September 2023 Wrap Up Pt. 2

I really thought I would have more to say today than I do. I thought I would just plow through books on my vacation and have a huge list to talk about today. Sadly, there are only 4 books. There was a lot of doing that happened on my vacation, and some reading time was taken up with a migraine. So anyway, here they are.

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell - This is a collection of essays that was published 20 years ago. The prescience of some of her thoughts is frightening. Sarah Vowell was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma and moved to Montana. The parts of the book about her Oklahoma relatives are spot on. Vowell is really funny and I grinned several times. It's a short book, so it didn't take long.

All I Did Was Ask: Conversations with Writers, Actors, Musicians, and Artists by Terry Gross - I used to listen to Fresh Air while taking the kids to school. I love Terry Gross' voice. This was really interesting, even when I didn't know the person she was interviewing. I finished it the day before I left for vacation.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death by Amanda Flower - This was a fun read. The narrator is Willa Noble who gets a job as a second maid in the Dickinson house in Amherst Massachusetts. Within a week of starting with the Dickinson's, Willa's brother Henry is found dead at the livery stable where he works. He had been trampled by a horse. It is ruled an accident of his own fault by the police, but Willa doesn't believe that. Emily Dickinson gets intrigued and she and Willa are on the case. I read this on vacation in about 24 hours. It flowed quickly and was engaging enough to keep me turning the pages.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree - This is the other book I finished on vacation. I read the whole thing in about 24 hours. Viv is an Orc who has finally saved up enough to move to a small town and open a coffee shop. No one in this town has ever heard of coffee, but that does not deter her. She hires a handyman to help her build it, and a helper to run the shop. After the shop opens, she decides to hire a baker to offer pastries as well. It's adorable. There are setbacks in the way of a mob-like group who requires payment as a sort of insurance. And there is a jealous former coworker. But mostly, it's as billed: high fantasy, low stakes.

So there is the end of it. That's 11 books for the month of September. Can't complain.