In September we traveled to France and Portugal. We revisited one of our favorite places, Saint-Emilion, and toured wineries around Bordeaux. We explored Lisbon and Porto with four of our friends. We saw cows and windmills, castles and convents. I ate octopus, sampled port, and walked till I wanted to drop.
One of the highlights of the trip (besides the wine) was bookstores! In Lisbon we visited one of the oldest operating bookstores, Bertrands, and in Porto we went to Livraria Lello, a bookstore famous for inspiring J.K. Rowling (and with a line around the block just to get in).
I kept my reading pretty light this month. Here’s what I read:
- Shortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg
- Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (audio)
- The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit by Amy Stewart
- Conviction by Denise Mina (audio)
- Big Sky by Kate Atkinson
My favorite read: The Handmaid’s Tale was just as good as I remembered it. Atwood’s novel is every bit as chilling today as it was when it was written, and maybe more so because it seems eminently plausible. Pete Buttigieg’s memoir was excellent, and I enjoyed Mina’s Conviction, but Urrea’s House of Broken Angels stood out for the beautiful writing and moving depiction of a Mexican-American family.
Most disappointing read: I didn’t love the second book in the Maisie Dobb’s series, and I think I won’t continue reading the series. I found the writing repetitive, the story unconvincing and the characters a bit annoying, though some of that might have been the audiobook.
Didn’t finish: I stopped and started quite a few books this month, before deciding to just keep my reading pretty light while traveling. I started reading Radium Girls, about the women working in radium factories during World War II, and it was quite good but I found it much too disturbing to read on vacation.
What I’m reading now: I’m reading Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie, and listening to Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller (pure fun). I’m also working my way slowly through Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton.
What’s coming up: I have an ARC of Elizabeth Strout’s new book, Olive Again. I also need to read Victoria Hyslop’s The Return for my book club, and I want to read Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
Things that made me happy this month: I feel incredibly lucky to be able to see the world. And as much as I love to travel, another thing makes me happy and grateful: coming home again. There are so many things I treasure more for having been away.
That was my reading month in September! How was your month?
The Book Stop 
I’m audiobooking The Handmaid’s Tale right now! It’s my first audiobook (like…ever. I know, I know), and although I read The Handmaid’s Tale when I was fifteen, it’s making much more of an impression on me now.
I just started audio-booking myself, and now I’m hooked. I loved re-reading Handmaid’s Tale, and thought the show’s representation of it was quite good, in the first 3-4 episodes. I stopped watching after that because I didn’t want to see it diverge from the book.
Yeah, that’s what’s put me off too. The book is already such a complex piece of work!
You photos are so pretty! That sounds like an awesome trip. I hope you have a good October!
Thanks AJ. It was great fun. I enjoyed traveling with friends and seeing a new part of the world. Happy October!
I also lost interest in the Kopp Sisters after the second book. I’m putting House of Broken Angels on my list.
House of Broken Angels was great. The author uses quite a lot of Spanish which is challenging but gives the book a much more authentic feel. I listened to part of it on audiobook which was helpful.
I’m still enjoying the Kopp series. In this latest book I liked that the author focused more on character and less on the external plot. Though I suspect people will complain there wasn’t too much of a story.
Uh oh, I know no Spanish. Is it understandable from context at all?
I think it was very understandable in context, and I don’t know a lot of Spanish.
Wow! I have wanted to visit Portugal for a long time. What an amazing bookstore too!
Your vacation sounds completely wonderful! And visiting bookstores as a bonus!
Sorry to hear you’ve given up on Maisie Dobbs—I’m a fan of the series and read them in order and am all caught up. But, there’s no point reading books that don’t work for you—so much else out there to choose from!
I’m a Kate Atchison fan, but haven’t read Big Sky myself.
Nice variety of genres.
Happy October!