My August ‘17 TBR List

Tina Ollenburg
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

Last month I only read fiction, so this month I’m trying to focus more on some nonfiction books. If I never thought about it, I’m sure I would only ever read fiction but I think it’s really beneficial to get out of your comfort zone a little, especially with reading. When I shadowed Michiko Kakutani’s reads for a year I had to pick up a lot of nonfiction I never would have otherwise, like political and military memoirs. I ended up feeling a lot more aware of what was happening in the world, so it’s a practice I’ve tried to keep up since then.

via @tinaisreading on Instagram

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert — I tend to get a little overwhelmed by advice/self-help type books (how will I ever remember all these tips?!), but I’ve heard so many good things about this one and sometimes I need a little extra inspiration to get writing. I like how Gilbert promotes creative living and the idea that you can pursue those types of dreams or goals while not ever taking yourself too seriously. It should be fun, that’s the point! It’s easy to forget that we all do what we love precisely because we are supposed to love it. The worst thing that can happen is to give up on creative activities because you get bogged down with fear or not being good enough. If you like it, what else matters? Easier said than done, though, right.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi — I selected this novel for one of my book clubs this month and I’m hoping it lives up to my expectations. I’ve been hearing so much about it for the last year and now it’s finally out in paperback (bonus!). The book sounds epic in scope, following the diverging paths of two Ghanaian sisters and their descendants over the course of 300 years. One sister is married off to a wealthy Englishman and the other is sold into the slave trade and shipped to America. From there, the fates of their families are very different. I don’t know much about Gyasi’s writing style, so I’m curious to see how she tells this story.

via @tinaisreading on Instagram

The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa — This novel was a recommendation and loan from my mom, so I think I’ll end up liking it. I can usually trust her picks. This is historical fiction, set during WWII, but the premise sounds unique in comparison to all the other novels focused on that era. In this one, two German Jewish families attempt to escape Berlin by boarding the St. Louis, a transatlantic liner bound for Cuba. Unfortunately, as they cross the sea, events of the war intensify and the passengers’ refuge and futures become increasingly uncertain.

Evicted by Matthew Desmond — I have been aiming to read this nonfiction book for some time now. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize this year, Evicted follows the fates of eight families in Milwaukee living on the precipice of financial collapse. Desmond explores the issue of unaffordable housing and the rising rate of evictions in particular. These days, people are paying more than half their income in rent, even in the poorest of neighborhoods and squalid conditions. I really want to learn more about this issue and it sounds like Desmond did a lot of excellent research.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs — Like Evicted, this is a nonfiction book I’ve been hoping to read for some time. I remember it got a lot of buzz when it came out in 2014 and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since then. Robert Peace straddled two worlds. Born in “Illtown,” a ghetto outside Newark, Peace beat the odds and earned a full scholarship to Yale University. Unfortunately, he was unable to completely leave the streets behind and found himself caught up in the drug trade, brutally murdered by age 30. Hobbs is Peace’s college roommate and this book is a deeper look into the short and complicated life of his lost friend.

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra — This is a short story collection and one of my book club reads for the month. I read Marra’s A Constellation of Vital Phenomena a few years back, also for book club, and thought it was beautifully written, though incredibly sad. The subject matter of these stories seems similar (Soviet settings, broken families, violence and death) so I am expecting it to be a lot like his previous novel. I must say, I’m not entirely looking forward to this one. I find the topics and time period interesting, but also very depressing, which can make it hard to stick with.

This is my lineup for the month! Hopefully I can get to everything, especially since I’ve been hoping to read Evicted and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace for awhile. Stay tuned for my thoughts as I make my way through! What are you reading this month?

Tina Ollenburg

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B2B writer for finance and marketing/Avid reader

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