Now I'm going to write about the books I read in February. I know I've mentioned before that for a year and a half of the pandemic I wasn't into reading very much, which never happens to me. It was kind of like having reader's block. I'm still not quite sure what the deal was there, but I think some of it was anxiety. I just couldn't read a novel where something scary was happening and I didn't already know that outcome. I read a lot more non-fiction, because I knew what happened in those books. Lately, I feel like I'm back to my obsessive reader self. I'm not at the point where I'm sometimes reading ten books a month yet, but I'm definitely reading more than one book a month. Sooooooo, here are the books I read last month:
1.) "This is Your Brain on Plants" by Michael Pollen. I've read a few of his other books and really liked them. This is a look at some plants that are basically drugs. He starts out with opium, then moves to caffeine, and finishes with peyote. He does a great job with looking at the history, politics, culture, and side effects of each plant drug. It was all fascinating, and the thing I liked best about it, was that it was a lot more personal than his other books. I liked seeing things through his wife and his experiences.
2.) "Kindred" by Octavia Butler. Just for something special during Black History Month, I decided to look for some older books that I haven't read since the 1980's. I dug around until I found "Kindred", "Song of Solomon", and "Invisible Man". John asked if he could read "Invisible Man" again right away, and he's still working on it, so I started with "Kindred". It takes place around the Bicentennial. A young Black woman starts having these occurrences where she is taken back to slave times to help an accident prone ancestor. She is "called" back to him over and over, and she is unable to leave that time period, until she feels like HER life is in danger. I love this book. I basically devoured it again. You should read it.
3.) The third book I read in February is "The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls", by Ansissa Gray. Gray is a journalist and author. The book is about a family in Michigan, and how the issues of their childhood affect their lives as adults. I'm giving you all a trigger warning for physical abuse and eating disorder issues. I thought the writing was great, the sibling dynamics were VERY realistic, and the characters were well formed.
4.) I ended Black History month with "Song of Solomon", by Toni Morrison. I read this thirty years ago. I remember liking it, but I didn't remember what it was about. So, it was almost like reading it for the first time. There are so many stories within stories, and a lot of different characters, but Toni Morrison gives them all her contemplation. I had to pay attention because there was so much going on, but I WANTED to pay attention. I love the character of Pilate, and while I didn't love Milkman, I was curious to see how he would grow, or not.
From plants to people, and from science to culture, I learned, and in some cases, relearned a lot in February. Now I'm in the middle of reading through Women's History Month, where I plan to keep on learning things. All of this living and learning, is the only way I want to exist.
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