🐙🐻😷🐦‍⬛ A Walk, An Octopus, Cupcakes, and Witches

 

    I was excited to read Sea Change by Gina Chung because I've enjoyed several excellent books about octopuses. Sea Change is a good book, but I expected a different story. It is about a woman in her twenties who works at an aquarium- with an octopus named Delores- whose life is stuck. She is at a point where her life will change, either spiraling down or up. For most of the book, I thought it would be about her reuniting with her father or boyfriend. That either event would fix her life. Chung took me in a different direction, a better one. 

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    A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson is the January book for my book club. (Reminder: we're doing travel books) I have read this before and enjoyed it. It is nice to travel through it a second time and see things I don't remember the first time like Bill Bryson is an anxious guy. He starts the book by telling you some worst-case scenarios he might encounter on the trail, like bears, ticks, storms, and injury. When you're preparing to hike, it makes sense to consider what you might encounter, but he seems overly invested. My Dear Husband and I have section-hiked the Appalachian Trail for over ten years. We have completed Maryland and West Virginia and are working on Pennsylvania. We have walked 5%. In our wildest dreams, we would like to hike the entire AT, but I prefer to sleep inside, so that might not be possible. What can I say? I'm addicted to indoor plumbing and beds. The first time I read this, I hadn't done any hiking, and now that I have, it makes the book more vibrant. I've encountered through-hikers with defined calves and giant packs. They usually pass me on steep inclines sweating, breathing hard, and contemplating my poor life choices like hiking the AT.

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    I heard about R. Eric Thomas on the podcast What Should I Read Next. His latest book is Congratulations, the Best is Over! The title does an exceptional job of capturing Thomas's humor. This book of essays describes his return to his hometown of Baltimore for his husband's job and his subsequent bout of depression. As he wades through tough topics like depression, the Pandemic, and racism, he can't conceal a golden thread of hope. Thomas doesn't want to have hope, but he does. Therefore, his book is realistic but not devastating.

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    I like a book with multiple timelines that initially seem unrelated and then converge surprisingly. Weyward by Emilia Hart is that type of book. Three women of the Weyward line, one in 2019, another in 1942, and the last in 1619, share magical abilities and the danger of being women. One of the messages of the book is most men are abusers and women are better off without them. It is a skillfully conceived and well-executed novel, but it was too dark for me.

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