Reading Rabbit Returns

For some reason, reading becomes a topic of discussion in newspapers, magazines and blogs in the summer. Are we all so ingrained with the idea that summer is filled with leisure activities that we all just read in summer?

Yep.

1. A Train Called Forgiveness, an audio book by Dan Erickson. I listened to a free chapter on Audible.com and it convinced me to buy. Dan was in a cult as a child and teen. He got away, but it has taken him years to heal from the abuse. He is now an English professor, author and songwriter with a very interesting story to tell. He writes of his life experiences in novel form, interspersed with his original songs. The story is a bit disturbing, and made me sort of squirmy with uncomfortable and unidentifiable emotions. The songs take the edge off. The ending doesn’t feel over, and it’s not, because he has written 2 more books on the same subject. This book is worth buying, and because of the music, I recommend the audio version.

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is told by an autistic boy. It really helps the reader understand the mindset of autism. I listened to this story too, and it was also uncomfortable. Captivating. The author is Mark Haddon. It felt so accurate that I wonder if he is autistic.

3. Overdressed: the Shockingly High Price of Cheap Fashion  by Elizabeth Cline is about just what its title says. One of the most interesting facts I’ve learned so far is how much less clothing costs than it used to. (Perhaps this is why I have enough clothing for a small island nation.) It tells of how quickly fashion changes (I never actually noticed because I stopped caring after about age 18) and how easy it is to keep up with the trends because cheap clothing is so available. There are so many names of people and companies that I don’t recognize, so much talk about trades, tariffs, exports and imports. I might just skim this to get the gist of it.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

4. God Inside The Fire by Greg Stelley. I also paid money for this book, as an ebook, which I read on my laptop (I don’t have a Kindle and I think I don’t want one – too much stuff to own). In 1993 my favorite uncle’s house burned down in a San Diego County wildfire. 10 years later, to the very day, he was evacuated for another wildfire. This one was called the Cedar Canyon Fire, named after the place where it started. This fire burned up my cousin’s house. It was horrible horrible horrible.

It burned up lots of people’s homes, and this book is about a very remarkable incident, a true miracle, that took place in the midst of that. BUY THIS BOOK!!