APRIL 2016 BOOK SELECTIONS- THE RAKE'S TALE & THE KILLING FLOOR

This month I took a break from my usual type of reading selection and struck out into new genre territory. I read The Rake’s Tale, an historical romance by Bettie Williams, and The Killing Floor, a thriller-crime-suspense novel by Lee Child. Why? For fun. And it proved to be great fun.

First, I chose The Rake’s Tale because I have met the author and found her to be charming and articulate. I could immediately see the Austen influence but also, surprisingly, the wonderfully-wicked, comedy timing of a well-done Shakespeare production. This is a racy, lusty, entertaining tale and the author has true skill in storytelling. This is definitely not my normal literary choice but I couldn't put it down. The printer made some editorial errors which is a shame in such a well-written book. Maybe these could be addressed in a second printing? Otherwise, well-done. I would read anything she writes. Recommend.

The Killing Floor was a dramatic departure from the first book. This is book one of the famous Jack Reacher novels. For the uninformed, Jack Reacher is the action hero who has attained mythic status. Handsome, tall, intelligent, resourceful and ruthless, he is every fan’s dream. I have to say that Lee Child can definitely spin a good tale. I found myself staying up until all hours just to finish one…more…chapter. While pulled along by Child’s storytelling skill, I found myself literally gasping at the horrific and somewhat casually depicted violence. If this doesn’t bother you, you will no doubt love this series of twenty books. From what I understand, although published later, The Enemy and The Affair predate the character’s life before the events in The Killing Floor. Kudos to Mr. Child for his successful series but I’m more of a James Bond fan in this genre. Still violent, certainly, but not quite so graphic.

For Sadie

My dog is not doing well. She is fourteen, close to fifteen and has been a joy to us literally her entire life. So as sappy as it seems, I’m writing this as therapy for myself. As a way of preparing myself for the inevitable.

She was almost four months old when we got her. She was prancing around the yard behind the trailer where her owner lived. Her father/sire was a big, magnificent red golden. He put his paws up on the fence, where he was held, to greet me and was nearly my height. Kept in a separate pen, Sadie’s mother was probably a mutt, and very sweet and tired. I tried to comfort her. Tell her I would take good care of her baby. Sadie was the last one of the litter. She no doubt would have had a similar fate had we not adopted her. A life of giving birth to litter after litter.

We see a lot of cute videos about animals on youtube and facebook these days. It seems we all feel that unshakeable bond. Elephants, pandas, birds, cats, goats… just about every living creature that has been a pet you can think of. What’s it about? I think it’s about their innocence, their loving nature. Their dependence on us, their ability to give freely without guile. Their loyalty. Their companionship. We talk a lot about unconditional love, but here it’s more the rule than the exception. Unshakeable sweetness. All of those things, and so much more.  

Two times, many years ago I had life-threatening illnesses. Every afternoon, I would have to lay down to rest. Sadie would climb up on the bed, back up to me and literally lay across me. It was if she was giving me healing treatments. It worked. She never did this any other time before or since. She knew. How? I don’t know. But it worked.

My good girl is still with me. I don’t know for how long. But every moment, I will try to give her what she has always given me. 

MARCH 2016 BOOK SELECTION: MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON

Reading taste is so personal, isn’t it? Books that blow me away barely register on the “okay” scale for others. For example, Elizabeth Strout, who authored this month’s book selection is one of my favorite authors. I shared another book by her, Olive Kitteridge, that I LOVED with a fellow book lover. Their response was sort of, “eh, not so much.” It did win the Pulizer Prize for literature. I’m just saying.

For some books it’s just the characters, some the language, some the storytelling. For me, Strout does it all. Her observations of people and life just leave me astonished. The things we all notice but don’t register…. She notices, she observes, she crafts, then renders beautifully on the page.

This novel is created as the main character, Lucy Barton, a writer, shares memories of her life with us. It begins with a recounting of her long and unsuspected stay in the hospital for a mysterious infection following routine surgery. A surprise visit from her mother sparks a series of memories that take us back and forth through time from her difficult childhood forward.

I love strong female characters. The one thing that makes this character unique and endearing is her guileless inability to recognize her own strength and resourscefulness. We visit some dark places with her but it is never done gratuitously. The novel reminds us of the complex and often not fully understood connection between all of us and our families of origin. Sometimes loving. Sometimes not.

Recommend.

