For 2021, I set monthly categories to read from, in an effort to feel less constrained by reading challenges that I’d participated in previously, while continuing to work through the massive collection of books that I already own or have borrowed from friends and family. Each month I’ll include the books that I finished within the month’s category reading, books finished outside of the category reading, books in progress, and books abandoned. And I’ll tell you where the book was sourced from. For February 2021, my reading list is from the category of Memoirs!
Memoirs Finished:
Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church’s Mission by Amy Simpson
New Audible audiobook.
A friend of mine mentioned this book during a book club meeting, as it was written by a friend of hers. It was included in my Audible membership, and is a memoir, so I decided to listen right away. It focuses on mental illness, and our churches’ response to it. The author’s mother is mentally ill, and she talked about what her own experience was. It was thoughtfully written and thought-provoking.
Out of the Silence: After the Crash by Eduardo Strauch
Previously owned Kindle e-book.
I’ve never before heard about the 1972 airplane crash that left a rugby team stranded on top of a mountain in the Andes. I don’t know why I’ve never heard about this situation before, but this book was such a fascinating look at it from the perspective of one of the survivors. A very fast-paced book, and I just kept turning pages to find out what would happen next.
The Club King: My Rise, Reign, and Fall in New York Nightlife by Peter Gatien
Previously owned Kindle e-book.
I first heard about Peter Gatien in the Disgraceland podcast. This book is a memoir of Gatien’s start in running nightclubs in Canada, and experiences running nightclubs around the world, as well as his ultimate downfall after the murder of a ‘club kid’. Gatien also shares his thoughts and feelings about being tried in federal court for drug distribution. My only complaint about the book is that Gatien has a conspiracy theory about Rudy Giuliani being behind the charges against him, but doesn’t support that contention with any facts or evidence. That portion of the book struck me as a grudge, but the book was otherwise covered such an interesting topic that I could overlook it.
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
Previously owned Kindle e-book.
Markham was an English woman who was born in Kenya in 1902 and lived in Africa. She was a racehorce trainer and bush pilot. Her life was just downright exciting. I’d previously read a fictional account of her life, Circling the Sun by Paula McLain. Both are wonderful books that I would recommend.
Eat, Sleep, Ride: How I Braved Bears, Badlands, and Big Breakfasts in My Quest to Cycle the Tour Divide by Paul Howard
Borrowed from library using Libby.
Paul Howard cycled the Tour Divide, a mountain bike trek that took him from Canada to Mexico through the Rocky Mountains. He details his training (minimal), to his gear, to the scenery and people that he encountered, and inside the mind of someone undertaking this feat. It was an enjoyable book about such an incredible experience. Some of the author’s descriptions of the people he encountered were a bit harsh, in my opinion. But these didn’t make up a huge part of the story, and I was able to look past them.
The Son and Heir by Alexander Munninghoff
Previously owned Kindle e-book.
Written by a Dutch journalist about his excentric family, including his wealthy mob-style grandfather, a mother despised by his father’s family but allowed to live in the family home due to raising the heir, an absent disatisfied father, and a host of aunts, uncles, other relatives, and servants. It takes during and after World War II in a Europe that has been torn apart, though which the author’s grandfather has managed to escape with wealth intact. But the family dynamics at play do not lead to a happy life. This book is quite poignant.
Other Books Finished:
Madame Fourcade’s Secret War by Lynn Olson
Borrowed from library using Libby.
This is a biography, not a memoir, but seemed to fit with the month’s overall theme, so I read it when my hold on Libby came up. The book details the life and experiences of a young Frenchwoman who runs one of the largest spy networks in operation during World War II. Knowing that it was a Resistance spy ring made clear that not all of the people would survive to the end of the war, and in fact most of them ended up tortured and dead. But that didn’t stop me rooting for them. This book is so, so good. I really liked it.
The Line by Amor Towles
Published online at Granta.com
This is a short story that is only published online. I’ve had it bookmarked for ages, and decided to read it finally. It is the story of a Russian couple who live on a farm before the Soviet overthrow. After the communists take control, they move to Moscow and figure out a new way of living. And through some strange circumstances, life takes them even further afield. Towles wrote on his website about this short story: “At one point in A Gentleman in Moscow, the character Mishka ruminates that the line was one of Lenin’s greatest innovations: “He established it by decree in 1917 and personally took the first slot as his comrades jostled to line up behind him. Then one by one, every Russian took his place, and the line grew longer and longer until it shared all of the attributes of life.” After writing this passage, I was taken by the notion of a Russian citizen who, given his personality and upbringing, was destined to be the perfect man to wait in lines…” and I think this sums up the story’s origins perfectly.
Books in Progress:
Taste for Truth: A 30 Day Weight Loss Bible Study
Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day
Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie by O.E. Rolvaag (Borrowed from father-in-law Fuzz.)
Books Abandoned:
All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (Borrowed from the library.)