november: 30, 31 & 32

the ghosts of heaven, by marcus sedgwick (after slogging through swing time i was determined to read some shorter books that i would like more.  i went back to an old favorite, the printz award winners list (for young adult fiction).  young adult books will not bore me, and the best ones are quite well written.  i found the ghosts of heaven on that list, and had read two other marcus sedgwick books so was excited to try this one.  i really liked it - four separate stories with a theme (spirals) that connects them.  the author says at the beginning that you can read them in any order, which really intrigued me.  i really liked this book, and if you're into YA fiction i would highly recommend it!)

we are okay, by nina lacour (another one from the printz award list (gotta cleanse that palate), this one the story of a college freshman who has cut off ties with her bff because of some family tragedies...and the bff reappears around the holiday season to try to make amends.  i liked it very much and i can see why it was recognized by the printz committee, but i preferred the ghosts of heaven.)

how the word is passed, by clint smith (i listened to the audiobook of this over the past few months and finally finished it.  EXCELLENT narrative non-fiction, and i'm actually now running a book club at school with faculty who are reading the book.  the author visits sites around the US that are important to the history of slavery and tells the stories, meets people, and reckons with the fine line between history and nostalgia.  highly recommend!)

october: 27, 28 & 29

jitney, by august wilson (i read this along with a class of seniors at the school where i work, and really enjoyed this exposure to a new (to me) august wilson play, with the benefit of a teacher guiding us through the reading and rather astute kids offering their take.  i was glad to have read it!)

wolfpack, by abby wambach (i listened to this audiobook after hearing the author on an old episode of brene brown's podcast.  parts were a bit cheesy, written as a leadership guide for a younger audience (brene says she buys this for every girl she knows when they graduate from high school), but then all of a sudden i was crying while listening?  so clearly it moved 39 year old me, too.  i'm glad i read it!  the audiobook is only about an hour long (bonus!).)

swing time, by zadie smith (i heard the author speak like 10 years ago, and bought the book as part of that event...and then never read it.  when i finally did, i wasn't blown away or rushing home to read more.  i think there are better zadie smith books out there - i enjoyed white teeth much more than this one.)