Two Reads for the Week

231. The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters With Extraordinary People by Susan Orlean

I wanted to finish this book so I could release it at the Texas Book Festival Saturday; Orlean will be there. It is really not a book to be hurried. It is written at a leisurely pace and it wanted to be read at a leisurely pace. That’s probably why I’ve been reading through this book for months.

It would make a perfect Kindle book, a book to read on a plane or train. I especially liked the stories about the potential singing star and the author’s hairdresser. Orlean has a way of letting you into a person life, almost as if you’ve known the person for years.

232. The Gathering by Anne Enright

If you’ve got a shelf where you store your Oprah reads and your Oprah-like reads, add this one. The Gathering is the sad, sad story of a family who gathers together for the funeral of a brother who committed suicide.

After hearing Enright read one of her short stories in Houston recently, I expected this book to be a love-it book. It wasn’t. It was just another sad family story.