Sep. 2023 Wrap Up Pt. 1

I have been reading this month. I better go ahead and wrap up now so it's not a slog at the end.

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1 by Kamome Shirahama - This was a pretty cute manga. It's about a girl who leaves her little village to go to a magic school with other girls with a magician.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - This is the story of a friendship that was pretty toxic. These two girls competed on everything. They were the closest friends and fought for each other, but the narrator always felt like everything she did was in comparison to her friend, who had fewer resource, but always made her feel like she fell short.

The Age of Witches by Louisa Morgan - I listened to this on audiobook and I really enjoyed the experience. A good witch and a bad witch battle for control of a young woman in Golden Age New York/Victorian England. It also turns out to be a romance. That was unexpected but it was pretty good.

Thunder & Lightning: Weather Past, Present, Future by Lauren Redniss  - This was chock full of interesting facts and stories about different types of weather. It looks like a children's book in size and illustration, but it is decidedly adult. Several f-bombs are dropped throughout.

Finding God in the Mess: Meditations for Mindful Living by Brendan McManus and Jim Deeds - This was fine. I really liked some of the photographs that began each chapter. Some were disturbing. The lessons and "meditations" were pretty basic. Nothing earth shattering.

Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest - I really enjoyed this one. The main character was a little kooky, but not completely inept. She is clairvoyant to an extent, and is beating herself up for not being able to predict her fiance's death two years earlier. She saves a police detective from being in a fiery plane crash and he brings her on to help him solve a cold case. I liked all the main characters and the "clairvoyant karaoke" trick was a fun spin on the ESP thing.

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth Macy - After my knee surgery last year, I was prescribed OxyContin for pain. I remember I knew when I didn't need it anymore because the last pill actually made me high. When it was killing pain, it just did the job and I slept. When I got high from it, I said, "You don't need that anymore." After reading this, I feel very lucky to be able to have stopped. So many people keep taking it and then physically can't NOT take it or the are extremely sick. And hey, guess what? Heroin is basically the same thing, and it's cheaper. The way this drug has derailed people who would have never been a candidate for IV drug addiction is maddening.

Ok. Those are the ones I've read so far. That's a lot, huh? I'm impressed with myself.