A Good Reading Week
186. 10 Kings & Queens Who Changed the World by Clive Gifford
Readable text…illustrations that feel like those of a comic book…great choices of kings and queens…Kids who are fascinated with history, especially war, should like this book. I was intrigued enough with the kings and queens mentioned in the book to want to find out more.
187. The One Hundred: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own by Nina Garcia
I was shocked to see that I own at least one of almost everything mentioned in this book. Am I, then, if I use logical reasoning, to be considered “stylish”?
Just reading through the table of contents was fun: animal print…cape…clutch (do young women know what that is?)…driving shoe (I wasn’t sure about that one!)…little black dress…. What I still need to acquire? Wellington boots…ankle bootie (I’m not really a boot girl)…fur…. A fun, fun book.
188. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
I should have gone with my gut feelings. I checked this book out a while back, when it first came out, and I read a few pages and hated it. I gave it a second chance this week after hearing so many positive comments about it.
Something in my book radar has either gone haywire or I just missed it; I did not like this book. I can’t think of anything good to say about it. I didn’t like any of the characters, not even the friend Chuck, not even the main character. The plot was tedious. Who really cares if someone creates a cricket field in the US? And, honestly, who is really interested in cricket?
If anyone loved this book and came away from it wanting everyone on the planet to read it, I welcome hearing from you. I need to know what I am missing.
189. El Barrio by Debbi Chocolate and illustrated by David Diaz
Brilliant color. Illustrations that are dancing on the page. A beautiful book. I’m adding it to my wishlist for my school library.
190. Do Not Build a Frankenstein by Neil Numberman
A children’s picture book that I picked up from the library to preview. I say yes to this book. It would go well in my school library. A boy creates a Frankenstein and regrets it. But the story goes further than that and Frankenstein is seen to have redeeming qualities.
191. Princess Pig by Eileen Spinelli
All of us girls want to be princesses. It stands to reason that girl pigs would long to be princesses most of all. It is a world of glamour, as Princess Pig learns, but it also has its downside. What to do if you are a magnificent princess pig? Rule in beauty or rejoin your friend pigs frolicking in the mud?
192. Fred & Edie by Jill Dawson
This came in the mail last week, a BookCrossing bookring. I didn’t like it at first. Fred and Edie, I learned, are murderers. They fell in love with each other and Edie’s husband was in the way. The two teamed up to kill him and be free to be together. Of course, it did not work out as they had planned and both Fred and Edie ended up in jail for murder.
Fred and Edie is based on a true story. Edie wrote letters to Fred and the trials of the two were heavily publicized; the author used these to create this book.
The book is written mostly as letters Edie wrote to Fred, with a few newspaper articles interspersed in the story. Most of the letters are the author’s invention, but a few are actual letters written by Edie and all the newspaper articles are genuine.
I liked the book more as I read along. Edie and Fred were not glorified in the book, nor condemned, but, instead, were revealed to be real human beings, doing things that were both good and bad.
193. Secret Lives…of Walter Mitty and of James Thurber by James Thurber and illustrated by Marc Simont
This is another of the series, Wonderfully Illustrated Short Pieces. I like this series and I want to find more of it. The publishers have taken short stories and essays from the past and teamed up the pieces with a suitable illustrator to make a, yes, Wonderfully Illustrated Short Piece. This is the second book in the series that I’ve read and I loved. I’m raving about it. I have put the other two in the series on my wishlist and I hope the publishers will continue to find great short works for this series.
1 | Comment (0)Lots and Lots of Reviews
116. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
A hound dog worn down by life with a mean owner is befriended by a pregnant cat who has been discarded by her owner and everything changes for them both. This book has a mythical East Texas feel with a rattlesnake mother bent on revenge and an enormous alligator and a scarred man full of hate and the power of love….I liked it a lot. What do kids think?
117. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Trond Sander has removed himself to an isolated cabin to live out the remainder of his lonely life when he comes across a man in the dark and he suddenly remembers all the events of one memorable summer.
118. L is for Lollygag by Chronicle Books
A wonderfully fun book of wonderfully fun words the authors feel are not used enough. Oddly, I know and use them all.
119. Pale Male: Citizen Hawk of New York City by Janet Schulman
GN: Animal characters we always love; great length. BN: Illustrations somewhat bland.
