fantasy/sci fi Young Adult novel that took me to Africa in another time. It basically grabbed me and took me so far away from Winter in Iowa. It was so good, and exactly what I needed in the middle of January in Iowa.

7.) I read Henry Miller's "The Colossus of Maroussi" because I thought it would take me to Greece right before the beginning of WWII, and it would keep me warm and entertained. I bought this book in the 1980's and I've carried it around with me, or put it in storage, until I finally read it this month for the first time. Maybe it was too much build up? But it was just alright. It didn't grab me, and I found myself getting a little bored during it.

8.)"The Burning Girl was my 8th read. It took me back to junior high. It was about a friendship between two girls and how they drifted apart. It wasn't very substantive, but it was kind of sweet.

9.) I went on a wild ride when I read "Edie American Girl", but Jean Stein and George Plimpton. It was a non-fiction book about Edie Sedwick and her messed up, very wealthy, well connected family, and her 15 minutes of fame with Andy Warhol. She reminded me so much of the hard to take rich girls I met in the 1980's when I was that age, and hung out with the artsy kids. I felt really bad for her, but she would have been horrible to be around. You see why she was such a mess, but now that I am finally really good with boundaries, I would stay so far away from her.

10.) The last book trip I went on was to South Africa in the late 70's, during Apartheid in "Hum If You Don't the Words", by Bianca Marais. I hadn't heard much about this book beforehand, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought it was a little gem. It took on a tough subject in such a great way. The characters were believable, and even though they were flawed, I rooted for them the entire novel. It was a great last book trip in January.