A Little Book Love

I’ve been taking breaks from daily news between the covers of a good book ever since the New Year. Now, when spring isn’t yet fully awake in Minnesota, being absorbed in a real book, flipping pages with my fingers, is a luxurious escape. No other distractions except Finn the Wheaten, who assumes that every time I sit on the couch, I’m available to give him a scratch or two while he lays his head in my lap.

The books I’ve chosen to read are not dystopian stories, since we’re already living in one of those. I do love crime novels, so have read a bunch because the good people – or at least people trying to do the right thing – usually win in the end. I’ve also enjoyed a couple of nonfiction books about food and wine, some historical fiction, and an entertaining novel with a sarcastic, smart octopus as one of the characters. Only one book of poetry made it into the mix in spite of this being National Poetry Month.

Here’s the list so far, a gift for anyone else who is also happy to rest between the pages of a good book.

Crime Novels

Vermillion Drift by William Kent Krueger 

Northwest Angle by William Kent Krueger

The above two books are both murder mysteries featuring Cork O’Connor, set in northern Minnesota. O’Connor is a somewhat tortured character with Irish and Anishinaabe heritage. And author Krueger pens his novels in none other than St. Paul, Minnesota. These stories are steeped in the northern Minnesota landscape and examine the tentative relationships between Native Americans living on the reservation and the white people who live around them, albeit from a white perspective.

Phantom Prey by John Sandford

Extreme Prey by John Sandford

The above two books are murder mysteries featuring Lucas Davenport and set in Minnesota and Iowa. Author John Sandford lived in Minnesota for many years and I could tell when I read these stories – the familiarity with this area was spot-on. He is also a journalist and the writing reflects that lean sort of style.

Historical Fiction

The Women by Kristin Hannah – I really loved this novel. The main character, Frankie, joined the Army as a nurse to follow her beloved brother who had shipped off to the Vietnam War. Turned out that her parents did not see her service as a good thing; that was something reserved for men. It was evident how much research Hannah did to get the story right; it haunted me to understand how women who served in Vietnam by saving the lives of so many wounded men were invisible when they returned home.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon – This book fictionalizes the life of a real midwife who lived in Maine in the late 1700s. There is a good dose of feminism in this story, along with a demonstration of the importance of the role of midwives that went beyond the actual hours of childbirth. Oh, and there’s also a murder mystery snuck in here, along with misogyny and greed. There’s even a silver fox.

General Fiction

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – How could I not love a book that opens with an octopus’ point of view? Set in the Pacific Northwest, where of course one can become friends with an octopus who might know what happened to a beloved son who disappeared many years ago. The human characters are people I wanted to hug. Not a murder mystery.

Nonfiction

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci – Like reading someone’s diary and realizing you’d love to hang out in that person’s kitchen. Tucci is a nice guy who loves to cook.

A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France by Steve Hoffman – Hoffman happens to live in Shoreview, Minnesota. And what does my fellow Minnesotan find in the south of France when he lives there for six months with his wife and two children? Himself. And community. And wine – lots of good wine. If you love reading about the French landscape, this book will satisfy you.

Poetry

Older, Wiser, Shorter: The Truth and Human of Life After 65 by Jane Seskin – I’ll admit I didn’t love this collection, but Seskin, who is a psychotherapist, does have a sense of humor about aging. As someone who is 65, I kept getting the sense that the author was far older than I am. This is a book I passed on to a friend with whom I’ve talked about aging recently. I did appreciate the vows Seskin made at the end of each section of the book – vows to live her life well and on her own terms.

And what am I reading right now? I have bookmarks in two books:  The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Murder on the Red River by Marcie R. Rendon. And I’m not far enough into either one to comment on them yet.

Once the weather is more conducive to spending hours outside, I will do less reading and more hiking. But, for now, this is perfect.