It was a short month for reading. In July I signed up for the Circe Apprenticeship and dove right in. It’s done wonders for my ability to discuss books and spurred my writing on to new levels (which you’ll be seeing here soon), but it slowed down my reading a bit.
Here is my reading list for September:
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit Close Reads is doing Lord of the Rings for their Patreon supporters, so I gave this a quick read before starting that. I’ve always preferred The Hobbit over the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It’s a fun sort of comfort read about a hobbit who had a comfortable life but took on the challenge of adventure. Both times I read it previously I listened to the narration by Rob Inglis, which is excellent. This time I read it, and now I understand why kids are compelled to stay up late reading it with a flashlight under the covers. I am hoping to have a similar experience with Lord of the Rings. We shall see.
Peter Brown, The Wild Robot Escapes I’m doing BraveWriter’s Arrow series with Caroline and Joe this year and this was the first selection for the year. The first book, The Wild Robot, is a version of Robinson Crusoe where a robot washes up on an uninhabited island and learns to survive, but at the end of the book, they find her and take her back to civilization. In this installment, she finds her way back to the island. The books are laced with modern day notions: the robot teaches the animals on the island to live together without eating each other, and when wolves attack the cattle she watches, she is unable to use a gun and shoot them (though she is able to carry the gun). It left me shaking my head, but the kids thought it was fun.
Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X The Modern Mrs. Darcy book club selection for September. I read this last year when it got the National Book Award so I knew it was a short, quick read. I haven’t watch the discussion yet. In my mind, it covered lots of modern issues but lacked substance, so I’m not sure how much there is to say about it. I am open to changing my mind, though.
Melissa Wiley, The Nerviest Girl in the World Another book in the Bravewriter Arrow series this year. It was fun historical fiction. The kids both gave it four stars. It’s biggest fault according to them? It ended too soon.
William Shakespeare, Coriolanus They did this play recently on The Play’s the Thing podcast by the CiRCE Institute so I did it with the kids for school. It’s based on one of Plutarch’s lives and tells the story of a war hero who disdains the people he serves. I now want to read Plutarch’s version of the story.
Virgil, The Aeneid I read this along with Ben who was reading it for a class entitled “Roman and Early Medieval History and Literature.” Next up? St. Augustine’s Confessions.