The 10 books I’m featuring today were all posted on Instagram as part of my 100 Day Project during a period of travel, coming home from Book Expo, then heading up to my family’s cabin for Memorial Day — hence, all of the nature shots even when they didn’t seem appropriate. But it’s also a string of really great books, a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction and a mix of recent books and older reads. For those keeping track, the project finishes up on Instagram this Wednesday, woo!

51. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Signature of All Things is one of those epic, full life stories that start with a birth, go back in time for some context, then follow a character forward into old age. In this case, the main character is Alma Whittaker, an awkward botanist more at home learning about the plants on her parent’s property than making a place for herself in society. The story beautifully explores questions of family, identity and purpose with a wonderfully full world of friends and relatives that Alma also slowly begins to understand. The book was maybe 100 pages too long, but Gilbert’s prose is so lovely I hardly minded.

52. The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean is a classic of modern immersion journalism. Orlean follows a man named John Laroche, chronicling his obsession with cloning the rare, endangered ghost orchid. His efforts bring him into the circle of Florida’s Seminole tribe, local law enforcement, and the underground world of rare flower sellers. As entertaining as that story is (Laroche is an amazing, charismatic, complicated subject), the book is really an exploration of passions and pursuing those passions as far as you can go. Orlean sets herself up as a foil to the people she is writing about, someone without a grand passion, writing near the beginning of the book: “I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know what it feels like to care about something passionately.” That angle – an outside observer trying to understand a passionate subculture – has carried over into a ton of recent narrative nonfiction. If it’s an approach you enjoy, you should absolutely pick up this book.

53. In the Language of Miracles by Rajia Hassib

For years, Samir and Nagla Al-Menshawy have lived the American dream. After coming to the United States from Eqypt, Samir has started a successful medical practice, they have three beautiful children, and are connected to families in their New Jersey community. But when their oldest son, Hossam, and their neighbor’s daughter, Natalie, are found dead, the Al-Menshawys become outcasts. In the Language of Miracles follows the Al-Menshawy family through the five days before a memorial service planned by the Bradstreets to mark the one-year anniversary of Natalie’s death. Each member of the family sees the memorial in a different way, and struggles to find their place within the community, the family, and the multiple cultures they are a part of. This book shares a lot of the same DNA as Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, which is also great, so if you liked that book definitely get this one too.

54. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

The setting for The Boys in the Boat is the fraught 1936 Olympic Games. Adolf Hitler was in power in Germany, and planned to use the games to demonstrate German dominance at sports and show the world that everything in Germany was going just fine. But a scrappy team of rowers from the United States – a team of “farmers, fishermen and lumberjacks” – managed to challenge the dominant teams of Europe, in a Cinderella story reminiscent of the great upsets in sports history. This book is an incredible read, one of my favorite works of historical nonfiction. Daniel James Brown is so good at writing each race, but never forgets that the emotional heart of the story is the young men who worked together and overcame enormous odds to compete on the world stage. I love this book.

55. Ashley’s War by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

In 2010, the United States Army began piloting a new program that would allow women to serve alongside Special Operations soldiers in Afghanistan. As part of Cultural Support Teams, these female soldiers went on raids out in the field with a specific focus on connecting with the women in insurgent compounds to look for weapons and gather intelligence. In Ashley’s War, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon follows one of the first CST units through their recruitment, training, and first experiences in combat. This book was really stellar, and opened my eyes to some of the unique challenges and dangers facing female soldiers. Without spoiling too much, I’ll just say that the book is a heart-breaker that I still highly recommend.

56. Thank You for Your Service by David Finkel

In Thank You for Your Service, journalist David Finkel follows several soldiers returning home from a tour of duty on the front lines in Baghdad. Many of them are suffering from PTSD or other physical and mental injuries, and their struggle to adjust and reintegrate affects their families and the other professionals trying to help them. It’s a really compelling portrait about the sacrifices we ask from soldiers, and the less obvious sacrifices that a deployment can ask from others. I was just blown away at the honesty and depth of this book. While there were moments when Finkel relies on some linguistic flourishes that I didn’t think were necessary, overall this was a compelling, sobering, important book I’d definitely recommend.