Advice to My Younger Self

I know this has been done to death, but I want to do it for myself. So here goes. Here is my best advice, so far (Ha!), to my younger self.

Everything Passes.

I don’t mean to say you forget everything. Quite the contrary. But it does lose the ability to annihilate you. Given enough time, for most things, you gain perspective. Give it time. Breathe.

Don’t Waste your Life.

Okay, I don’t mean you can’t relax and read a book for a day. Of course you can! I just mean, don’t waste time on frivolous time-sucking activities that lead nowhere and literally give nothing back. Some past transgressions come to mind…

Hmmm…. Daydreaming about someone you have a crush on. (I was a lot younger and so dumb). Total waste of time.

Spending the whole day trying to cope with email and/or Facebook. I still struggle with this one. Life was a lot simpler when we didn’t have these distractions. Time yourself. Fifteen minutes a day… just a thought.

Warning: Social Media is coming. Don’t be intimidated by it but don’t be swallowed by it.

Oh, and watch out for TV. There are more and more interesting programs than you can imagine. History, Art, Drama..You will end up watching others do what you wish you could do.

Sometimes, guess what? The laundry can wait.

When you can, Plan Your Day.

This is a relatively new activity for me but it works really well. First I try to do the gratitude practice. You know, say three things you are grateful for. Then, just in your mind, go over what you want to do that day. More often than not, it actually works. You can’t predict unforeseen emergencies, phone calls, etc. but it can give structure. Lists work as well but I have to say, this is better. Otherwise, you will tend to float from one activity to another.

Give Yourself the Day Off Once in a While.

Does this sound counter-intuitive to what I just said? Well, it’s not. Everyone deserves a little free time. It’s hard to come by when you are juggling a job, bills, maybe a relationship, maybe children. But do it. You choose. It could be as nice as a weekend away. More realistically, it could be a day of watching mindless TV. For me, it’s spending a whole day reading.

I said once in a while. (It’s addictive.)

Be Present.

Enough said.

Be Still at least Once a day.

Give yourself a moment with your thoughts when you are not rushing around. It centers you. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable when you realize you are not accomplishing anything, but that’s valuable, isn’t it?

Look Up.

I’ve said this before but LOOK UP from your damn phone, tablet, computer, whatever. The world is really beautiful. Look for it.

Exercise Every Day.

Trying not to proselytize. I don’t do this either. But when I do, I’m glad. My body thanks me. Just a fifteen minute walk will do it. It won’t give you a perfect body but it’s a start.

If At All Possible, Make Your Life’s Work Something You Love.

It will make the difference between a good life and a joyful one.

Surround Yourself With Beauty.

Music and flowers, art, nature… whenever possible.

Be Kind.

Always. It doesn’t matter whether it is acknowledged or not. This may be the most important one.

Pay Attention to Those You Love.

They won’t always be there. You have now.

No Rules.

Strive to be flexible.

The Best Parts Of Life Are All the Little Moments Added Up.

Not only is this true, it’s profound.

FEBRUARY 2016 BOOK SELECTION- BALZAC and the LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS

As often happens these days, I ran across this book quite by accident. It is distressing to think of how many great writers like Sijie Dai we miss because of their lack of access to the media blitz given to other authors by their publishing giants.

This is a lovely, quiet, seemingly simple book. It has the feel of a parable, though it is not. The novel’s disarming simplicity, however, holds greater themes. Among them: political and personal suppression, duplicity and honesty, love gained and lost and the power of the written word to change lives.

Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress gives us a glimpse into China during the 1940’s Revolution. It was a violent, irrational time in which intellectuals were punished for being more well-educated and cultured than the proletariat. Two boys, scholars and sons of a physician and a dentist (subversives!) first are subjected to the humiliation of their families and then are sent to the mountains to be “re-educated.” This education consisted, among other things, of backbreaking work, isolation and lack of all but the most basic resources.

Yet, Dai’s light touch and humor make this easy, uncomplicated reading.

A glimmer of hope comes for the boys with two things, meeting a lovely young girl, a seamstress, from a nearby village and the discovery of a hidden cache of books. The impact of these two events is pivotal. We become invested in the boy’s ability to not only survive but find a way to grow. 

Because Dai himself spent time being re-educated in this way, though written as fiction, I suspect much of this novel is based on his own experience. Dai pays homage to the invincibility of the human spirit in a beautiful, uncontrived way.

Highly Recommend.

