The Relentless Weekly – Oct. 02, 2020

It’s October! Time has certainly been wibbly wobbly this year, hasn’t it? It keeps passing, but feels stretched out and compressed all at once. Is this part of the new normal? It’s possible. For now, let’s see what I’ve been up to this week.

Cooking: I made this super yummy Bacon Cheeseburger Soup on Wednesday night. It was rainy and cold outside, the perfect day for soup! There are pickles in this recipe. At first I thought, eww? But it turns out that adding them adds a layer of deliciousness.

Listening: I’m currently listening to There There by Tommy Orange. I somehow missed it when it was first released, and I’m glad to have gotten to it now. I’ve made it a point to read more Indigenous authors for a number of reasons. One, it’s a way to honor my own heritage. Two, it is important.

“If you were fortunate enough to be born into a family whose ancestors directly benefited from genocide and/or slavery, maybe you think the more you don’t know, the more innocent you can stay, which is a good incentive to not find out, to not look too deep, to walk carefully around the sleeping tiger. Look no further than your last name. Follow it back and you might find your line paved with gold, or beset with traps.”
― Tommy Orange, There There

Posting: Here’s my September 2020 Wrap-Up. I read some great stuff, including 13 books by women!

You might have noticed that I’m not writing or posting reviews. I guess that’s just how this is going to go for now. Maybe forever? I’m doing what makes the most sense for me. Easy & breezy is the way I like it.

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable week. I hope you’ve read fantastic books. I hope you’ve made time to take care of yourself – even the boring stuff. I’d love to hear about it. You know where to find me.

Reading Wrap-Up – September 2020

September is over and with it goes the strange summer of 2020. I’m not one to wish time away, but it’s fine by me that this year is winding down. I don’t know that next year will be magically better. I do know that we have a chance to make a big change soon. That gives me some hope. Please, for the love of all things, VOTE.

Now, to the books! Here’s what I read this month:

Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Stringing Rosaries by Denise K. Lajimodiere (Nonfiction)

A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (Nonfiction)

Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein (Nonfiction)

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Re-read)

Classical Mythology by Elizabeth Vandiver (Nonfiction)

LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

I’m more than pleased with the 15 books I read in September. What a fine stack of literature. (13 of those were written by women!)

For more information on the books I’ve read this month you can take a look at my READ shelf on Goodreads!

How was your September reading? Were you particularly impressed with a title or two? I hope you were, and I’d very much like to hear about it.