57. The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Detective Rachel Gerry and her boss, Esa Khattak are part of the Community Policing Section, a division tasked with approaching minority-sensitive cases throughout Canadian law enforcement. Initially, the case of Christopher Drayton, dead of an apparent accidental fall, doesn’t seem to fit their division. But as the detective dig into the case, they discover Drayton may be a wanted war criminal living in secret under an assumed name. A murder mystery like The Unquiet Dead is a little outside my reading wheelhouse, but the friends who’ve recommended this series were right on. Both Rachel and Esa are complex, interesting characters that I want to spend more time with, and the mystery of Drayton’s connection to the slaughter of innocent Muslims during the Bosnian War was handled very well. I’m excited to continue with this series.

58. This Life is in Your Hands by Melissa Coleman

This Life is in Your Hands in a memoir about Melissa Coleman’s childhood on the rugged coast of Maine in the 1970s with her parents, Eliot and Sue, who are part of the small movement of people leaving the comforts of society behind to homestead in the woods. The idealistic couple initially has personal and professional success at their endeavor, but the the cost of the simple life — frenetic summers, long winters, and the daily pressure to get by — takes its toll on their marriage and their family. The book opens with a tragedy amidst an idyllic scene, and Coleman maintains the tricky balance between the lovely parts of her childhood and the underlying darkness throughout the story. This is one of my favorite memoirs – it’s ominous, elegant, honest, relevant, evocative… just beautiful.

59. Arcadia by Lauren Groff

When Bit is born, his parents – Abe and Hannah – are two members of a commune in the fields of western New York State. As members of Arcadia, the family has committed to living off the land with a group of other idealists. Arcadia follows Bit as he grows, both in and out of Arcadia, and begins to ask questions about what an idealized version of the world could actually look like. Lauren Groff is such a beautiful writer, I will pick up anything and everything she does. (Now that I’ve seen them so close together, I realized that Arcadia is basically the fictional version of This Life is in Your Hands. Apparently I have a thing for the 1970s homesteading movement).

60. LaRose by Louise Erdrich

LaRose opens with a rather horrifying premise. While out hunting deer, Landreaux Iron kills his neighbor’s five-year-old son. Although the shooting is ruled an accident, Landreaux is consumed with guilt. After consulting with their ancestors via a sweat lodge, Landreaux and his wife give their son, LaRose, to the Ravich family as an act of atonement. The Ravich family welcomes LaRose into their home, but he maintains a connection to his parents and siblings, tieing the two families together while other forces in their community threaten to topple the carefully balanced peace. This book perfectly balances beautiful writing, a compelling plot, and historical context in a way that is both easy to read and still feels substantial. It’s a stunning piece of work.

Reviews finished! You can check out Days 1 through 10, Days 11 through 20, Days 21 through 30, Days 31 through 40, and Days 41 through 50 on the blog, or follow me on Instagram for real-time updates.

More Instagram reviews! In real life, I’m one week away from finishing up this project in real time — the official last day of the 100 Day Project is Wednesday, July 12. I’m enjoying it a lot, but I’m also ready to see it finish up and decide what I’m going to be doing next. I feel like it’s really helped get my review writing juices flowing, and it’s been great to have a project in the back of my head during this strange period of unemployment.

But, further musings on the end of the project are fodder for another day. Today I’ve got my fifth set of reviews to share, books 41 through 50. That means just five more posts here on the blog until things are fully caught up — hopefully that’ll be by the end of July. Enjoy!

