Open to words, forever–
After re-reading John Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat, I find myself wondering if I might ever reach the greatness of such storytelling. Tortilla Flat is a story about Danny, who inherits two houses, and his friends– Pablo, Pilon, Jesus Maria to name a few. Danny is an anti-hero (I think) and the story itself is rather simple–
This novel is based on an exceptional true story about the relationship between two men, Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian Muslim, and Rami Elhanan, an Israeli Jew. The Aramins and the Elhanans suffer in the aftermath of the violent deaths of their daughters. Rami’s daughter, Smadar, was killed when three young Palestinian men detonated suicide belts
I was more interested in the Writers than the Lovers, but I do love an ampersand. I was dismayed to see the audiobook had classified this as Women’s Fiction on its cover. What in the world is that? Is there Men’s Fiction? Can a man not enjoy a novel with a female protagonist? Lily King
I was first introduced to Rebecca Solnit in a “Democracy Now” interview. My next encounter was a “Brain Pickings” newsletter which featured Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark which was written at the height of the Bush administration’s power and the outset of the Iraq War–a very dark time. Hope in the Dark is still
I can’t help but laugh when I read the back of How to Write by Gertrude Stein: “It will not teach anyone how to write…” This book is about GS’s process– how she approached writing, which as stated in the introduction, “What is there to know about the writing of GS and the thoughts and
I am busy reading Apeirogon by Colum McCann–I think someone here recommended it before the pandemic. The library is finally open here, so I checked out a copy. I’ll write more on the novel when I finish. Meanwhile I thought this online event sounded fun. I signed up and thought I’d share the information. Here’s
After starting Strawberry Girl earlier this week, I was able to carve out some evening reading and put a bow on this one. I enjoyed it– it was cheerful and interesting– the novel took me far away from today. In rural Florida, Birdie and her Pa and Ma, other siblings are working hard getting the
I read (or, rather, listened to) this novel because of a conversation between Offill and David Naimon, the host of the “Between the Covers” podcast. You can listen to it here: https://tinhouse.com/podcast/jenny-offill-weather/ This is a story of family where the central character, Lizzie Benson, in the course of living life (as a daughter of a
Reading has been challenging for me for a number of reasons. I feel slow moving into summer reading, and am accepting it. The grading load I have in the summer might be the key variable of the moment. I was going to post zero books, but at least got through the first three chapters of
Walter Mosley’s blurb about this book, which was published in 2019 but feels like it was written last week: “John Freeman has created a work of both artistry and activism…a lexicon of what should matter from A to Z–a complex and nuanced rebirthing of words that have been worn away by the strife and noise
Seasonal Reading 