120. Help Me, Mr. Mutt by Janet Stevens
GN: Hilarious plot with clever subplot. BN: Much of humor may be over kids’ heads.
121. The Luck of the Loch Ness Monster: A Tale of Picky Eating by A.W. Flaherty
GN: Oatmeal is finally useful for something. BN: Dark illustrations make text hard to read.
122. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
GN: Great title; nice illustrations throughout; Alvin has troubles with all the things boys typically have troubles with. BN: Alvin is neurotic.
123. The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
GN: Wonderful plot, a happy family for once. BN: Why aren’t there any boys in the story?
124. The Hound of Rowan by Henry H. Neff
GN: Boy discovers he has secret powers and is carted off to a school to study how to use his powers to save the world. BN: Sound familiar?
125. The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman
GN: Fun puzzles. BN: Derivative plot.
126. Piper Reed, Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt
GN: Great heroine; great family tale. BN: A bit girly.
127. Surprises According to Humphrey by Betty Birney
GN: Humphrey is every kid’s dream friend. BN: Humphrey can be a little too good to be believed.
128. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Help is on lots of 2009 must-read lists and it appeared over and over on lists bloggers provided for me of books to read this summer.
I couldn’t help myself…I had to go ahead and get it and read it.
The help is the stories of maids and housewives in the 1960’s in the South told in alternating chapters. It was an uncomfortable read, at times, as I could have been a little girl listening in on the conversations of the maids or the housewives during this time. Though we only had a maid for one day (she ironed too slowly, my mom said), I feel almost certain that I’ve heard these words here and there. The majority of the housewives seemed to be unaware that slavery had ended and, sadly, the maids seemed likewise uninformed.
This is the kind of book I’d recommend to someone who says, “What’s wrong with black America? Why can’t black America get with the program?”
129. Savvy by Ingrid Law
GN: Beautiful cover; clever blurb. BN: Story wasn’t quite as good as cover and blurb promised.
130. Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck
GN: Funny, short, and readable. BN: Can you love a roach as a main character?
131. We Are the Ship by Nelson Kadir
GN: A story that has needed to be told; baseball; riveting tale. BN: Difficult text.
132. Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli
GN: Readable; poetry format is fun and light. BN: Writing a tale in poems can be tiring to read.
133. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Deedy
GN: Clever plot; beautiful illustrations. BN: A cockroach and a mouse?
134. ¡Yum! ¡MmMm! ¡Qué Rico! By Pat Mora
GN: Food as characters; brilliant illustrations. BN: Haiku is hard to follow.
135. Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica
GN: Football; boy characters, for a change. BN: Football; boy characters.
136. Someone Named Eva by Joan Wolf
GN: Another book about Nazis. BN: Another book about Nazis.
137. The Best American Poetry 2008 edited by Charles Wright
Is this my least favorite best American poetry collection? Yes, I think it is. I was pretty sure I’d not take to this collection when I saw the name of the editor; I’m not a big fan of Charles Wright.
The vast majority of the poems struck a Hemingway-esque note with me, a macho man trying to make it in this kinder, gentler world. But here and there, I found a common spirit. How can I read fifty poems and not find a few that light up my heart?! Impossible.
138. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
This is a sad story. You are prepared going in, but, still, it’s a tough read.
Alice is a Harvard professor who studies the brain. She begins to notice that she is forgetting things. The pattern continues and grows bolder, and Alice is forced to seek help. What she feared most is true: She has early-onset Altzheimer’s.
Reading the story from Alice’s point of view is difficult. She grows less and less aware of things and more and more estranged from her world.
Very sad story.
Another book in the genre I call challenge books. Hemley takes on the personal challenge of going back to places in his life where he fumbled the ball and tries to do things over. Better.
Who wouldn’t like to try these things?
Loved the kindergarten do-over but I grew less and less intrigued with his subsequent trials. A good summer read.
140. Esta noche en el Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne
Whew! Happy day! I read the entire chapter book (okay, yes, it is a children’s book) in Spanish! I’ve been reading a collection of fairy tales in Spanish, now, but I think I’ll try another MTH in Spanish next during our trip to Utah.