41. Charmed Particles by Chrissy Kolaya

Set in a small town in rural Illinois, Charmed Particles is the story of two families pulled in opposite directions. Abhijat is a theoretical physicist working at the town’s particle accelerator lab. His wife, Sarala, is a stay at home mother to daughter Meena. Both are trying to find their places, one in America and the other in public school. Meena’s best friend is Lily. Her father, Randolph, is a “gentleman explorer” while her mother, Rose, is a native of Nicolet, hoping to make her name in local politics. When their town becomes a finalist to host a new superconducting supercollider, tensions between long-time community members and scientists at the lab threaten to split the town. I love the depth of research that went into this book – it’s based on true events, and the details that come from real-life debates about the supercollider really brought the story to life for me. (Full disclosure, Chrissy is a friend of mine, but I’d tell you about how great this book is anyway.)

42. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Cora was born on a plantation in Georgia. When she’s 15, a fellow slave named Caesar invites her to run away with him because he believes she is a good luck charm. Cora and Caesar find their way to the Underground Railroad, a literal set of tracks, trains and stops running throughout the United States. As they make their way North, Cora faces a range of possibilities, manipulations, and challenges in her quest for freedom. The Underground Railroad is a really stellar, difficult book that I am grateful I had some book club peer pressure to read. I appreciated the commentary Colson Whitehead included on the past and present United States, and rooted for Cora throughout her incredible journey.

43. In the Country We Love by Diana Guerrero

When Diane Guerrero was 14, she came home from school to an empty house. Her parents, undocumented immigrants from Colombia, had been detained and deported. Because she was born in the United States – and found support from friends and neighbors – Guerrero was able to stay in the country, finish high school, and attend college. Eventually, Guerrero was able to build a career in acting, getting parts on shows like Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin. I thought In the Country We Love was lovely and deeply affecting, showing the ripple effects of current immigration policies. Guerrero is open with her struggles, including some mental health issues that I thought were handled with a lot of sensitivity. This book is important right now, and well worth reading.

44. The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

Hanya Yanagihara is one of the more unsettling novels I’ve ever read, but I absolutely adored it. In 1950, Norton Perina joins a noted anthropologist on an expedition to a remote island in search of a lost tribe. The group discovered “group of forest dwellers who appear to have attained a form of immortality that preserves the body but not the mind.” Perina, an awful and unrepentant person, makes a decision about what to do with this knowledge that has predictably dire consequences. The People in the Trees has many twists, allowing unreliable narrators to craft a story already full of questionable people. This book is creative, unpleasant, beautiful, strange, layered, and entertaining… just so, so good.

45. The Art of Grace by Sarah L. Kaufman

I picked up The Art of Grace on a whim at Barnes and Noble earlier this year. Sarah L. Kaufman, a Washington Post writer and art critic, aims to look at grace – “a philosophy of living that promotes human connection and fulfillment” – in many forms, with an emphasis on arts and culture. For me, young widowhood has provided many examples of people acting with grace, and many moments testing my own ability to be graceful. I like the idea of trying to move through the world with more thoughtfulness and attention, and I although Kaufman got a little preachy at points, I enjoyed most of what I read in this book.

46. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

I initially picked up Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon because I have a weakness for epistolary novels (stories told through letters or, in a lot of cases, mixed media like news clippings, emails, or other ephemera). I didn’t expect to fall quite so head-over-heels for the book, the story of a girl kept inside her hermetically-sealed home because of a serious illness and the boy across the street who makes her think about the risks of going out into the world. It’s not really similar to Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell in any significant ways, but reading about Maddy and Olly did give me the same swoony feelings I had for Cat and Levi. My sister and I went to see the movie version this afternoon. It was sweet, although less perfect than the book, despite the fact that Amandla Stenberg was utterly charming as Maddie.

47. Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane

After an on-air breakdown, broadcast journalist Rachel Childs now lives as a shut-in, her anxiety and agoraphobia often getting the best of her. Despite this major limitation, Rachel lives an otherwise ordinary life with her husband, Brian, until one day she discovers that Brian may not be the man he appears. I gulped down this book in just a couple of days because it is such a page turner. But I also loved that it’s a very smart character study – the novel opens and closes as a psychological thriller, but most of the middle is a compelling story about Rachel’s childhood, her search for her father, and her relationship with the world following the end of her journalism career. Since We Fell is a wonderfully twisty read that would be perfect for the beach.

