What I Read and Loved | October 2023
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Britney Spears, and My Favorite Things
October is one of my favorite months since it usually means fall is on display. (In Washington, you might also get a foot of snow.) I love fall colors and enjoy all the yellows, oranges, and reds around me this time of year. October is the perfect time for cardigans, chai lattes, and my favorite dark lipstick (more about that later). Thankfully, it also turned out to be a fantastic reading month. Take a look at what I read and loved in October.
What I Read
One of the highlights of my fall so far has been starting a student and staff book club at one of the schools where I work. We meet once a month to discuss a book of our choice that involves that month's theme. Since Banned Books Week was October 1 - 7, our first theme was banned or challenged books. I chose to reread The Great Gatsby, a novel I last read nearly 15 years ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed my reunion with Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby. There are moments in the novel where you can clearly spot its age, but I was impressed with how much of Fitzgerald's writing felt quite modern. I always appreciate fiction with a strong sense of place, and that's one of the reasons I enjoyed this reread so much. I felt transported to the 1920s. If you're like me and last read this classic a while ago, I encourage you to pick it up again. It's a quick read that's worth your time.
It's 2020, and twenty-year-old Mia and her twin brother are home from school and staying with their parents and nonverbal younger brother. Mia narrates Happiness Falls and explains what happens when her little brother, Eugene, returns home from a trip to the local park, agitated and without his father. Since Eugene can't tell the family what happened, they must piece together clues with help from the local police, whom they don't entirely trust.
Happiness Falls is a gripping mystery and family drama about identity, belonging, and how we show up for the people we love the most. Mia isn't always the most reliable narrator, which adds another layer of interest to an already engaging story set during the height of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. This title would make a great book club pick since there's so much to discuss. I was captivated from the first sentence to the last.
Let Us Descend tells the story of Annis, a young enslaved woman who's sold by her white father. Annis's beloved mother was sold before she was, so as she makes the grueling journey south, Annis is grieving the loss of the woman who taught her everything she knows. She can sense spirits and feels the presence of her ancestors, who help guide and antagonize her in equal measure.
Jesmyn Ward is one of my favorite writers, but the use of magical realism in this novel didn't always work for me. There were scenes when I didn't fully understand what was happening. Despite that, Let Us Descend is an important novel that's destined to become a classic because of the way it illuminates such a horrifying time in American history. This book is unrelenting in its bleakness, but that's as it should be. In a time when books are being banned because they tell the truth about America's past, Ward's novel is a welcome addition to the literary canon.
The Most Precious Substance on Earth is a Canadian novel in stories that follows Nina from a fourteen-year-old girl to a thirty-something woman. Nina's story begins in the late 1990s when she's attending school with her best friend, Amy. She has a crush on her English teacher and is flirting with a predator in online chat rooms. Shashi Bhat's writing is quick-moving and funny, yet the beginning of the novel features Nina experiencing sexual assault, a moment that will shape her well into adulthood.
I enjoyed much about this novel, especially the '90s nostalgia and witty tone. My primary criticism of the book is the structure. The short story format meant that certain storylines didn't get fully fleshed out or have a chance to connect with what came before. As I mentioned, Nina experiences violence early in the book, but I didn't see the ramifications of that incident affecting Nina very much until the end. I wanted more depth and focus on specific plot points that I didn't get due to the format.
Britney Spears was a big deal when I was growing up. I remember hearing her first single on the radio as she blew up and reached superstardom. I picked up her memoir due to a combination of nostalgia and curiosity.
Spears begins her story as a child in Louisiana, where she lives with her parents and older brother. Her mom and dad are constantly fighting, and her dad struggles with alcoholism. Spears is drawn to music from a young age and feels she can transcend her circumstances through singing and dancing. Those skills skyrocket her to fame, as we all know, and it's that journey that Spears spends most of her memoir addressing.
Though The Woman in Me is about one of pop music's biggest darlings, it's ultimately a sad story about greed, exploitation, and how the media tends to treat young women. Many people, including myself, have moments when we believe wealth and power will solve our problems. Britney's story proves that's not true.
What I Loved
MUSIC: Javelin by Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens has been one of my favorite artists since Seven Swans. His new album, Javelin, is beautiful. I've listened to it on repeat since it came out. My favorite tracks are "Will Anybody Ever Love Me?" and "Everything That Rises."
HOME ITEM: Rifle Paper Co. Candle in the Souks of Marrakech
If fall were a scented wax that was poured into an orange glass container, it would be this candle. It smells incredible. I received this as a gift, but I plan to buy it for myself when it runs out. The website says it has “notes of black vanilla, amber, and incense.”
BEAUTY: Merit lipstick in the shade L’avenue
I love makeup, and I like to wear slightly darker shades in fall and winter. This fall, I'm all about deep browns, oranges, and reds. This lipstick from Merit is the perfect not-too-dark shade of berry brown. I feel so good wearing it, and the packaging is luxe.
What did you read and love in October? I’d love to hear your highlights.
Great book selections this month. I do need to re-read The Great Gatsby! Beautiful album and the lipstick is gorgeous on you!
Very pumped about you sharing your good taste with us so regularly. I see candles and lipstick in my future and maybe a book or two as well.