Hi Friends – It’s been a crazy start to the year so I let both the reading and the blogging slip a bit. I’m back in the saddle with reading and almost back on track to get to 52 books this year. Not that I was ever worried!
And now that we’re required to slow down as a result of staying home due to the Corona Virus, I hope to resume sharing my reading journey with you! So far this year I’ve read these ten books:
- Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
- Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
- All the Water in the World by Karen Raney
- The Topeka School by Ben Lerner **
- The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
- Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
- Apeirogon by Colum McCann
My favorite so far has been Apeirogon by Colum McCann – but I’ll save that review for my next post.
My LEAST favorite has been The Topeka School by Ben Lerner. You might have noticed is asterisked above? That’s because although I have read some sections of the book twice, and some sections once, there are some sections of the book I could not read. It was on many Best of 2019 lists last year and even Obama put it on his list of favorite books (!) but it was overly cerebral for me with too much psychoanalysis and elements of teen age cruelty and violence. So even though I technically didn’t read every word in the book I’m putting on my list.
I also really liked The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. It’s an in-depth family story told from a male perspective. It (almost) made me want to be a writer! I have enjoyed several of Patchett’s other books and so eagerly attended a book talk she gave here in Maplewood. She was very entertaining and during her talk recommended several other authors and books….
…which is how I ended up reading J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy. Ms. Patchett said that although the book was not well-reviewed when it came out, she read it recently and there has not been one week when she has not reflected on it in some way. There is a lot to think about in The Casual Vacancy but it probably could have been done with less pages. Though I did enjoy it and think it’s worth reading.
So that’s it for now…. please let me know what you have been reading lately and if you have any good recommendations!