48. The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close

In 2008, Beth moves to Washington D.C. to join her husband, Matt, a veteran of the Obama campaign who now has a low-level position with the White House. Beth hates the city until she and Matt become friends with Jimmy, a White House staffer, and his wife Ashleigh. When Jimmy’s political career gets a kickstart in Texas, he invites Matt to join him as his campaign manager, but the stress of the campaign, along with jealousy and secrets, threatens to pull Matt and Beth apart. The Hopefuls is another book I devoured in just a few days. It was nice to reflect back on a less chaotic political time, although politics ends up being more of a backdrop to the legitimate challenges that Matt and Beth faced. The book also has a light, satirical sense of humor that I enjoyed immensely.

49. The Wangs Versus the World by Jade Chang

After the 2008 financial crisis compounded a risky business decision, Charles Wang, a self-made millionaire in the cosmetic industry, is broke. With nowhere else to go, Charles, his second wife, Barbra, leave their Bel Air mansion to drive cross country to live with Charles’ eldest daughter, Saina, in upstate New York. Along the way, they also need to pick up the family’s youngest daughter, Grace, from boarding school and middle son, Andrew, from college, as a result of their new circumstances. I read The Wangs Versus the World last fall, in the middle of a blur, so I can’t remember specifics. But I do recall the sense of humor, the individual and nuanced characters, and the smart exploration of the complexity of the American Dream.

50. House of Stone by Anthony Shadid

House of Stone is one of the most lovely and poignant books I’ve ever read. Anthony Shadid was a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, who died of an acute asthma attack shortly before this book was published. The memoir chronicles his return to Lebanon to recover after years of being beaten down, captured, and harassed on the job, while also working to rebuild his great-grandfather’s crumbling estate. House of Stone is slow-moving book, a choice I think Shadid made deliberately as a reflection of both the pace of life in Lebanon and the pace needed to really reflect on the issues of home, family, faith, politics, history and identity that he wrote about. There’s a real sense of melancholy in the book, knowing Shadid died before really getting to enjoy the fruits of his labor, but it’s a beautiful book nonetheless.

And that’s a wrap for this installment. You can check out Days 1 through 10, Days 11 through 20, Days 21 through 30, and Days 31 through 40 on the blog, or follow me on Instagram for real-time updates.

Another month is in the books, so I’ve got another look back at the books I managed to finish. I hope people like these posts, because I like writing them. And it’s nice to have a way to look back on my reading in more detail as time passes.

Overall, my June reading was a little bit slow — I blame an increase in TV watching more than anything else. Just about everything I read was excellent, though, which makes the slower pace not much of a problem. Here’s what I finished:

1. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (memoir)
2. One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul (essays)
3. The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan (September 2017 from Touchstone) (nonfiction)
4. Portage by Sue Leaf (nonfiction)
5. Rolling Blackouts by Sarah Gliden (comics, nonfiction)
6. Startup by Doree Shafrir (fiction)
7. Wonder Woman Unbound by Tim Hanley (nonfiction)
8. Wonder Woman, Volume 1: The Lies by Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp, Laura Martin (comics)
9. Wonder Woman, Volume 2: Year One by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, and Romulo Fajardo Jr. (comics)

I ended up reviewing all of these on Instagram, so those mini-reviews will make it here to the blog sometime in the next couple of weeks. Portage was probably my favorite of the month, a collection of essays about canoeing and nature was an unexpected surprise. I’m also really glad I finally read The Glass Castle — it’s a classic memoir for good reason. One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter was also a treat, a funny collection about growing up as the child of immigrants.