Words

How can we encompass all we are thinking, all we hope for, all we want into a few words? That is, I believe, what New Year’s Resolutions try to do. Impossible, really. But we continue.

I decided, after a friend told me about her practice, that picking a word or words for the year was more possible. The words act as a kind of catalyst, a nudge, a reminder of what you would like to do. Not a RESOLUTION, per se. I like that.

Well, last year my words were: Write and Adventure. I have to say that didn’t really work out. At least not as I pictured the words manifesting.

My writing, except for this blog hit an all-time low. There were reasons, but still. Okay, I did write, but come on.

I had adventure, all right, if you define adventure as totally unexpected, exhausting, one-after-the-other challenges. I described some of them in my December blog. Be careful what you ask for. LOL.

Beach time with the family was wonderful as always, and over too soon. So now, here we go again. Sidebar: Why do we always think the New Year is a time for new things? For starting new things? Like starting a diet on a Monday? It’s just a marker, really. Time is, after all, a continuum. But okay, I’ve established a precedent here, so here goes:

One: Write (Ha! Persevere. Persevere. Persevere.)

Two: Health (As in, concentrate on. Also Persevere.)

So, Happiest of New Years and Best of Luck with your own resolutions… if you make them and/or words… if you choose them.

JANUARY 2016 BOOK SELECTION- THE SECRET PLACE

Since a friend gave me her copy of In the Woods (she doesn’t hold on to books after reading them and I am forever grateful), I became a fan of Tana French. After that, as soon as her books would go into print, The Likeness, Faithful Place and Broken Harbor, I was at the front of the line. Her latest release, The Secret Place does not disappoint. 

My one suggestion is, if this is your first exposure to Tana French’s novels, don’t start here. The books all involve the Dublin Murder Squad but each has a different central character from the squad. In The Secret Place, the main character, Detective Stephen Moran, is a minor one in a previous novel. French uses this technique in all her books, introducing you to some of the characters peripherally and then allowing you to enter the mind of those characters in another novel from the outside in and vice-versa.

The plot focuses on the unsolved death of a teenage boy on the grounds of an elite girl’s school. It’s a year later and the cold case is reopened after Det. Moran receives an unexpected clue. A photograph is posted on a board, “The Secret Place,” at the girl’s school which states, “I know who killed him.”

The action takes place during one day in which the detectives investigate, interview and exhaustively analyze clues. The narrative is skillfully woven with flashbacks of the actual events leading up to the boy’s murder. It gives a glimpse of the minutia of police work and the threading together of information that goes into solving (hopefully) a crime. French’s writing style, even while tackling a disturbing subject is achingly, poetically beautiful.

The handling of the mystical connection of the girls is also stunningly rendered, reminding the reader of those frightening, heady, wonderful and at times grim, teenage years. The length of the novel seems to indicate the author’s reluctance to leave the characters. We too, are left wanting to know what happens in the future for these girls. If French stays true to form, we will meet at least some of them again.

Recommend.

The Year 2015

I typically don’t wish away time but I won’t miss 2015.

I think I may have covered too many life bases this year: The tragic deaths of two good friends, unexpected hospitalizations, life threatening illnesses and unavoidable misunderstandings.

These events were tempered, fortunately, by a marriage, an upcoming birth, random celebrations, unforgettable beauty, laughter, and the grace and wisdom of friends.

Life, I guess. Just life. Still, feeling a need for some down time. I’m looking forward to Beach Time with family. This is always a time of great joy, a coming together, reconnecting, recovery and healing. I am so fortunate.

Here’s to less of the former and more of the latter. Here’s to now.

Happy, Happy, Happy Holidays.

Image Credit: Pablo McCloud

Always a journey, yes?

DECEMBER 2015 BOOK SELECTION- A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING

I’ve discovered another wonderful new author: Ruth Ozeki.

This month’s reading choice comes from a Book on Tape I loved so much, I had to buy in book form.

The narrator switches from Nao, a Japanese-American teenage girl living in Tokyo to Ruth, an older woman, also of Japanese extraction living on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Ruth, by chance, finds Nao’s diary washed up on the beach near her home.

We join Ruth in her reading of the diary and follow Nao’s heartbreaking struggle to navigate her life. The novel gracefully and seamlessly covers themes of coming of age, bullying, suicide, marriage, quantum physics and unanswered questions of mystical connection.

