Y'all, April was a full month (mostly in good ways) and I'll share some tidbits about it all in my upcoming newsletter. In the meantime, we need to talk about the books that accompanied me through the month! (As usual, I'm linking up with An Open Book.) My big reading goal was to finish Brothers Karamazov, and then I promptly let myself get distracted by other books (part of my justification was that Brothers K was just way too big to hold while I lay in bed, so I needed other books as "bedtime reading" haha!). But, by some miracle, I did manage to finish reading Brothers K in addition to the other books. Let's dive in!
The Retired Assassin's Guide to Country Gardening, by Naomi Kuttner
When I read about this book on Rebecca Martin's delightful newsletter, I knew I had to read it. The premise? A retired assassin retires to a quiet New Zealand town, only to find himself involved in a murder investigation. There's a whole cast of fantastic characters (a somewhat retired art thief, an upstanding police investigator, and a young gardener who has the ability to see ghosts and "help them on" so they can rest peacefully) and there's some great dark humor, but nothing too crazy. I really enjoyed this book!
The Fault Between Us, by Stephanie Landsem
This novel follows three sisters in the 1950s and how their paths diverge as they make different choices and deal with the brokenness in their family. They are all thrust together in the 1959 Hebgen Lake Earthquake in Yellowstone, and find their lives upended. Although I visited Yellowstone once as a kid, I didn't know about much of its history and I was absolutely fascinated to learn about the earthquake. Landsem does a splendid job creating a vivid setting and characters, and I really loved the storyline and the hope and redemption that persisted in the reality of wounds and anger. This was a great book.
REREAD: Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
In this massive saga set in 19th century Russia, we dive into the lives, loves, sorrows, and struggles of three brothers and their father. When there's a murder, events take a wild turn as the townspeople (and the reader) try to sort through motivations and evidence to pinpoint who committed the murder. Within this plot, there's a lot of reflection on suffering, the human condition, God, monasticism, love, and plenty of other topics that I'm probably forgetting. This is a rich, vibrant novel, and even though it was a hefty book to read, I'm so glad I revisited it. This time as I read it, Ivan really jumped out at me; I found his character, in all of his reflections and atheism, deeply reflective and thoughtful and he seemed to fit right in with people I've met in 20th century America. Another aspect of the novel that jumped out at me is how excellently it shows what happens when the family breaks down and brokenness and wounds are not addressed--when you see the climate in which Fyodor Karamazov lived, and which trickled down to his sons, all of the violence and discord appears to be an extension of that. Anyways, this is a great book and I really loved the edition I read this time (Word on Fire Classics)--it had nice big margins which made the reading experience much easier than some other hefty novels I've read, and it had an awesome cover. I loved rereading this novel and I highly recommend it!
Here's Looking at Euclid, by Alex Bellos
In this delightful nonfiction book, Bellos brings together personal interviews and academic research to talk about the fascinating world of numbers and mathematics. As soon as I picked up the book and was met with a section on a tribe in the Amazon who, in the 20th century, have no concept of numbers bigger than 5, I was hooked. This book was a lot of fun and super interesting, and may have led me to excitedly talk to the family all about the wonders of Vedic Mathematics and an insanely easy way to multiply two-digit numbers. I will confess, though, I got a little lost in later parts of the book (especially the section on probability and the chapter on infinity). Also, there were a few crude parts and an interview with a numerologist person; I could have done without those parts. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book!
Thanks so much for joining me this month! I'm currently immersed in medieval Norway with a reread of Kristin Lavransdatter, but I will definitely need other (and lighter) books to break up all the drama ;) so if you have any recommendations, please drop them in the comments!
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