Sydney Reads and Reads: August

August was a bit wild over here.  I spent time early in the month house-sitting for some friends in town with the most incredible view.  Then I ran off to Colorado to see Alex Dean get married, came home for a couple weeks, and then it was off to Kentucky to help Chrisena tie the knot! Being surrounded by so many people I love and seldom get to see was wonderful, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to a little downtime at home in September as we ease our way into Fall.

One of the benefits of travel and having to prioritize downtime on a busy schedule? The books I picked were GOOD. Seriously, every pick in August was an all-star, and I'm so excited to be sharing them with you!

When Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, announced over a year ago she was writing a book I knew it would be one that I would read.  Among other things, Linda has a particular proclivity for smart '90s rom-coms where the woman has I don't know, a brain, and doesn't just run off into the sunset because Richard Gere crinkles his eyes at her

Evvie Drake Starts Over has all the ingredients that make for a contemporary hit, while also tickling your rom-com bone: a woman starting over (with maybe a secret or two), a platonic male best friend, small-town Maine, and a baseball player with the yips. What. More. Could. You. Want? All that aside, what really struck me about Evvie Drake is how relatable all the characters were.  Evvie and her friends' lives are messy.  Her best friend Andy is going through a divorce, Evvie is still processing the loss of her husband, Dean (the aforementioned baseball player) is trying to process what it means to quit a dream you've had your whole life. And yet, they show up for each other, they get up (most days) and make choices and move forward with their lives.  And when romance is in the air, they don't just jump into bed with each other without weighing the consequences.  It's complicated, and it's wonderful. Read it.

When I went to Key West for my cousin Madi's wedding in 2018 I had two personal objectives.  See Harry Truman's "Little White House" (duh), and see Ernest Hemingway's five-toed cats. That's right, five-toed cats.  Isn't it bizarre? They look like they're walking around on little mittens! Fun fact, they have a veterinarian on call there to take care of the cats and during the hurricane in 2017 several of the staff hunkered down in the house with them to ensure their safety through the storm. Seeing the cats, touring the home, and hearing about Ernest and his family's time there was outstanding.  A true travel highlight for me. And wouldn't you know, the have a bookstore on site. In years previous to the trip I'd read Old Man and the Sea, and The Sun Also Rises, and since A Farewell to Arms was partially written in Key West (and in Kansas City, MO) I chose it to come home with me.  Where it proudly sad on my nightstand for over a year.

I enjoyed slipping back into Hemingway's straightforward writing style.  I love a flourish of prose, but there's something refreshing on a hot summer day about sitting down with a drink and a no-nonsense narrator that equally thrills me. The book may center its self around a wartime romance between an American ambulance driver fighting for the Italian army, and a British nurse caught in the brutalities of WWI Europe, but the style keeps us, the reader, grounded forcing us to see the tragedy along with the beauty. I won't soon forget the humid days and nights I spent with A Farewell to Arms, and I'm certain to return to it again and again.

To say I feel like a cliche when I think about my experience reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love is an understatement. For how many middle-class women (and men) have read her words, followed her journey and thought to themselves, "Fuck the patriarchy! If Liz can do it, I can too!" Too many to count I am sure.  And that's just the point of the wonderful, Eat, Pray Love Made Me Do It!

In this companion piece to Liz's original work, we hear the stories of person after person who followed the siren call of Eat, Pray, Love and actually changed their lives. There are stories of people finding ways to pay for college when they thought it was impossible, people digging themselves out of grief, even an (almost) priest who leaves the church and comes to terms with his sexuality. No matter the details, at its heart, each story is about someone realizing they were living a life other than one that would bring them fulfillment and happiness and doing the hard work to change that.

I said I feel like a cliche, but in all honesty, I don't care.  This book, like it's original, found me at a time when I felt deeply lost and has served as a reminder to me of the invigorating feeling of action, of hope, of striving to live the life you want, one decision at a time. Liz and Co. I'll never be able to thank you enough. Onward.

The Guest House, by Sarah Blake, follows three generations of the Milton family of New York.  From 1935 when they're building their empire on the back of German steel contracts, to present day when the family fortune is gone, but their privilege and the family island off the coast of Maine remain. Blake explores how ever-modernizing opinions on religion, race, and sexual orientation challenge the Miltons, forcing them to ask themselves, "How much is enough to pay for the decisions of my husband/father/family? And is it my responsibility to pay for it in the first place?"

The Guest House is atmospheric and lovely.  It's depictions of New York City spot on.  And as someone who struggles with where they fit within their family legacy and their privilege, I found it deeply relatable.  Lovers of The Clockmaker's Daughter or Kate Morton, in general, will not be disappointed.

Given how busy I was in August, I'm actually amazed I managed to put away four books! September has been much more relaxed and I've been crossing genres right and left. Stay tuned to find out more! - xo Sydney