March 2025 books read

  • Green Mansions – William Henry Hudson, 1904. I have seen so many references to this over my reading life (especially about “Rima the bird-girl”) that I’m not sure why I hadn’t read it before. It’s weird, not great but quite interesting (despite lots of racism).
  • The End of Drum-Time – Hanna Pylvainen, 2023. Second Monday selection; quotes TBD.
  • The Darkness Manifesto: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms That Sustain Life – Johan Eklöf (tr. Elizabeth DeNoma), 2020. Nature Environment selection; quotes TBD.
  • Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood – Trevor Noah, 2016. Massachusetts Center for the Book, “A book about someone with a marginalized identity” (this was on their suggested list and I’d heard good things about it). I wrote: “A charming memoir, mixing the comic, tragic, and everyday aspects of growing up mixed under apartheid and its aftershocks.”
  • A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle, 1962. Great Books selection (re-read); quotes TBD.
  • The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins, 2008. I read this when it came out, as well as the sequel (I don’t remember if I read the third in the series, and definitely did not read the fourth). The fifth, which just came out, is getting excellent reviews, and a book group friend talks about how good they are, so I figured I’d re-embark on the journey. Yeah, it’s not bad. My biggest issue is how the producers/camera operators etc. are invisible and morally neutral. Current reality TV (esp. listening to the On Fire podcast and reading the book Bachelor Nation) keeps their viewpoint in my mind.

Short stories

  • “The Mysterious Stranger” (1916 version) and “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg” (1899) by Mark Twain (both re-reads). “Mysterious Stranger” came up in a Far Out Film meeting. Now that I know about the alternate versions I’m interested to try them too; it’s super-weird and fascinating.
  • “Flowering Judas” (1930) by Katherine Anne Porter, for Story Club. I read it twice, read George Saunders’ great analysis and most of the comments, but still don’t 100% get/appreciate it.