I seem to have a pattern here of always being late on my book reviews. I thought about that as these were my summer reads which means that they were all read in the summer and have been sitting on the counter in my office, taking up space, for months now. I have also given a lot of my headspace to these books each time I see them and tell myself, this week I have to get that blog post up, and yet for whatever reason, it doesn't seem to be a priority. So then I said, "just forget it, it's too late now." I looked at the pile and read all those magical titles and said "no", they have to go up because there are some great Christmas gifts in that pile. Hence, here I am. In the process though, I thought that maybe going forward I would do a month at a time and see if I have more success with that. I think at the end of the season the pile looks too daunting and seems more like work than fun. At my age, I need more fun. So let's review this kind of quickly so that you might find just the right book, for the right person, for this holiday season or perhaps you might want to gift a couple to yourself. Going forward I'll work on that monthly thing and see how that goes...maybe a New Year's resolution perhaps... that sounds like a good place to start...
Over the summer I decided to add some of my favorite poem and quote books to my reading pile and I started with a writer that I really love and have also had the privilege of seeing and hearing him in person. To hear David Whyte speak his own words is like sitting in an old grandmother’s kitchen and listening to her stories...I fell in love with his work that night.
The House of Belonging by David Whyte "David Whyte makes the reading of poetry a matter of life and death. His writings have moved me and changed me." Pat Conroy. I feel the same way. The House of Belonging is one of my favorites. "This is the bright home in which I live, this is where I ask my friends to come, this is where I want to love all the things it has taken me so long to learn to love. This is the temple of my adult aloneness and I belong to that aloneness as I belong to my life. There is no house like the house of belonging... Perhaps you would gift yourself this book and keep it on your nightstand and read a poem a day. 4 stars
The Paris Journal Book 1 by Evan and Nicole Robertson "I cut across Rue de la Cite', past the Metro stop, when I stubble into a horrible trap: I smell the flowers. Like a mindless drone bee, I veer off course and toward Hennion Alley, the Venus flytrap of Paris. The heady smell of freesia and hyacinth lures me into the alleyway, triggering a hopeless fantasy of bright blooms in crystal vases and potted perennials by open windows." If you had one day to spend in Paris what would you do. That question and many more are answered in this book. If the information and descriptions are not enough to lure you in, then buy the book for the amazing photography. It's a book that will last a lifetime. It was one of my favorites this year as I missed my Paris week in May. The words are so alluring you can actually smell the cheese and wines as you turn the pages. 5 s stars.
Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munroe I have heard a lot of people talk about loving Alice Munroes books for a long time so I decided to try one. Perhaps I picked the wrong one to start with when choosing Lives of Girls and Women. It was a story of Del Jordan growing up, a coming of age book but I just could not stay with it. It was slow and somewhat out of date. I'm just not sure. I have to say I gave up on it after 100 pages. I hardly ever do that but as time gets shorter I no longer spend mine on things that are not exciting to me. I think I will try another of hers with a different subject matter and maybe one that was written much later than this one...I'm not even going to star this one but I would encourage everyone to read what they like and not just what they think they should.
I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron Now this one was fun and funny, filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true. It was written in essay form with all kinds of lovely stories about life as we age. She asks the question "who are you" and then goes on to tell us who she is. How about Teflon. How much do you know about that? If you have ever seen Nora in person or on a talk show you will know what I mean. Just a feel-good book, easy to put down and then pick up again. Every story was entertaining. 4 stars.
Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand I had not read Hilderbrand before reading this book but I think I should have. Anything of hers would be a great summer read or an after Christmas book while you wait for summer. I choose the Summer of 69 because the '60s were my time. I graduated high school in 64 and got married in 68. The story also takes place in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard which is not very far away from where I live in Massachusetts. Seemed like a good pick and it was. It was about a family who owned a house on Martha's Vineyard and they went there as a family every summer. This summer one of the sisters was pregnant with twins and the other sister got a summer job on the nearby Island of Nantucket. I love Nantucket and my daughter and I have gone there several times and it's always a fun trip. It's also the summer that Ted Kennedy sank his car off Chappaquiddick and a man lands on the moon. So you see there is a lot to work with here. It really held my interest and I loved Hilderbrand's easy writing style so yes, I would buy another book by her...4 stars for a relaxing and fun read.
Waking up White by Debby Irving I bought this book right after George Floyd got murdered. It was recommended by the minister of my church. I was shocked when I read it at how little I knew about black lives and white lives. The book was written in a way that was easy to understand for which I was thankful. It was more about white privilege than about the blacks. All they were doing was just trying to fit in and not get tossed in jail or beat up because of the color of their skin. It was the story of how for century whites had their own language to describe all ethnic groups and they were not nice. It was an eye-opening book for me with so many pages and phrases underlined so I wouldn't forget. "Privilege is a strange thing in that you notice it least when you have it most. I'm never more grateful for the privilege of good health, for instance than when I'm sick. It's the old, you don't miss it until it's gone." As a white person, whether or not I know it, whether or not I admit it, I've got white privilege, an advantage that both are born and has fed into white dominance." So many revelations in that book. It makes me as a white person, wake up and see the light. I highly recommend this book for yourself and as a gift. 5 Stars...