A Look to July

When this post goes up, I’ll be at my family’s cabin for a long Fourth of July weekend. I packed way too many books, of course, but isn’t that what vacations are for? Here’s what I’ve got in my beach bag:

• Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud by Anne Helen Petersen — Nonfiction about the rise of unruly women and what we find so threatening about them.
• Chemistry by Weike Wang — “A luminous coming-of-age novel about a young female scientist who must recalibrate her life when her academic career goes off track.”
• Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld — Fiction about the complicated relationship between identical twins, one who becomes and psychic and one who just wants to be normal.
• Sun Moon Earth by Tyler Nordgren — A history of solar eclipses and how they went from terrifying omens to tourist events.
• The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber — A look at “the gritty and tumultuous world of Sherlock Holmes–wannabes who race to beat out law enforcement — and one another — at matching missing persons with unidentified remains.”

I wish I could say that I know I’ll get to all of those books in the next few weeks, but who really knows. Reading lists are meant to be written and ignored, right? I do know I will also be reading Evicted by Matthew Desmond, because it’s my book club’s pick for July. Other than that… the skies the limit.

What books are you reading over Independence Day? What are you looking forward to reading in July? Inquiring minds want to know!

Around Here | It’s been an interesting few weeks. After traveling a lot in late May and early June, I’ve been at home the last few weeks. It’s been nice — my sister and I have been working on house projects, I’ve been doing some cleaning and organizing, and I’m starting to buckle down a bit more with my job search. And, of course, we’re all finding lots of time to be out on the patio.

Reading | Despite being home, my reading in the last few weeks has been pretty slow. I’ve just been picking away at three different titles, which I’m hoping to finish before heading to the cabin for Fourth of July so I can start vacation with fresh titles. I’m really enjoying Tim Hanley’s Wonder Woman Unbound, a look at the strange history of the character from the Golden Age of comic to the present. I love the way he does close reads of the comics to inform his conclusions, it’s so interesting. I’m also making my way through The Other Side of Sadness by George Bonanno, a look at the science of bereavement and loss that is providing a new and interesting perspective on grief. And finally, I’m a few chapters into Some Luck by Jane Smiley, the first in a trilogy following a Iowa family for 100 years, beginning in 1920. The narration is kind of strange in some places, but I think I like it.

Watching | I’ve spent far too much time in front of the television over the last several weeks… some of my favorite shows finally arrived on streaming services, so I’ve been binge-watching recent seasons of Jane the Virgin (SO GOOD), Younger (hilarious), and Prison Break (still really, really silly).

Listening | Because I’m not commuting anywhere, I’ve cut back on my audio book listening in favor of podcasts. Right now I really like The Pollsters (a Republican and a Democratic polling expert talking about the week’s political news), and NPR’s Up First, a new daily podcasts that gives about a 10 minute overview of the day’s news.

Trying | I finally joined my local YMCA, so I’ve been trying to take advantage of their great schedule of group fitness classes. At the moment, Turbo Kick (cardio kickboxing) is my favorite. It’s satisfying to punch out built up aggression. I probably should also start doing more yoga…

Quizzing | I finally got around to getting sorted into my Hogwarts house — I’ve no idea why I never did this before. According to Pottermore’s official Sorting Hat, I’m a Hufflepuff. I also took the BuzzFeed sorting quiz that’s been floating around Facebook and ended up nearly tied as Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, which feels pretty right to me. Huffleclaws unite!

Blogging | Since I last did a Currently post I shared my April and May Book Report, wrote up some of my nonfiction and fiction finds from BookExpo, and continued posting my 100 Days of Books reviews from Instagram. In the next couple weeks I plan to share my June reading, and finish up 100 Days of Books. And after that, maybe I’ll get back to actual book reviews? A girl can dream.

Anticipating | The next few weeks are going to be a lot of fun. On Saturday, my sister and I are going to see Ed Sheeran in concert. On Sunday, we’re heading to the family cabin for a long Fourth of July weekend by the lake. Then next weekend is my birthday! We’re having a “Happy New Year” themed party as a way of saying goodbye to a difficult year and celebrating what comes next. I can’t wait.