141. Home by Marilynne Robinson
I had checked out Home when it first came out but turned it quickly back when, thinking it was too much like Gilead. The reviews for Home continued to pour in and all of them were good. So I went back to it. And loved it. Robinson knows the Prodigal Son.
142. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby
Shakespeare Wrote for Money is a collection of Hornsby’s last columns for the Believer magazine. I’m glad he’s given up on these. I must say I liked his earlier columns, but his river of reading has seemed to dry up and lose its charm, so to speak.
143. Arriving at Your Own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
144. Walking Meditation by Nguyen Ann-Huong
145. Breathe: Yoga for Teens by Mary Kaye Chryssicas
I’ve been playing around with yoga and Christian meditation in recent days. The three books I read all sent me off to try out some new poses, new thoughts. Worthwhile, I think.
146. The Tall Stranger by Louis L’Amour
Don’t ever say I don’t venture out from my comfort zone in my reading. I finished my first real Western (unless Lonesome Dove counts). And it’s a Louis L’Amour, the John Wayne of Western writers.
I knew where this book was going from page one. No doubt about it…it’s a guy book, through and through. Fellow (Mercy! His name is ROCK Banyon…please!) joins up with a wagon train headed west. The man who’s guiding the wagon train is Mort Harper. Harper has persuaded the train to take a southern route, a route that Rock Banyon knows will lead straight to the Salt Lake Desert. Harper and Banyon both fall for the same girl and they squabble back and forth until they reach a tranquil valley owned by a rancher Banyon knows won’t take kindly to having strangers move in. Banyon can’t quite figure out what Harper’s scheme is, but he lurks around on the fringes as the wagon train decides to appropriate some of the rancher’s land.
There’s some gun fights, some fist fights, a saloon, beautiful farm land, and a pretty girl. You feel pretty confident early on that the good guy’s gonna win out. And, apparently, that’s a Western.
147. The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick
One book was required and one book was recommended for the eight week class I’m taking this summer on writing personal narratives. This was the recommended book. I read it and a Western on the plane ride from Houston to Salt Lake. A quick read.
Not sure I took much away from this book. Did I miss something? It seemed to be a series of short essays where the author analyzes what works in good personal narratives. But what did I retain from reading this book? Just an idea about going with one’s gut feeling about what works.
Maybe I need to read this again.
148. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams
I had Williams recommended to me by fellow bloggers when I posted about wanting to read a Utah voice while on my trip. My first stop in Salt Lake City was The King’s English Bookstore. I asked for recommendations at the bookstore and I was led to this author and this book. It was a good choice for this trip.
Williams tells two stories in the book: the story of her mother’s four year struggle with cancer and the simultaneous and parallel story of the struggles of birds finding refuge near a swelling Great Salt Lake.
149. The Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel
A book of wacky games to play while traveling. Here’s one: “Leave your home on foot. Take the first road on the right, then the next on the left, then the next on the right, then the next on the left, and so on. Carry on until something…blocks your path and you can go no further.”
Each game is assessed according to difficulty and is followed by laboratory results.
The game I’d be most likely to try? Literary Journey. Here’s the info on it: “Choose a book from the bookshelf and commence reading. Continue reading until a foreign country is mentioned in the text. Then choose a second book that’s somehow related to that country and begin reading again. Repeat until you have either returned to your point of origin or have completed one circumnavigation of the globe.”
The game I’d be least likely to try? Horse Head Adventure. It basically involves putting on a strange prop or costume and venturing into society. The lab results involved the traveler walking around Tokyo wearing a horse head.
150. Poems for a Good and Happy Life by Myrna Grant
I bought this book at a bookstore (the bookstore) in Delta, Utah for two dollars. I got worried about the amount of remaining reading material after I finished two of the four books I brought with me on the plane.
Most of the poems were known to me. I especially like the one with the line, “Life ain’t been no crystal stair.” The book also included “The Red Wheelbarrow” and some Emily Dickinson and some Bible quotes.
I left it next to a computer at the Days Inn at which we were staying in Delta. I set the computer at the BookCrossing website. Hope someone finds it and logs it in.
151. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
When people in Botswana feel stressed, they make tea. When I feel stressed, I read an Alexander McCall Smith book.
It works like a charm for me.
152. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey
A reread. I had to find and read this book for a very silly reason. Here’s the story: I found a green hiking hat that I had to buy when I was in Utah. On the hat were three pictures with labels: Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches. We went physically to Zion and Bryce while we were in Utah, with no time for other stops, so I had to visit Arches through a book. Thus, Desert Solitaire.
I liked it even better than I did last time. I was surprised to see Abbey as such a rebel; I didn’t remember that.
153. Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now by Gordon Livingston
I feel pretty sure I’ve seen this list of wise thoughts before…an e-mail, perhaps.
1. If the map doesn’t agree with the ground, the map is wrong.
2. We are what we do. 3. It is difficult to remove by logic an idea not placed there by logic in the first place.
4. The statute of limitations has expired on most of our childhood traumas.
5. Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the least.
6. Feelings follow behavior.
7. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.
8. The perfect is the enemy of the good.
9. Life’s two most important questions are “Why?” and “Why not?”
10. Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses.
11. The most secure prisons are those we construct for ourselves.
12. The problems of the elderly are frequently serious but seldom interesting.
13. Happiness is the ultimate risk.
14. True love is the apple of Eden.
15. Only bad things happen quickly.
16. Not all who wander are lost.
17. Unrequited love is painful but not romantic.
18. There is nothing more pointless, or common, than doing the same things and expecting different results.
19. We flee from the truth in vain.
20. It’s a poor idea to lie to oneself.
21. We are all prone to the myth of the perfect stranger.
22. Love is never lost, not even in death.
23. Nobody likes to be told what to do.
24. The major advantage of illness is that it provides relief from responsibility.
25. We are afraid of the wrong things.
26. Parents have a limited ability to shape children’s behavior, except for the worse.
27. The only real paradises are those we have lost.
28. Of all the forms of courage, the ability to laugh is the most profoundly therapeutic.
29. Mental health requires freedom of choice.
30. Forgiveness is a form of letting go, but they are not the same thing.
154. Timbuktu: The Sahara’s Fabled City of Gold by Marq de Villiers
I read through this book in a few hours. It was not what I’d hoped, more history than travel. Nevertheless, a person can’t help but be intrigued by a place like Timbuktu, exotic, remote, legendary.
155. Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon
I read this back in the early eighties and immediately added it to my favorite reads of all time list.
Now, after completing my first reread, I would have to say that this remains a favorite. Pretty good book if it hangs in there almost thirty years later.
Heat-Moon travels America after losing his job and his wife in rapid succession. He takes to the blue highways, the roads on the map where few travel. He finds, for the most part, that solace and quiet companionship and time for reflection that he sought.
156.Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Reading Blue Highways for the last two weeks somehow led me to pick up a copy of Travels with Charley. I’ve always heard about this book, but it has eluded me for years.
It reads like a contemporary travelogue. Steinbeck laments the the pollution and human encroachment of wilderness that he finds wherever he travels. If I’d not been told this had been written by Steinbeck, I’d never have guessed it was his child.
I liked the book and I didn’t like the book. He seems to run into the scruffiest of people, people who have run down to their last dollar, who are down on their luck and down on life.
No happy people, John? No cheery optimists?
157. The Lonely American by Jacqueline Olds
I see loneliness as endemic to contemporary America. Everywhere I go, I meet the lonely.
Olds explores this issue. How did this come to occur? Why? Where? What can be done about it?
Like most books about social problems, the thinnest section of the book is home remedies. And that is the section we need most.
158. Yes Day! By Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I’m getting older and darker, I think. There was a time when I would have cheered Yes Day. Now I wonder: Is Yes Day a good thing? What is it teaching children? Dear me, I am dark. It’s a Yes Day, for goodness sake!
159. Lois on the Loose by Lois Pryce
Lois is bored with her life in England. She longs for adventure.
So what does she do? She heads off to Alaska with plans to travel down the entire continents of North and South America. Alone. On a motorcycle.
She has her moments, but much of the trip is dangerous and dirty and many of the people she meets are corrupt and wicked.
I loved reading this book, but I do not see myself buying a motorcycle any time soon.
160. Columbine by Dave Cullen
I have a difficult time reading about terrible things. Columbine was a terrible thing. And this is the complete terrible story of a terrible thing.