Well, there were a few heavy ones in that pile...so let's move on to a bit of lightness here...
The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson If the title has bookshop or bookstore in it, I'm going to buy it and most often I totally enjoy it. That is the way it was with this book. A fun, part riddle, part mystery, part family drama, part a bookstore lover's dream, and then more," taken from the back of the book. It's all true. It was all those things. A page-turner, a fun book to sink into at the end of the day. Summer is really a great cozy time to read and this is surely a great companion. Miranda Brooks grew up in her Uncle Billy's bookstore. She thought he was a bit eccentric and he would invent scavenger hunts that he created just for her. Then when her Uncle dies she finds out that he left the bookstore to her but in order to claim it she had to complete one more scavenger hunt, which became a mystery and a family problem between her and her Mom. Being persistent though Amy took the challenge and move into the apartment above Prospero's bookshop while she worked on the scavenger hunt and learned more about the people and workings of the store. It was a wonderful romp through books as she looked for clues...keeps you guessing until the end. I loved this book. 5 stars.
Splitting an Order by Ted Kooser Ted Kooser is the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet of Delights & Shadows, 2005. Splitting an Order is his long-awaited new release. The inner worlds and complex histories of ordinary people are witnessed in such everyday places as a car repair shop, a patch of small-town sidewalk, a parking garage, or a chain restaurant. He also writes about the critters in our natural world, bats, tree frogs, birds, and other findings around every corner. I love his slow, smooth prose and his attention to things that we all do every day. A quote from his poem 110th Birthday..."Her hair is white and light as milkweed down, and her chin thrusts forward into the steady breezes out of the next year, and the next and the next. Her eyelids, thin as old lace curtains, are drawn over dreams, and her fingers move only a little, touching what happens next, no more than a breath away." It's a beautiful poem in its entirety. It's a beautiful book for bedside or Sunday afternoon reading...5 stars for this nostalgic book of poems.
Chances Are...by Richard Russo I love all of Richard Russo's books but somehow I missed this one. It was a great story about 3 men in their late sixties, friends since college days and they plan to meet once again on Martha's Vineyard. "It's an intriguing, twisty novel about lies, secrets, and a missing friend's ghostly presence." Russo has a way with words and an ability to keep you turning the pages. A great book for both men and women...4 stars.
Melania and Me by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff Well, this was surely interesting. A great gossip book was written by Melania Trump’s best friend. They broke ranks when Melania would not stand up for her even though she knew that she was being used as a pond in the White House. I had always thought Melania was a victim but not so, at the end of the day she is also a Trump. She did not enjoy her job as First Lady and that became clear in this book. If you like a good book with lots of details written by her friend and senior advisor this book is for you. In this candid and emotional memoir, Stephanie Wolkoff takes the reader into Trump Tower and the White House to tell the funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking story of her intimate friendship with one of the most famous women in the world, a woman few people truly understand." 4 stars.
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart I saved the best for last. This is truly my most favorite book of this group and possibly my most favorite book of the year. First, I love the cover. It somehow reminds me of Jaxson and Jenna and how they like to cuddle in the "big bed" but the story belongs only to Shuggie and his Mom. Sure there are other kids and a husband and neighbors but it's Shuggie who shines through for his mom and the audience who reads this book. It is a bit tricky in the beginning to read because it is written with a bit of a Scottish accent but it is easy to get and then the story moves on beautifully. It is not an uplifting book but it is an honest book about a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980's childhood in a run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. It is not an easy life with men out of work as the coal mines close, and a drug epidemic happening. His mom walks a wayward path: Shuggie loves her so but she is a burden to him and his siblings...She dreams big dreams, a house with her own front door but never quite reaches far enough with her alcohol addiction but Shuggie stands by her at his own risk. A beautifully written book much in the same manner as Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. The frosting on the cake is Douglas Stuart just won the Booker Award for Shuggie Bain and it's so well deserved. 5 Stars...buy this for every reader on your list.
And that my friends is it. The summer of 2020 was a beautiful season with lots of warm weather and sunshine. It was perfect outside reading weather and I have several porches and a meditation garden to sit quietly and read. I was fortunate in my choices this season and I am thankful for that. It was not an easy season as far as moving around goes with the coronavirus raging on. Books have a way of drawing me in and letting me let go for a few hours of all that sadness and loss that we are now not enjoying, but you know at the end of the day or first thing in the morning a good cup of hot tea and a great book, well, who could really ask for more. I hope you find something in this pile that excites you, turns you on and you think might be helpful for you or someone you know. I also hope that you are a gift-giver of books. Let's fill the world with beautiful and sensitive stories and words. Kind and loving words. Words that heal. We need a lot of that right now. Thanks so much for stopping by for a bit. I hope you enjoyed your visit.
““The day was flat. That morning his mind had abandoned him and left his body wandering down below. The empty body went listlessly through its routine, pale and vacant-eyed under the florescent strip lights, as his soul floated above the aisles and thought only of tomorrow. Tomorrow was something to look forward to.” Douglas Stuart ...Shuggie Bain.
A poem “Grandfather...A breeze chased his pipe smoke out over the river, and later he followed, carrying all of his tackle.” Ted Kooser.”
