Here I am on June 9, 2018 writing about the books I read in March. Hey, what can I say, life gets in the way sometimes. We get into a routine, something disrupts it, we fall off the wagon, we get back on and keep going. Thanks to my handy, dandy Goodreads app on my phone, I’m able to pull up precisely which books I read. For one of my followers who likes to remark about my strange ability to recall dates, yes, I have the dates.
Before I begin, I have to share something significant to March. March 1; the start of spring high school sports. My daughter is now in the final days of her sophomore year of high school. In track she’s a sprinter and ran JV for a second year. March 28, 2018 was the first track meet of the season. I stood in the rain and watched her run her first 100M relay of the year. She came from behind and closed the gap for her team with so much finesse and grace and walked off the track having beat her time from last year, feeling on top of the world. My hands were wet and cold and I couldn’t get my phone’s camera activated in time but I don’t need a camera to remember that run. It was priceless and only the beginning of a season that she showed so much growth and potential as she prepares to run varsity next year.
Did I have my nook at the track meet? You bet your ass I did!
1. A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline. This book was written by the author who wrote Orphan Train. This book takes place in Coastal Maine. The main character Christina, who’s family was descendants of Nathanial Hawthorne, is the subject of a painting. The painting speaks of the subject’s simple yet complicated life. This book was by no means as powerful as Orphan Train was.
2. The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips. This book made my heart ache for the main character. Violence and cruelty, these things really happen in families. They did then and they do now. Although there are many more rights now for abused children than there were in the 1950’s, society still turns the other cheek. Sometimes we just don’t know what goes on in people’s homes. It takes place in rural Georgia in the late 1950’s. Tangy, an African American teenager is torn between remaining loyal to her crazy mother or taking the opportunity to change her life. A heart wrenching read.
3. Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center. Switching gears a little here. The main character Helen, with no survival skills or wilderness knowledge, has an opportunity to spend three weeks on a wilderness hike in Wyoming. Reading books like this is always an inspiration and I’m happy I read it.
4. The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve. This book is a historical fiction about the summer long drought fires that take place on the coast of Maine in 1947. The story focuses on the main character Grace’s struggle, with the fires. Struggles to keep her family safe and endure the drama and pain her husband causes her. It was a good read and I couldn’t put it down. Days later, this author passed away.
So that’s it for March. Stay tuned for April and May.
thatnursewrites 