The Moon Is Down - John Steinbeck

This might be a meandering review, sorry in advance! 

This year I signed up for Dracula Daily, which is this super fun free service that emails you the pertinent chapter(s) from Bram Stoker's Dracula on the day in which they take place in the novel. While this is indeed a really awesome thing that I am really enjoying, I decided that I wanted to just skip ahead and read the whole book, so I went searching in the library. I didn't find any alleged vampires, but in STE I stumbled on this thin book, and since I hadn't heard of it before and like John Steinbeck, I picked it up. 

This book was written in the early 40s about a town that is occupied by an invading force, which we are meant to think of as Nazis, although they are not specifically identified as such. Since we have literal Nazis stomping through American streets these days, which is simultaneously mind-boggling, disgusting, and infuriating, and there are many Americans who seem to desperately want a fascist theocracy to destroy any kind of human rights or freedoms for 90% of Americans (women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, people who aren't "Christians," etc.), I figured this was a timely read. 

And so it was. In my opinion the main takeaway was that resistance is paramount. The occupied people must keep some kind of hope and do what they can to resist, even if it's just rebuffing the invaders on a personal level. They will most likely outnumber the invaders, who are far from home and susceptible to human weakness. People can do small things, like consistently disrupting the enemy supply chain, that make a difference. This is a small book in size but I can see why it was printed in secret and smuggled widely during World War II. Highly recommended. 

And PLEASE, PLEASE, if you are American, vote this fall and in every election. People have fought and died so that all of us could vote. Many of us wouldn't have been able to vote in the (relatively recent) past, so we owe it to ourselves to exercise this hard-won right to do what we can to keep the forces of evil at bay. 

Lyra's Oxford - Philip Pullman

This book is one of the oldest residents on my TBR pile. It was one of the many (many!) books I got during the Borders last day sales, but I felt strange reading it as I hadn't read the complete series this book is a companion to. Now that I have managed that, it was really nice to have more to read in this universe. 

This book is small so it's a fast read, and one of the most fun elements is the included map and other materials at the end of the book. I consulted the map frequently while reading the short story and it really enhanced the experience. Evidently there is another book like this, with another short story and etc., so I will have to seek that out. Recommended. 

The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman (Spoilers)

 Note: this brief review contains spoilers, because I don't think I can review it adequately without them.

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As much as I really liked the previous two books in this series, this one is more of a mixed bag. I felt like there was more of a buildup to Metatron and the Authority that didn't quite pay off - they seemed to be dispatched without too much of a fight. Also, as glad as I kind of was that Mrs. Coulter came to a sticky end, it too lacked a real punch and why did she have to take Lord Asriel with her? Not that he was perfect, but still... 

The ending of the book is really sad - the part where Lyra and Will agree to "meet up" every year was actually heartbreaking. I did really enjoy this series and I am looking forward to seeing how they adapt this one for the TV series. I also plan to read the newer books set in this universe. Highly recommended. 

The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman

"That is what the Church does, and every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling. So if a war comes, and the Church is on one side of it, we must be on the other...."

-Ruta Skadi

"seems to me the place you fight cruelty is where you find it, and the place you give help is where you see it needed." 

-Lee Scoresby

"We've had nothing but lies and propaganda and cruelty and deceit for all the thousands of years of human history. It's time we started again, but properly this time...."

"Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."

-Dr. Stanislaus Grumman

The Guncle - Steven Rowley

So what constitutes a "beach read?" In my opinion, it's a light story that can be picked up and put down as needed during some leisure time. This book qualifies as a great beach read, but it also has some depth, as it tackles love and loss. I really liked the titular Guncle, and not just because one of my dearest friends just bought a house in Palm Springs, ha ha. I will say that the writing was kind of so-so. Characters behaved erratically sometimes, and it seemed arbitrary and random; there were random clunky sentences here and there and the usual amount of "telling, not showing" that abounds in contemporary bestseller type books. That said, I would read the author's other books, so make of it what you will. A kind of strange book club choice but enjoyable enough. 

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

Weird story about this book - I actually read it for the first time many years ago on a friend's recommendation and I thought it was OK, but I wasn't impressed enough to read the next 2 books. My husband got the set of 3 books as a gift a couple years ago and I have enjoyed the HBO series, so with the world in complete and total disarray these days I sorely needed a distraction and figured I'd read the series, starting with a re-read of this book. 

For whatever reason, this time I really enjoyed the book, and it became a really fast and enjoyable read. One thing I really like is that it deals with some dark themes that are food for thought. And these days in particular it seems valuable to read stories that show people can fight back against the forces of evil. I'll definitely be reading the next 2 books in quick succession. Recommended.