I hope I can shake this story off. It was a terrible story. It is leaving me feeling quite bleak.
161. The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I won this book and I never win anything. I push Half of a Yellow Sun on everyone I see so I was thrilled to see Adichie had a new book coming out. Thing Around Your Neck is a collection of short stories. Adichie has this way of making you think her characters are people who live right next door to you in America and then sneaking in some little this or that that reminds you her people are African and distinctive. The same and different.
I had to pause after I read each story to let the story sink in. To think about it a little. Now that’s good writing.
162. Choosing Civility: The Twenty-Five Rules of Considerate Conduct by P.M. Forni
Forni is European and it shows. He comes from a culture where respect for people is assumed. America disappoints him now and then. He wants to help America.
I need to practice these twenty-five things. If I practiced just these twenty-five things, I would be a much better person.
So what are they? Let me list them to remind myself:
- Pay attention
- Acknowledge others
- Think the best
- Listen
- Be inclusive
- Speak kindly
- Don’t speak ill
- Accept and give praise
- Respect even a subtle “no”
10. Respect others’ opinions
11. Mind your body
12. Be agreeable
13. Keep it down (and rediscover silence)…most difficult for me
14. Respect other people’s time
15. Respect other people’s space
16. Apologize earnestly and thoughtfully
17. Assert yourself
18. Avoid personal questions
19. Care for your guests
20. Be a considerate guest
21. Think twice before asking for favors
22. Refrain from idle complaints
23. Give constructive criticism
24. Respect the environment and be gentle to animals
25. Don’t shift responsibility and blame
That’s it. I can do these them. I will start now.
163. Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal
These days, a kid’s book with a character who has a mom and dad and a sibling or two where everyone is functional and getting along and pretty happy…does anyone even write books like that? (Of course, some might say it’s because there are no families like that.) Also Known as Harper has a main character, Harper, with lots of problems. Dad has gone. Just like that. Her brother, Hemingway (see what inspires Mom?) waits for Dad every day to return. Mom is having trouble paying rent and keeping her job. Harper is missing school even though she wants desperately to enter the poetry writing contest. Lots of troubles.
It’s Harper’s writing that keeps her going and introduces her to people who can help her along, too.
164. Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine
A true story. A museum curator in Japan requested some items from Europe that had been possessions of Holocaust victims. She was sent a suitcase that belonged to a little girl. Some Japanese children were curious about the little girl and they began to see what they could find out about her. A sad yet lovely story.
165. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
You like it or you don’t. If you are interested in reading this series, you probably could care less if anyone reviews it highly.
You know what you are getting when you open this book. I got it. I liked it.
166. Magic Bus: On the Hippie Trail from Istanbul to India by Rory Maclean
Big regret of my life was that I was too young to be a real hippie. At least that is what I’ve always thought. But the more books I read about hippies, the less interesting they are. Turns out, it seems, most people who went off to become hippies either (1) quickly realized the search was futile or (2) are still out there somewhere, probably sitting in the park in San Francisco waiting for their next high.
Maclean follows the road the hippies traveled to see what is there now and what hippies are still left. He finds a few hippies, notably Penny, who struck me as a sad figure. It could have just been me, but Penny still felt very lost. And what’s there now? Tourists, tourists, tourists.
Doesn’t look like I’ll ever hit the hippie trail.
167. Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton
It’s a romance and I’m always a sap for a romance. It’s an unlikely romance. How many people meet when one calls into the insurance helpline?
Nice plot. Nice characters. Nice dialogue.
A nice summer read.
168. Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger
Gotta love Joey Margolis. He writes letters to his baseball heroes, spouting atrocious lies in a desperate attempt to go on the road with these guys. And somehow it works for him.
In a totally different way than Crossed Wires, this is a nice summer read.
169. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
It’s on lots of recommended lists. And there are lots of things to commend it for…the character of Little Bee herself…little Charlie O’Rourke who won’t get out of his Batman clothes…the depiction of the life-threatening events that are a daily part of many Africans’ lives…the harsh immigration policies of Britain….
I liked it. I did. I just liked it, though. I really wanted to love it.