I didn’t want this book to end and can’t wait to read another by Ozeki. I’ve been so lucky in my book selections this year. 

Highly recommend.

Amazed

How can a person ever be bored? Truly. Maybe if someone was in solitary confinement or a hospital waiting room with no reading material (there is always people watching) or in a hospital bed unable to move or too sick to do anything. But these are very special circumstances. I am amazed and/or thrilled by something I learn every day. How can I be bored?

I recently watched a Nova program and was surprised to learn about supercontinents that formed North America before Pangaea. I knew the supercontinent Pangaea existed around 300 million years ago, but  Nuna, Rodinia, and Laurentia…. were all supercontinents that pre-dated Pangaea. The land masses on earth are constantly moving and will eventually form a supercontinent again. I’m not a geologist and I know it’s nerdy, but this is fascinating to me. To say I love learning is a serious understatement.  Just when you think you know something….

Some other random things that either thrill and/or amaze me:

Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about the universe. Wow. Talk about what we don’t know.

Watching Gregory Hines dance on film. What incredible talent.

When that guy in the film, Chariots of Fire throws back his head with the joy of running? Don’t you feel it, too?

The beauty of the films of Louis Schwartzberg. 

Even the thought of all the unread books I have yet to enjoy.

People that make their living with music. How incredibly hard. Any art form really. Extraordinary.

The strength and grace of trees. The tiny jewel of a flower that grows out of a crack in the sidewalk.

I could go on and on. I guess all I’m saying is being bored is a cop out. Allow yourself to be thrilled and amazed. It’s wonderful.

Pretty much…. and relationships, of course.

NOVEMBER 2015 BOOK SELECTION- A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD

This is my first novel by Anne Tyler. I know. Where have I been? I had seen it advertised and randomly picked it up at the library. What a delight, from beginning to end. I knew she was a well-known and respected master storyteller. She has won numerous book awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1989 for Breathing Lessons (next on my listJ). Also a film was made based on her novel, The Accidental Tourist.

This is a story of three generations of an ordinary, flawed, endlessly fascinating family. There is so much about them that is alien yet so much that is familiar. It has been a long time since I didn’t want a book to end.

There are no explosions, no terror attacks, no spies or witches. It is about life and all of its beauty, heartbreak, happiness, confusion, misunderstanding and sadness. The characters are so beautifully drawn you want to shake them, argue with them, then long to know what happens to them after you read the last page. The house where these characters at various times live, move through, and leave is as exceptionally created as any other character. It became as real as the one next door. 

Finally, There is just enough of a sense of things unknown and unseen in everyday life. A question of the mystery of it all. A reminder that no one has all the answers.   

Highly recommend. 

Simple Things

I have written several times in this blog about simplicity in some form. I’m doing it again and there is a good reason for it. Part of it may be a reminder to myself that it’s a great philosophy on so many levels. But there is something else to say.

Life is not always simple. I know that. Often it’s complicated.

Relationships are complicated: Friends, family, colleagues, all loved ones.

I’ve discovered that “keep it simple” is a good motto. Expect good but don’t worry so much if people disappoint you. Everyone has their own thing going on. Be generous with your assessment. Give them a wide berth and time to come around. If they don’t, move on. It’s that simple.

I’ve also discovered that the times in my life that I have been the happiest have been very simple ones. Don’t get me wrong, there have been amazing memories of Broadway shows, trips abroad, accolades for work well done, lovely gifts and more. Still, what I hold most dear are the everyday things that wouldn’t make it into a blockbuster novel.

Let me give you an example. One of my soul memories is sitting on steps leading down to the beach and watching the ocean, a morning cup of coffee warming my hands.

Another one. Watching my children’s faces when they had their first ride on a merry-go-round.

Another. A black velvet summer night sitting outside when the moon seemed to fill the whole sky.

That ancient tree across from my childhood home.

Okay. Still watching my children’s faces. No matter what they are doing.

So many moments. Small ones.

So my discovery is that it isn’t the BIG things that fill you up. Oh, they are nice all right. But they are temporary. It’s the everyday, you’d hardly notice things. It’s simple, really. Simple things. But not, if you know what I mean. Look for them.

OCTOBER 2015 BOOK SELECTION- SHINE SHINE SHINE

This month’s book selection: Shine Shine Shine features one of the most distinctive voices in fiction I have ever encountered. Lydia Netzer has created characters and a story so quirky and unique I was intrigued from beginning to end.

