Sherwood Book Corner Column: Reads for your pumpkin spice
The Sherwood Bookstore recommends new books for your reading list
By Adam Bienvenu and Rebecca Nelson for the Sherwood Sun
SHERWOOD, Ore. — Oh my gourd, it’s pumpkin spice season, by far my favorite time of the year! We just crossed the equinox on September 22nd, meaning it’s time to get all those harvest treats ready. Think bread, mushrooms, pumpkins, corn and apples. Put on this season’s replay of "Over the Garden Wall" and get cozy! To set the mood accordingly, we’ve been spooking up the bookstore, complete with a Goosebumps-for-Grownups display, full of horror novellas.
We love finding ways to bring the community together for unique celebrations throughout the year. Towards the end of the month, we will be putting up a community ofrenda, where you can leave a photo for anyone you’d like to honor for Día de los Muertos. We will have it up from October 28th through November 3rd. Please feel free to bring photos and offerings to participate!
"Taipei Story" by R.F. Kuang
Yale Freshman Lily Chen lands in Taipei for a rigorous two-month study abroad program full of hopes, plans, and a desire to improve her fluency in Chinese so that she may communicate better with her family. Yet these plans evaporate when she encounters a cramped apartment, a distant roommate, and an unfortunate incident that puts her on the brink of becoming a social pariah. In my opinion, that is where the story really begins.
Exploring themes of language, identity, and one’s place in the diaspora, R.F. Kuang fluidly weaves a story that navigates the impact of translation, both in language and in being. Like many of Kuang’s other protagonists, Lily is sharp, driven, averse to failure, and at times so intently focused she misses what is happening around her. It isn’t until tragedy hits that her carefully crafted persona is disrupted, forcing her to choose how she will move forward.
Having recently returned from my own (shorter) study abroad experience, I connected with how Kuang captured the eagerness of arrival, group dynamics, and the push and pull between engaging with a different culture while questioning one’s place on their own. Yet I don’t experience the same pressures Lily does. For example, I am not expected to be fluent in another language, or to have it as a defining part of my identity. Lily carries this weight among other expectations. "Taipei Story" is not about her success or failure in navigating these challenges. It is about grief, imperfect action, and engaging with the question of whether the diaspora can truly bring someone home.
"Tempest" by Victoria Aveyard
Victoria Aveyard is back with a fantasy on the high seas that will have you wondering why you haven’t read more fiction about pirates!
Catrine “Cat” Rose had the unfortunate luck of being married to a dim, pompous man whose debts forced them to retreat to his family’s island in the Lyrian Sea. Now a widow ten years later, she seeks to avoid the noose as the pirate’s hold on the isles collapses and the empire takes control. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid hanging is to hand the empire the one man she has ever loved – Captain Valerian Kane.
What I love about Aveyard’s yarn is how she never attempts to pass Cat off as someone to pity. Cat is calculating, ambitious. She is motivated by whatever places her in the best position: her own survival. Cat isn’t someone meant to evoke empathy, but rage. For women, that rage may be in understanding the few options available to women of that time. No, Cat isn’t likable, but she is still someone worth rooting for, and I believe the reader will. I enjoyed the tease of Valerian, the slow unfolding of their meeting and their connection. Cat has betrayed him, and part of the dual chronology is discovering what that betrayal is and the tension of anticipating how they will react when they come back together.
"Tempest" is the first book in a duology, to be followed up with "Tyrant," which has no announced release date. This book is a must- read if you have enjoyed any of Aveyard’s previous work, like the "Red Queen" series, or if you enjoy a good high-stakes will-they-won’t-they.
The Sherwood Sun
