Cate’s July Book Log

I concluded July having read only six books. I will definitely be trying harder next month.

61. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks (5/5). Apparently, Geraldine Brooks used to be a foreign correspondent. Who knew? This book was a fascinating and compassionate look at women in the Muslim world, both the good and the bad.

62. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (5/5). I’ve been eagerly awaiting my turn with one of my library’s many copies of Wild, and I wasn’t disappointed. I sped through it in just a couple days and at the end, I wept. Cheryl Strayed is a treasure.

63. Three Weeks in December by Audrey Schulman (5/5). I read this book on Little Miss Moneybags‘s recommendation, and I loved it. The two narratives came together in such a powerful way.

64. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (3.5/5). I bought a copy of this book in summer 2005 and it sat on my shelf ever since. Well, I finally read it and though I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it.

65. The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker (4/5). This has been recommended to me by several different people, all of whom I respect. Becker’s basic premise is that intuition is a gift—one that can save your life. He does a great job of never blaming victims of violent crime, while also insisting that listening to your feelings (such as fear, nervousness, etc) can help you avoid being a victim.

66. Why Have Children?: The Ethical Debate by Christine Overall (4/5). Why Have Children? is an incredibly dense discussion of the morality inherent in the decision of whether or not to have children, as well as the decision to have a particular number of children. I didn’t agree with Overall on every count, but in general I found this to be a really thought-provoking read.