While browsing at a table full of books at a conference, I came across this author’s work by chance. I had never heard of her or the book. It speaks well of browsing book stores and/or the library (one of the great pleasures of my life) and not just shopping for what Amazon or some other site is attempting to sell you. I love Amazon, too, but nothing quite beats the tactile experience of perusing a book. But, I digress.

This is not quite a love story, but it is. It’s not quite a character study but each character literally emerges off the page fully realized. It’s not quite an adventure story but it’s full of adventure and risk taking. For example, one character tells us his story as he rockets to the moon.

By the time you finish this novel you will wish you knew these characters and almost feel as if you do. Highly recommend. 

Gathering

They say it takes a village to raise a child but… I think it takes a village for all of us to thrive. Certainly we can live and breathe and function without real connection…. And no one enjoys and needs alone time more than I. But to really live… a gathering creates space for joy.

Gatherings for celebrations, rituals, life events, plain old good news and yes, survival, can be traced in every ancient culture from the beginning of time. From the Druids at Stonehenge, the West African Gullah culture on the sea islands of North Carolina and south, the first settlers, the American Indians…. every culture on every continent seeks to gather. After all, when you have good news, what is your first instinct? Sure, you can jump up and down by yourself. But, what then? You want to share it, I think.

Never was this more evident to me than when my whole family gathered recently for a wedding, two birthdays and the surprise of an upcoming birth. Every single member of my immediate family was present, with one exception, which in itself was nothing short of a minor miracle. We span across three thousand miles and six states. What I remember is the joy. Sure, there was a bit of drama. What good gathering doesn’t have that? But mostly pure joy. The faces of people I love. That’s what I remember. That’s what I take with me till the next gathering.

In the meantime, I gather with friends whom I love, for our celebrations and well, just because. I never take it for granted.

SEPTEMBER 2015 BOOK SELECTION: MINNOW

Every two years The Hub City Press in Spartanburg, SC hosts and publishes a South Carolina First Novel Competition. In 2014 the winner was Minnow by James E. McTeer, II.

The press’s website states it best: “Hub City Press is a non-profit independent press in Spartanburg, SC that publishes well-crafted, high-quality works by new and established Southern authors. We are committed to high-caliber novels, short stories, poetry, memoir, and works emphasizing regional culture and history. We are particularly interested in books with a strong sense of place."

Minnow certainly lives up to Hub City’s reputation for producing fine literature. The story disarms by introducing the reader to Minnow, whom you believe to be an average young boy. You learn very early on that his father is dreadfully ill and may not live without a certain medicine. Minnow is given the task of getting the medicine at the pharmacy by his mother. Would it were so easy. This is only the beginning.

As the story progresses, McTeer continually raises the stakes and the challenges to Minnow and you watch as he faces each one. It becomes a story of courage, devotion and fortitude. Warning: Some of the hurdles are so devastating, it was difficult to read.

The story takes place in Charleston and in the outer sea-islands off the coast of South Carolina. The places were so richly drawn that not only did you feel you accompanied Minnow on his journey, but the locations actually became another character. It was beautifully done. Recommend.

In the Blood

Is it true that where you grow up is in your blood? If so, the dark, rich soil of Kentucky and its iconic bluegrass pulse to a rhythm in mine. Archeologists can tell by examining minute traces of DNA and bone fragments where a person born centuries, even eons before, lived, breathed, ate, traveled. Astonishing, really. Therefore it literally is in your blood. Is that why whenever I go home and I travel the country roads around Lexington, my very heart feels full to bursting with the beauty of it? Although I know it can’t be literally true, I think at the time it’s the most beautiful place on earth. This is a thing separate from memory, I think. It is sensory. Deeper even. Something organic. Arising from within. Something in my bones.

So, I’ve lived many places and traveled many others. Are all of these places resting in my blood? My bones? The vivid season changes of Pennsylvania, the sweet heavy air, magnolia trees, camellia bushes, live oaks, Spanish moss of South Carolina? The rugged, wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean, the worn marble steps of Rome, the ancient fountains, the reverberation of voices in the theatre of Ephesus, the unseeing eyes of the caryatids on the Acropolis all live in me.

Whatever gives me life, whatever lives in me, whether soul or my imagining of it, sings in my blood. How lovely to think that this singing might also be leftover for someone to find buried in the organic me. There to find in all of us.

Porch of the Caryatids on the Acropolis