170. Later, at the Bar by Rebecca Barry
I’ve been reading on this book for seven or eight months. It’s a collection of short stories that all center on life in a bar, with the same cast of characters. Very well written. I’d bet money the author went through a creative writing program somewhere and there’s nothing wrong with that, but why is it so obvious to readers?
171. The End of the Story by Lydia Davis
I’ve been reading on this book for seven or eight months. It’s an experimental novel, with the main character attempting to remember every event of her relationship with a man, starting with the last first. The end of the story is really the beginning. Fun to start, like most gimmicks, but grew quite wearing. Where did this author go for her degree in creative writing?
172. A Meaningful Life by L.J. Davis
I always read the best books in the strangest of ways. I put this book on my request list at the library and it finally came in for me a few weeks back. I piddled around and didn’t get to it and when I tried to renew it, I saw that I couldn’t as it was on hold for someone else. All this for a library book that looked so new the spine wasn’t yet bent, but with a copyright date of 1971.
How could I resist trying to read it before I had to return it?
This book has my book friend KK’s name all over it and there is just one good word to describe it: snarky. Lowell Lake goes to college, gets married, and moves to Brooklyn, all rather haphazardly, but it takes turning thirty to set him off on a quest for a meaningful life.
It’s laugh-out-loud funny, but in a horribly mean sort of way. No cute puppies in this story. But it reads honest and true as well as funny which moves it way up there on my list of Books I Recommend.
Side note: It has been almost forty years, so I had to see what Mr. L.J. Davis was up to these days. Still alive, but not writing fiction, apparently. Did Davis ever find a meaningful life? How much of the book was autobiographical? And why no more fiction?
173. Not Becoming My Mother & Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way by Ruth Reichl
Reichl has always had a peculiar relationship with her mother, a love-hate, an adore-loate, a respect-revolt relationship. Her mother, Miriam, longed to be a doctor, but her parents refused, saying if she became a doctor she’d never fulfill the only real purpose a woman should have in life: to find a husband. So Miriam complied and got a degree she didn’t want, married a man she didn’t love, gave up a career she desired, and had children she never wanted.
Reichl uses her mother’s letters and journals to tell her mother’s story, a cautionary tale for Ruth, of course, but also for women everywhere.
174. The Box of Delights by John Masefield
Yet another book I discovered from BookCrossing.
I consider myself a knowledgeable reader, especially a knowledgeable reader of children’s stories. This book was unknown to me, as I would suspect, it is unknown to most here in America.
It is the kind of book I thrived on as a child. It’s fantasy and adventure, with danger and purpose and mystery.
Best of all are the characters. The children are not content to sit quietly by the fire reading. Oh no, they are out in the world, being chased by wolves, being given magic boxes, being captured by gangs, and otherwise living big lives.
I’d love to see what modern children think of this book. Hope we get some input from other readers of this bookring.
175. The Group by Mary McCarthy
It’s important to know that the copyright on this book is 1954. Also, I should share that the story takes place during America’s Great Depression.
If you didn’t know these two facts, you might think this is just another book of contemporary women’s fiction.
The Group is the story of seven college friends and what happens to them over a ten year period. (See what I told you…Does that sound like a contemporary women’s fiction novel, or what?)
But this book was much, much better than any contemporary women’s fiction novel I’ve read. It could be because it was the first of its kind, but I think it’s a little more than that. It’s literate with fascinating characters. And there is the time travel factor….I really felt like I was back in 1932 with these women. I would be thinking, Gee, these women are just like me, and then Whump! The author would put in a little dialogue or a little subplot and I’d remember, No, these are women who never had the opportunities I have despite their first-rate educations and affluent backgrounds.
I’m not sure whether to classify it as a must-read. I’m terribly happy I read it and I’d encourage others to read it, but it is soap-y here and there.
176. The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot by Angus Wilson
I wish I knew why I choose the books to read that I do. It strikes me as bewilderingly odd that I would pick this book up at the same time that I picked up The Group. The copyright is 1958, near that of The Group, and the book’s themes fit in nicely with those of The Group.
Mrs. Eliot is happily entering into middle age, when her husband, her support, is killed and she is forced to redefine her life.
An early book that I would classify as women’s fiction, like The Group, but, also like The Group, it is more that that. It’s thoughtful and clever, beautifully written, with characters that surprise you. Like The Group, I’d almost classify it as a Must-Read.
