Bibliophilia: March

I read a bit less this month, mainly because I have been busy doing life building sh!t. Therefore, here is a quick update before we dive into the three books I read this month.

One, I have decided to live in Newcastle, New South Wales! Better known by the locals simply as Newy, it is a quaint city approxamitely 160 kms north of Sydney. I am currently living in the studio of this beautiful couple, Nicki and Rusty, in the neighborhood of Mayfield. This is our home base as we look for something closer to the beach and city centers we want to be near. In the meantime, they are my new best friends and we have been hanging out at least once a week. I have also become psuedo mom to their Schnauzer, Jameson, who is somewhat filling the aching hole in my heart for Bodhi.

Secondly, I have purchased my first car - ever! She is THE quintessential aussie rig; born 2000, just like me, she is a white Troopy Land Cruiser. This purchase has also swept us into a great community of fellow troopy owners who have an unspoken rule to wave, shaka, gesture whatever without exception to eachother as you drive by. Subsequently, I am now a proficient driver of stick shift, so go me!

Lastly, for now, I have just acquired a new job in Newie, as a personality hire at Talulah, a local cafe in The Junction. The coffee + food + vibes are delectable so I am very stoked. I have my first official shift on Friday. Overall, I am feeling extremely blessed and taken care of by the universe and lucky for the energy she is bringing into my life. Now that you all know what is up! let's get on to the books:

1. Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West by Katie Hickman Ok, so this story was a kind of hodge podge collection of various women's lives and writings from the time period of western migration. It gave amazing insight into what life was like through journal entries and letters written by the women. As you can expect, it wasn't necessarily a fun read, what with all the horrible atrocities that occurred to both land and people. I didn't love this book but I will say it gave me the smallest sliver of something to be proud of. The women that made America were badass. Though I by no means agree with what whites did to the people and land that had been there long before them, there is no denying that they too had to survive tremendously hard life circumstances. Lastly, it was an interesting parallel to read these women's accounts of great migration while I too was on my own journey through new and uncharted lands (by no means as rugged as theirs). Here's a little poem I wrote about it all: something to be proud of: 

   hearing the harrowing stories of the women who made the american west 

   as i myself am making my own exploration into unknown lands 

   it gave me something to be proud of 

   some sliver of being american

   that i could still be proud of: 

   resilience, strength, perseverance, and purpose. 
   

2. Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) by Diana Gabaldon This book was unfortunately so missable! I am still having fun and craving the continuation of the story line so I am persisting onto the third book in the series. However, this one was just a bit boring and slow compared to the first. The smut sections also made my toes curl and did the opposite of turn me on. Writing about sex is no doubt a skill, and unfortunately, the tactics employed in this book felt immature and lazy.
   

3. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy Yes yes yes! Everything about this book is amazing. The writing style, the voice, the western crime narrative, overlayed with deeper themes of good vs evil, absolutely EVERYTHING. I read this in only three days. It was a page turner and the way the reader is kept in the dark is so good. There was nothing predictable about this book and there was nothing even too climactic. The story was well-paced start to finish. Bonus was watching the movie after. I always love that opportunity because you get to see the story you just read and created in your own head told through someone else's vision. I always find this thought provoking because it has you analyzing what you thought was important that maybe was left out or perhaps shows you something important you didn't catch while reading it. At the end of the day, it simply provides more time for appreciating the story and that is always a good thing!