As I shared in my post early this morning, this week has been a gnarly one with spoonie issues. However, it is also Banned Books Friday – and I have been trying to write a regular book report all week as well – so it is time to leave the sickness discussions behind for awhile and move onto all things good and nerdy. ❤

First, this week’s banned book – there was but one – is John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Like many of us, I read this one in high school, but it was a powerful reread. The book is Steinbeck’s telling of the journey of Joad family from Oklahoma to California after they have been evicted from their farm during the Great Depression. Throughout the entire novel, things only get worse – an honest look at the suffering of people during this era – and there is no happy ending.

Steinbeck told this story beautifully. However, his raw storytelling offended the sensibilities of some and it has been a banned book more or less since it was released.

(What’s more, it made the list of books contested in some schools in 2023. This astonishes me.)

Still, the value of teaching The Grapes of Wrath cannot be overstated – and I enjoyed revisiting it this week as well.

(Now I’m on to next week’s banned reads with Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.)

In other reading news, as I always have a book in my hand or an audiobook in my ear, either reading for pleasure or for one of my many projects I love, I am so blessed to read several books each week.

As such, I actually reached my Goodreads goal of 98 books for the year this morning. ❤

I was pretty stoked to see the confetti and finish the challenge – and now I’m on to my next books. ❤

Finally, it’s regular book report time.

It’s been so long that it was hard to narrow it down to a few – but I have four good ones to recommend.

First, Circe by Madeline Miller is just a wonderful novel that came highly recommended from our Scout in book club – who never leads us astray – and is one of the best fiction books I’ve read this year.

It is the tale of the witch, Circe, daughter of Helios, and features many other figures from Greek mythology. It is impossible to give a short summary of all that happens in this book; it is constantly moving and takes the reader along.

Miller’s storytelling is captivating, and, if you enjoy fantasy (or mythology), you will definitely want to pick this one up.

Next, on a totally different track, is Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg by Irin Carmon and Shana Khizhnik.

When it was released in 2015 – and RBG was still with us – I remember it being a big success, but I didn’t get a chance to read it then.

Now that I have, I’m so glad I did. It is actually a really sweet, thoughtful, well-researched tribute to Justice Ginsberg.

It is a great one to pick up. ❤

My third book is one that just brought me pure joy: Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights, his story of his first 50 years, is a delight.

I listened to the audiobook from the library and immediately tracked down a copy of the paperback on eBay for Courtney because he isn’t an audiobook person and I just know he will love it too.

This is a really good one. ❤

Finally, my last book of this report is the one I finished early this morning, #98 on my Goodreads, and it was really special to me: Bess Kalb’s Nobody Will Tell You This But Me.

Bess wrote this book drawing from saved voicemails left by her grandmother, who recently passed away.. Though it sounds sad, she uses these to tell her grandmother’s life story as well as the story of how close they were and how much her grandmother loved her – and it ends up being both deeply feeling and also hilarious.

I was very close to my own Grandmother, who lived next door to us when I was growing up, and helped raise me, and so this story spoke to my heart in many ways.

It is a lovely read. ❤

I’m stopping here but I already have a few books for next report. . . 😉

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and happy reading. ❤

Be well, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Grace and Blessings.