177. Collections of Nothing by William Davies King
King is a collector. He has collected things since he was a little boy. What does he collect? Worthless things, he says. Labels from boxes and cans, for the most part. But he also has several other, equally useless collections.
King thinks about his collecting and puts it into context by revealing the events of his life and the larger world.
I can’t really see someone going out and purchasing this book. It leaves you with a sense of having wasted your time reading it, with King dwelling on the meaninglessness of his collecting and of his life. He seems to find some meaning in the meaninglessness of everything, but that is way too philosophical for me.
178. Spain: A Culinary Road Trip by Mario Batali with Gwyneth Paltrow
If someone called me on this, I’d have to delete this from my list of books read in 2009; I really didn’t read it so much as browsed it. Mario is apparently some sort of famous chef (is he on tv, perhaps?) and Paltrow is along for the ride as photo candy. And there are lots of photos. And lots of recipes.
A quick little trip to Spain this summer, with lots of great food. Free, via the public library.
179. Brownsville by Oscar Casares
This book has sat, sadly I believe, on my shelf since 2007. Worse I not only have this one but Casares’ subsequent first novel.
Brazos Bookstore is hosting Casares Tuesday night and I might go. If nothing else, this prompted me to pull this from my bookshelf yesterday and read it.
Brownsville is a book of stories that all take place in…no surprise here…Brownsville, a city in the most distant reaches of Texas, right next to the border with Mexico.
In every way, a satisfying book. If the stories have the feel of coming through the Creative Writing School Factory, so be it. Every story is well crafted and Brownsville is everywhere in these stories. Words in Spanish like salt in my stew, just enough to slow down my reading and reread now and then.
180. Touchstone Anthology of Contemporary Creative Nonfiction edited by Lex Williford
I’ve been reading on this book, a dab at a time, all summer. It was the required reading for my personal essay writing class this summer. I went to look for it at B&N and it wasn’t there. I was happy to find I could download it, immediately, on my Kindle. An excellent use of my Kindle, as I could carry it with me to Utah and read it while waiting for an oil change and even just before I went to sleep. I had no idea the book had 576 pages; on the Kindle, all books feel equally light.
So what about the…what do I call them? I want to call them stories, but I suppose, for accuracy’s sake, I will call them essays. Brilliant. Writing so good I could almost see the sheen of the words on my Kindle.
But sad. All were sad. No happy stories. A school shooting. An unwanted child. An alcoholic dad.
That left me thinking, Are there no happy stories? Is it only the traumatic events of one’s life that people want to read?
I’ll leave that question, and just say one more time: These are excellent essays. Amazing. I want to read them again. And again.
181. Every Patient Tells a Story by Lisa Sanders
I like some odd genres: Books about Books…Books about People Who Move and Start Over…Books about Cooking…and the genre this book falls into, Books about Doctors.
Don’t ask me why.
Books like this one fascinate me. I’m struck by the way doctors work on people’s bodies using a clever combination of science and intuition.
This is a particularly intriguing book to me as it deals with the art of diagnosis, using scientific knowledge along with experience and hunches, to figure out why things aren’t right with a person.
The author started out in television and ended up becoming a medical doctor. She seems to have just the right combination of knowledge about medicine and ability to write well to create this book.
Very good book.
182. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Griffin goes to weddings, loves his wife, is estranged from his wife, carries his parents’ ashes in the trunk of his car, and longs to visit the Cape again.
That’s the whole book. I hope I didn’t give anything away.
A long, long section in the middle that dragged so much I wanted to put the book down. But the last third of the book picked up and the story zoomed to the end.
183. How Perfect Is That by Sarah Bird
Blythe Young is in trouble. Her rich husband is gone, along with all the trappings that came along with being an Austin socialite. Her business is bust. She owes the IRS big time. She has defaulted on her student loans. Drugs are her only solace. Nowhere to run to, baby.
But, then again, Blythe does have somewhere to run to. Her old friend, Millie. And Millie doesn’t let her down.
If you’ve never read a Bird, you must do it. Now. If you’re not an Austinite, or at least a Texan, be prepared to enter a unique subculture. It’s funny, but very, very dark.
Go for it. It’s summer.
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