There are a number of reasons this is one of my shortest lists of books read in a single month (and yet’s still a fair number of books!). One reason is that 11/22/63 is close to 1,000 pages and that took up quite a lot of reading time! Another reason is that life got in the way this month, and reading has been challenging. However, I still had three 5 star reads this month! This month I read:

• A Year in the Woods: Twelve Small Journeys into Nature by Torbjorn Ekelund, translated by Becky L. Crook – I picked this up randomly while in a local indie bookstore last month because the nature called to me. While I have never been camping, I love spending time in nature, and on my last two vacations far from cities, I have LOVED seeing millions of stars in the clear sky at night. In the Galapagos Islands I was able to see constellations from both the northern and southern hemispheres at once and the Milky Way Galaxy! In this memoir, Torbjorn decides to spend one day and night each month out in the forest alone. He has fond memories of forest and fishing time from his childhood, and has decided to pause the daily grind each month for this exploration. He doesn’t do anything dramatic. He hikes and campus out, has a meal or two and reads. He fishes during the summer months. Mostly he notices how the same areas can change so significantly from month to month and across seasons. It’s a quiet, peaceful look at slowing down and noticing what’s around us.
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King – I read this book when it came out in 2011 and LOVED it! I was excited to reread it with our Secret Stuff Book Club for Stephen King Summer because I only remembered the big idea, no details. This is a time travel book where a man from 2011 travels back in time to stop the JFK assassination, fighting against the past that doesn’t want to be changed. I love the extended time spent in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and the deliberate differences King points out between the past and the present. EVERYONE smoked back then! This book is truly one of best books I’ve read because of the time descriptions, the historical connections, the people and the every day struggles, and the what if’s about time travel and changing the past. I loved it just as much the second time through! [1,000 pages]
• Real Americans by Rachel Khong – I chose this from Book of the Month earlier this year because I had heard good things about it. This is a family drama that spans multiple generations, flashing backward and forward in the story. We meet Lily when she falls in love with Matthew. Lily is Chinese American and Matthew is a rich, white man with generational wealth behind his last name. Over time, we meet their parents and their child, through multiple narrators. This was a deep dive into their family, the choices each generation made, and the feelings that came with each consequence of those choices. I enjoyed the saga, despite the general sad tones. It was beautifully told.
• The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley – I read and loved the first in this series, falling in love with GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) and his niblings (niece and nephew) as they grieved the death of their friend/mother. In this book we fast forward 5 years and find Maisie and Grant’s father, Patrick’s brother, ready to remarry. The kids are still missing their mom and are not prepared for life to move on like this. Patrick and the kids travel Europe together leading up to the fancy Italian wedding, as he teaches them life and love lessons. This was cheesier than the first, but a quick, fun read.
• Arise: The Art of Transformational Coaching by Elena Aguilar – I have long admired Elena Aguilar. I pre-ordered this book because I have loved all of her other books and reread them and refer to them frequently. She is my coaching idol! This was an interesting book because she explains early on that this was meant to be a revised edition of The Art of Coaching, her very first book. But she has learned so much about coaching, equity, emotions, and more, which led to such a rich, deep exploration into her brain and the ways she thinks about coaching. While there was a lot of repetition from her other books, she added in detailed coaching conversations, captured through transcrips of her real work, which gave credence to the examples she shares. I admire the way she is able to separate herself from the issues that arise (pun intended) while coaching, the ways she is able to coach emotions, pedagogy, beliefs, and ways of being, and so much more. I appreciate that she is a perpetual student, of adult learning and coaching and life, and she is an inspiring coach and leader. I loved living in her world as I read this tome. [544 pages!]
• The God of the Woods by Liz Moore – I heard about this book months ago, ordered it for a Book of the Month choice because of the recommendations, and then saw it all over Instagram this summer! Sometimes when that happens, the book doesn’t live up to the hype. In this case, I enjoyed the book as much as I hoped! The story takes place as a summer camp in New York, in the 60’s and 70’s, surrounded by beautiful nature and displicable rich people. When Barbara goes missing, it brings up the hard memories of 14 years prior, when her young brother also went missing. The entire town is taken over by the searching, while their rich parents hide in alcohol and shady lawyers. Most of the characters were unlikeable, yet I wanted to know what happened. I enjoyed the storytelling so much!

Favorite Books

Fiction: 11/22/63 & The God of the Woods

Nonfiction: Arise: The Art of Transformational Coachin