“I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read That Yet” #3

August’s Result

This month, themed on classic middle grade fiction, had a clear winner – The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear. A few people commented about their strong reaction to this book when they first read it as children. I can see its appeal at that age! This book explores a period of history I knew very little about. I did spend some time on the Wikipedia pages for Quakers and Puritans in America… I liked how Kit’s ‘modern’ sensibilities had a logical explanation, coming from her upbringing in Barbados. I also appreciated that Kit and her cousins never fought about boys, despite the mixed up pairings.  Romantic relationships are important to the story, but not central or mushy. I tensed up at Kit’s hearing, wondering how the situation would end. Some statements about Indians show the book’s age and the portrayal of Mercy and her disability has touches of ‘inspirational disabled person’ about it. Overall, a solid reading that I may have enjoyed as a child, despite my preference for true witches.

September’s Selection

I sorted my Goodreads to-read-non-fiction shelf by length, shortest to longest. I’ve got a lot of non-fiction on my TBR, but I’ll be busy for the rest of the year with my studies so I want to keep my recreational reading ‘light’ ;P

• Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag (117 pages)
• People to People, Nation to Nations: Highlights from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People by Rene Dussault (184 pages)
• The Truth About Stories by Thomas King (184 pages)
• The Map Thief by Michael Blanding (22 pages)

Which book should I read in September? Leave a comment below or vote on Twitter! (I can’t tell who voted on Twitter, so if you’re really gunning for a book you can vote in the comments AND on Twitter 😜)