I'm swamped with work, and not much relief in sight till May. Honestly, I'm surprised I got as much reading done as I did. Plus, it looks like one of my doggos is going to need surgery and I'm pretty upset, and between making appointments for her, me, and my husband...phew. Good news is I'm now half-vaccinated, as a teacher, and so is my husband, who also works in education. I get my second vaccine next week!
Books I Read This Month
- Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore
- The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas
- My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem (reread)
Thoughts
I'm so, so grateful that I got to read Winterkeep, the latest in the Graceling series that I've been following since 2012. I definitely tried to read slowly and savor as much as I could! I know I'll read it again too. I love Kristin Cashore so much and will read anything she writes for the rest of my life.
Reading Winterkeep was even more of a treat than I dared to dream. Bitterblue is still my favorite book of the series, but Winterkeep features a slightly older Bitterblue, plus Hava and Giddon, in a new situation, representing her country in a new land with a different system of government and more sophisticated technology (airships! and more!). Plus, we have the other viewpoints, like Lovisa, a teenage native of Winterkeep, who won my heart in her own way, a mythical sea creature called the Keeper who is pretty sure she actually isn't the Keeper, and (my heart!) a telepathic blue fox, who is in a complicated situation of his own and his kin's making. I actually loved all the viewpoints, which is rare for me, because I usually far prefer some to others (like A Song of Ice and Fire, can you just give me Tyrion and like maybe Sansa and keep everyone else?), but the blue fox might be my favorite. In his culture, foxes choose their own names, and he names himself "Adventure Fox," "Ad," for short, and he is so adorable and yes, I will just leave you with the image of Adventure Fox curled up in his human's hood, enjoying his favorite sweet pastry.
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo is a book club read for next month, plus a book that's been on my TBR for a while. I'm glad I finally read it and I enjoyed the images of Cairo and the history surrounding the Genizah documents. The main character, Joseph/Yusuf, is interesting but the book makes a huge deal about him being the son of an Egyptian Jewish mother and Egyptian Muslim father and just doesn't do much with that story or the implications of being both religions in his life. Then again, maybe that just wasn't the focus of the book, which is fine, but I'm not sure why it's so emphasized then.
My Life on the Road was a reread for me, and the read for my other book club this month. I really enjoyed reading it again, and reminding myself of Steinem's life as an activist and her experiences in transit. This time, I was struck by her reflections on speaking at campuses, where she asked students and professors what issues to bring up so she could do it for them, and especially the last chapter about Native American issues, culture, and activism, particularly seen through her friendship with Wilma Mankiller, a Cherokee chief. I learned a lot, like that the Constitution was partly based on the Iroquois Confederacy and that there are all kinds of ancient Native ruins around our country that aren't commonly known. I wrote down a lot of books by Native writers or about Native customs to check out.
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