October 2013

Following my friends' lead, I'm doing a monthly roundup now. What I've been reading, watching—stuff I didn't write full posts about. Big news: I finally scored a discount that makes my cultural obsession slightly more affordable. Here's what October looked like.

Maria Cristina's childhood was bleak as hell. She grew up somewhere in Canada, in the dreary village of Laperouse—a name that sounds exotic but delivered nothing close. Her early years were the opposite of cheerful. Ovaldé crafts a haunting portrait of isolation.

Whoever controls knowledge controls everything. The Church figured this out early—kept their clerics copying sacred and profane texts. Then the printing press arrived and wrecked their monopoly. Young King Louis XII had to deal with the fallout. Books became weapons.

"The whole country was seized by commemorative fury for the dead, proportional to its repulsion toward survivors." War throws together men who'd never otherwise meet. Lemaitre captures the bitter aftermath when heroes become inconvenient reminders.

"Our lives are tunnels that sometimes connect, letting daylight in at unexpected moments, then plunge us back into darkness." 1845. Frederick Douglass lands in Dublin looking for allies. McCann weaves histories across centuries. Brilliant stuff.

"Something followed them from Russia to their home." Holly wakes up on Christmas morning late and anxious. A dream pulled her back years—another Christmas when she and her husband went to Russia to adopt their daughter. Kasischke's unease is masterful.