Beat Cancer Kitchen (& More September Reads)
I read six books in the month of September, including Chris & Micah Wark’s Beat Cancer Kitchen cookbook. That still counts, right? Read on for my impressions of each title
6 Books I Read in September
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
My daughter and I listened to Gordon Korman’s Ungifted while driving to and from volleyball games in remote East Texas towns.
What a hoot!
Through a crazy clerical mix-up, a student whose only “gift” seems to be getting into mischief winds up being transferred to a school for geniuses. And while his abysmal grades cause the new teachers to question how he ever gained admission, his presence ends up benefitting his brilliant classmates in surprising and substantial ways.
This book was such a fun way to kick off a new school year!
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
Beat Cancer Kitchen by Chris & Micah Wark (paper)
I normally don’t read cookbooks cover to cover, but I made an exception for Beat Cancer Kitchen by Chris & Micah Wark. That’s because the recipes are packed with footnotes and research as to how individual ingredients have been linked with improved immunity and lower incidence/recurrence of cancer.
Also, it’s been fun to note all the unusual flavor combinations, such as fresh strawberries and jalapeños or collard greens and apricots.
I’ve tried some of the more basic recipes in the book and really enjoyed them. My success on that front makes me more interested in attempting others.
Motherhood: The 2nd Oldest Profession by Erma Bombeck
I have lots of fond memories of my mother laughing over Erma Bombeck’s newspaper column which ran weekly in The Dallas Times Herald throughout my childhood. So when I spotted a copy of Bombeck’s book Motherhood on the free shelf at my local library, I snatched it up to bring on our cruise to Alaska last month.
Sadly, the book seems to now be out of print (the humor would likely go over the heads of younger generations), but it kept both me and my mother in stitches for days. I especially enjoyed Bombeck’s tongue-in-cheek take on whether it’s harder to raise girls or boys — and even agree with some of the finer points of her argument!
Shipwreck by Gordon Korman –
Another book I “read” during last month’s cruise was Book 1 of Gordon Korman’s Island triology: Shipwreck, as it’s currently included with my Audible membership.
For the kids on this ocean voyage, nearly everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I gleaned some potentially useful information — such as the fact your odds of survival in the open sea often boil down to how well protected you are against sunburn and thirst.
Fortunately, our cruise progressed without incident, so I didn’t need to put any of that knowledge to specific use. Although the final chapter of this short story offered a modicum of resolution, I won’t be fully satisfied until I finish the next two books in the series, Survival and Escape.
Glad Tidings by Jennifer Flanders
The final book I read last month was the audio version of my own Glad Tidings, which I was editing to get it ready to sell on Amazon. For decades, my husband has read this book aloud to our family every December as a way of reviewing our shared history and letting the younger kids know what the older ones were like when they were little.
But now that most of our kids have grown up and left home, I decided to record Glad Tidings as an audiobook, so that it will be easier for those adult kids to share our family story with their own children. I’m happy with how it turned out. ❤️
For My Fellow Bookworms
Do you love to read as much as we do? I’ve gathered all my best resources for bibliophiles onto this page, or you can read more of my book reviews by following this link .
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