LIFE'S A PEARL

The middle of the month means it’s time for a new Quick Lit post! Every month around the 15th one of my favorite book blogs, Modern Mrs Darcy, hosts a link up for fellow book lovers and bloggers to share what they’ve been reading lately.

After last month’s Quick Lit, I met one of my reading goals early for the year. I crossed the line of completing 100 books! Though my reading life has slowed down a bit so far in September as I prepare to welcome my first child, I’m really hoping to continue this reading streak.

Fall doesn’t officially begin for another week, but I am fully ready to embrace any story that gives me the autumn feels. I recently began working on a fall TBR list. I’ve been putting a bunch of items on hold with the library to get ready for my favorite reading season!

My September Quick Lit contains a last minute summer romance, a couple of nonfiction books, as well as some early atmospheric reads for autumn.

September Quick Lit:

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Rating: 3.5 stars

The last thing Emily saw herself doing when she relocated to Willow Creek, Maryland to help out after a family accident was participate in a Renaissance Faire. But she’s filling in as guardian to her niece, Caitlin, until her sister is back on her feet. Emily is determined to see this new development through for Caitlin’s sake. Even if it means putting up with Simon, the irritating and condescending school teacher running things.

Simon and Emily butt heads throughout practice and preparation for the faire to begin. Once they’re in character though, an ongoing flirtation develops between the pirate and the tavern wench.

For Emily it’s difficult to tell where the acting ends and real feelings begin. She was only supposed to be in Willow Creek temporarily but soon she feels like this may be a community to call home.

This romance has been on my radar for awhile. I finally picked up the audiobook after hearing it recommended again on an episode of the Literally Reading podcast. Though this story takes place in summer, Well Met feels like a great book to escape into during this transition from summer to fall.

I really enjoyed the renaissance faire setting with the costumes, characters, and dialogue. Being in Emily’s head for the majority of the story was hilarious! In addition to great banter between Simon and Emily, there were several deeper emotional moments in this book as the characters grew.

I look forward to checking out more from Jen DeLuca as well as the other books in this series.

How to Be Fine: What We Learned from Living by the Rules of 50 Self-Help Books by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

Rating: 5 stars

I may be biased because I love the By the Book podcast co-hosted by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer. So it’s not surprising that I enjoyed their book as well. In each episode of the podcast these ladies read one self help book and then live by it’s advice or instructions for two weeks. They report how things went, what they learned, and what was helpful or not to their lives.

In How to Be Fine, the authors take all those books and experiences they’ve shared and pull out the themes that seem to work best, the ones that don’t, and formulate their own set of self help guidelines. They also examine the field of self help, question some author’s motives, and share several personal stories and histories that haven’t made it into the podcast.

I listened to this on audio which felt like the perfect format since I love the podcast so much. They switch back and forth seamlessly narrating their writing. The book has the same tone as their podcast – smart, funny, and bravely honest. If anything I was just bummed it’s such a short book. The audio is only 5 hours long.

The Essential C-Section Guide: Pain Control, Healing at Home, Getting Your Body Back, and Everything Else You Need to Know About a Cesarean Birth by Maureen Connolly and Dana Sullivan

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Essential C-Section Guide was written by Maureen Connolly and Dana Sullivan to help other women preparing for or recovering from a cesarean birth. Even though about 1 in 4 babies in the United States are delivered by c-section, most pregnancy books and birthing classes barely touch on the procedure.

This book covers the medical reasons for a c-section, worldwide statistics about the procedure, and what to expect in surgery. It goes through the recovery process, breastfeeding help, questions partners may have, and considerations for future pregnancies.

I appreciate that I was able to find this guide since it truly appears to be the only book out there that really offers information on c-sections. Most pregnancy books I read only cover avoiding them at all costs. Not exactly helpful when one is necessary for the health and safety of mother and baby.

I do wish that there was a newer edition of the book. While the bones of it are still helpful, a lot of the information is outdated. I found the breakdown of statistics involving cesareans fascinating – including that the U.S. doesn’t have the highest procedure rates. It was a little disheartening that the stigma surrounding c-sections hasn’t changed much in the past 15 years.

Some of the surgical information was slightly terrifying. While it’s probably best to know about possible side effects and complications beforehand, I wish the likelihood of those had been listed as well. There’s a very long chapter about getting your body back that really turned me off too. Perhaps it’s because I’m still on the side leading up to birth rather than recovery but that’s not high on my priority list or a pressure I’m looking to add.

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Rating: 3.5 stars

I dove into fall a little early with these last two choices for my September Quick Lit! I think this is the year I’ll finally read Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic series.

After much internal debate on where to jump in, I’m beginning the series in chronological order rather than publishing order. Plus I’ve seen the movie so I’m not completely new to the Owens witches and their family curse.

Magic Lessons takes place in the 1600s. It tells the story of Maria Owens, who’s abandoned as a baby in rural England. She is raised by Hannah Owens who recognizes Maria’s powers and teaches her the “Nameless Arts”.

Maria eventually finds her way to new lands through indentured servitude, where she hones her craft. She falls in love, has a child, and is ultimately abandoned by the man causing her to invoke the curse that haunts her lineage in future novels. That’s just the first part!

I love Alice Hoffman’s writing style. It’s so beautiful and the way she weaves this family’s history is truly magical. I feel like you have to be in the right mood for her stories though. She really shines a light on some hard and harsh themes of human nature. While her books are beautiful I can also find them quite depressing. There aren’t always happy endings here.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Rating: 2.5 stars

I checked this out from the library on a bit of a whim for my September Quick Lit when the audiobook came up available. Mexican Gothic has been on every fall reading list I’ve seen since its publication last year.

After the family receives a strange letter from her newly married cousin, Noemí is sent by her father to the distant High Place to find out what’s going on. While more interested in fashion and parties, Noemí is willful and unafraid of her cousin’s new family with their odd rules and antiquated inappropriate grandfather.

The longer Noemí visits though the more the gloom of the house sets in on her until it invades her dreams and causes sleep walking nightmares. Eventually it’s clear that this family keeps many secrets and nobody may have the power to leave.

If I hadn’t been listening to this book on audio, it may have been a DNF for me. At least with an audiobook, it’s possible to speed up the story. This book is horrifically atmospheric but incredibly slow to unravel. It wasn’t until the last quarter of the book that things took off.

Even then it grabbed my attention more because I was so thrown by the turn of events. The story took an almost science fiction direction. I haven’t read Rebecca, the classic that Mexican Gothic has constantly been compared to so maybe that’s why I was confused. It definitely left me with a “what the hell did I just read” feeling, which some readers may enjoy.

My Current Reads:

• Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
• My Caesarean: Twenty-One Mothers on the C-Section Experience and After edited by Amanda Fields and Rachel Moritz
• The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Diane Wiessinger, Diana West, and Teresa Pitman

---

What books are on your September Quick Lit?