Quick Lit September 2021 Archives

Greenwood

by Michael Christie

From the publisher: "It’s 2038 and Jacinda (Jake) Greenwood is a storyteller and a liar, an overqualified tour guide babysitting ultra-rich vacationers in one of the world’s last remaining forests. It’s 2008 and Liam Greenwood is a carpenter, sprawled on his back after a workplace fall, calling out from the concrete floor of an empty mansion. It’s 1974 and Willow Greenwood is out of jail, free after being locked up for one of her endless series of environmental protests: attempts at atonement for the sins of her father’s once vast and violent timber empire. It’s 1934 and Everett Greenwood is alone, as usual, in his maple-syrup camp squat, when he hears the cries of an abandoned infant and gets tangled up in the web of a crime, secrets, and betrayal that will cling to his family for decades. And throughout, there are trees: a steady, silent pulse thrumming beneath Christie’s effortless sentences, working as a guiding metaphor for withering, weathering, and survival."

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

by Oliver Burkeman

I loved this book. The premise is this: life is short; each of us, on average, is alive for only four thousand weeks. It's impossible to accomplish and experience everything we want to. So how do we decide what is actually worth our time? I especially appreciated his thoughts on how everyone is just winging it, all the time, and that serializing our tasks will save us. I read this book very slowly: I rarely spend more than a week reading a book, but I read this one over the course of three, which was perfect for the material.

Parable of the Talents

by Octavia E. Butler

From the publisher: "Lauren Olamina was only eighteen when her family was killed, and anarchy encroached on her Southern California home. She fled the war zone for the hope of quiet and safety in the north. There she founded Acorn, a peaceful community based on a religion of her creation, called Earthseed, whose central tenet is that God is change. Five years later, Lauren has married a doctor and given birth to a daughter. Acorn is beginning to thrive. But outside the tranquil group’s walls, America is changing for the worse. Presidential candidate Andrew Steele Jarret wins national fame by preaching a return to the values of the American golden age. To his marauding followers, who are identified by their crosses and black robes, this is a call to arms to end religious tolerance and racial equality—a brutal doctrine they enforce by machine gun. And as this band of violent extremists sets its deadly sights on Earthseed, Acorn is plunged into a harrowing fight for its very survival."

Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave

by Peter Heller

Peter Heller's memoir about learning to surf as a forty-something. After taking a few lessons with a buddy, he realizes the only way to really learn is to dedicate serious time to the sport, so he and his girlfriend buy a VW bus, press pause on their regular lives, and head to Mexico for a few months in their quest to move from kooks ("beginner surfer," with a derisive spin) to accomplished surfer. I have zero intention of ever surfing myself, but that's fine: this book holds appeal for Heller fiction fans, lovers of nature writing, and (I'm being totally serious) those interested in a serious but not humorless exploration of a self-described midlife crisis.

November Road

by Lou Berney

From the publisher: "Frank Guidry’s luck has finally run out. A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans' mob boss Carlos Marcello, Guidry has learned that everybody is expendable. But now it's his turn—he knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he's next. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate—a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish. Guidry knows that the first rule of running is 'don’t stop,' but when he sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. It's an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope—and find each other on the way. Another rule—fugitives shouldn't fall in love, especially with each other. But now Guidry doesn’t want to just survive, he wants to really live, maybe for the first time. And it might get them both killed."

The Cellist

by Daniel Silva

I had a good idea of what to expect from this Gabriel Allon story: a fast-moving spy novel with a smart sense of humor. Allon recruits the titular cellist—a savvy banker by day—to go undercover to bust a corrupt Russian billionaire. Silva often weaves current events into his stories: the coronavirus is ever-present in these pages, and in his Author's Note Silva explains he wrote an entirely new ending after the January 6 Capitol siege. It felt a little long in places, but I still enjoyed this story of revenge, money, and power; I especially admired the recurring motif of improvisation.

Quick Lit September 2021

Greenwood

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Parable of the Talents

Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave

November Road

The Cellist

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

Quick Lit September 2021

Greenwood

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Parable of the Talents

Kook: What Surfing Taught Me About Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave

November Road

The Cellist

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations for every mood

100 Book recommendations
for every mood