Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Three Books I've Read Recently and Loved

Well, friends, I’m afraid we’ve been a bit absent here lately! Maile’s mom moved all her things north the weekend before Easter, our kids were home from college this past weekend (which always makes me happy and sentimental), and we’re getting the shop ready for a busy and exciting May! There’s so much going on!

Meanwhile, we approach our one-year anniversary as the owners of this lovely little book shop, which we’re going to talk about in our next episode of So, We Bought a Bookshop (to hear the last episode, which was such a fun conversation with a creative couple who walked away from traditional employment to build furniture, check it out HERE).

Life is so good! And so full! Spring is overwhelming us but with good things. And hard things. So many things!

Yet, in the midst of it all, I wanted to take a moment and point out some of the wonderful novels I’ve read recently. So, in no particular order, here we go!

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Wow, this book is a classic for a reason. We read this in on of our book clubs at Nooks and everyone absolutely loved it—for some folks it was a top read of the year so far. It tells the incredible story of Janie Crawford, a southern black woman in the 30s, as she journeys through three marriages and a quest to find her own identity. We all found Janie incredibly enthralling, her story both sad and uplifting. This is a truly special book with some beautiful language and a look into what it meant to be poor and black in the south in the early 20th century. Highly recommend.

North Woods by Daniel Mason

Each chapter of this novel tells a different story of a home built in the Massachusetts backwoods country, starting in the pre-United States 1600s and bringing us right up to the present moment. There’s a mystical quality to the home, and Mason lets us in on some of the metaphysical realities taking place as well. So many intriguing characters and lovely through-lines that bring together a book that could have gotten lost in all the different stories. It’s a wonderful read.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

One of the most unique stories I’ve read in a long time, Drive Your Plow has a first person narrator you don’t know what to think of! At times endearing, at times annoying, at times completely unbelievable, Janina is constantly in charge of the narrative. You don’t even realize you’re reading a murder mystery until at least halfway through the book…just one of the ways this is a genre-bending piece of art. If you’re up for something different, something a bit bizarre, a bit niche, this book is for you! I really enjoyed it.

That’s it for this week! What have your read recently, and did you love it, like it, or abandon it?!