Here were my reads for the last month on Audible!
JUST KIDS — Singer, Songwriter, Artist Patti Smith’s Memoir, specifically of her time and relationship with fellow artist Robert Mapplethorpe. She narrates it and her pronunciations cracked me up. Drawling, yeller, feller. Charming slash irritating. In college I always said I wished I could study everything about the 60’s, music, art, politics, social in/justice(s), food, fashion, (I think that’s called humanities, ha.) Really become something of an expert on it. I opted to just get a plain old English degree, but my fascination and love of it hasn’t waned. Patti gave me everything I love about that time period and then some. The complex nature of her relationship with Robert, their commitment to art, and living an artful life. Reading about her casual interactions with Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsburg and hanging out at Andy Warhol’s The Factory, I MEAN. 4 Stars.
SAPIENS— If you liked A Short History of Nearly Everything, this is for you. A brief gloss-over of the history of humankind. Sort of organized by the Cognitive, Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, a hefty dose of religion, and the different lifestyles we prescribe to — capitalism, consumerism, humanism, etc. HOLY cow. The first half of this book blew my freaking mind. And then again at the end when he very casually talks about where humanity is likely going with technology and evolution. Just wild. Dense but so fascinating. 4 Stars.
THE LOST MAN — A book about the death (murder?) of a man in the desolate, isolated Outback of Australia. With two brothers, a rough family history, this book is incredibly small. Not many characters, not much action, but it explores the theme of isolation really beautifully with the Outback as a foil to the feeling it creates in the reader. I gave it three stars because I wasn’t anything amazing or breathtaking, but really well written for what it was and it garnered a long discussion out of the Book Club I read it with!
WILD GAME— Another Book Club pick, and a memoir about a woman who struggles to out of her mother’s dysfunctional orbit from 14 til her mother’s death. You guys know I love reading about stuff like this, and one of the first books I’ve read about Mothers with Narcissistic Personality Disorder that wasn’t also physically abusive or neglectful so you could really get a feel for how NPD messes with children on its own.
THE RED TENT— Oh I loved this one so much! It’s decades old, I just never read it for some reason. This story is the imagined exploration of a blip of a story about Dinah, daughter of Jacob/Israel from Genesis 34 in the Bible. Funny, sexy, touching, thinking girls should’ve written the whole Bible, it would’ve been a lot more interesting to read. No offense. 😉 So much to unpack and discuss it would be such a fun Book Club pick if you’re in the market. 4 Stars!
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