Reading is in Bloom!

Ok, maybe not, but my orange peony tulips are! If you need a break from all the garden work like I do, I have a couple of suggestions for you.

A very light and engaging read, not my typical choice but very enjoyable was Fredrik Bachman's(from A Man Called Ove) My Grandmother asked me to tell you I'm Sorry.

The premise of the novel is endearing. A young seven, almost eight year old who is "different" is given a task by her grandmother who is dying of cancer. It's a story of relationships, and families, that evolves into a quest for Elsa. As in any quest story, it is what she learns along the way that is most important. The plot is fun, with a suspenseful mystery, but sometimes Elza's narration doesn't quite sound right. The author slips from a third person limited at times that does cause the reader to pause, how could Elza make that observation. Even though she is very intelligent, her vocabulary is sometimes a stretch? The other parallel story, of the imaginary world that the Grandmother created for Elza, often coincides with what she is learning in real life. The characters are very well drawn, and Elza makes a great hero. Enjoy.

But here's my kind of writer, Haruki Murakami. Although his language is not as colorful as say my other favorite stars, Marquez and Rushdie, his observations will trap you before you have time to put it down. Yes, I know it came out last year(August 2014). But I couldn't start it just after finishing 1Q84. If you've read that one you will understand my delay in picking up, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his years of Pilgimage. This is my kind of quest story, involving what you know is magical realism, but you buy it all anyway. A compelling mystery involving a man whose four best friends dropped him and he doesn't discover why until he is much older. Again Murakami writes carefully crafted characters into a complex journey, involving self revelation. If you haven't ever read Murakami, I suggest you start with Kafka on the Shore. From 2005. It is a little more accessible and beautifully written. But then, I have liked all his novels. I just wish I could read them in Japanese. A much fuller review of Colorless can be had at NYTimes.

Spring approaches softly

As we all know, Utah does not want us planting yet. Soooo might as well read a good book. Thanks to our own Dr. Chris McGill, I have a classic to recommend. Of course, I teach A.P. Literature and this is the time for Sound and the Fury, no, I'm not recommending that one, although really mind blowing, I would like to suggest Absalom, Abaslom! another Faulkner. I don't know how I missed reading this one over the years, as Faulkner is really my favorite writer. I really like getting lost in his writing, I don't worry much about not knowing what's going on. But of course, that's because I've read so many of them multiple times. But then I started Absalom. Thank goodness, Chris is here in the building to discuss it with. I highly suggest having a partner or two when engaging with Faulkner. What was really great for me was to re-experience that disquietude that one feels when starting a Faulkner work. Everything is spinning, like when I have my spring sinus infection. But as always, being patient and being willing to re-read paid off. It is really Quentin(from Sound and Fury) and his friend Shreve telling the outside story. Then it's Miss Rosa Coldfield telling as well. All adding up to a very mysterious story, and giving background to a famous classic Yoknapatawpha county citizen, Thomas Sutpen. Also, even though most stories of his are after the civil war, this one goes back to before and explains a lot of the transformation. "Faulkner fights out the moral problem which was repressed after the nineteenth century(yet) for all his concern with the South, Faulkner as actually seeking out the nature of man."(Ralph Ellison)I don't suggest this one for your first time out with Mr. Faulkner, but boy is it cool and well worth the effort.

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Back to contemporary. Back to easier/faster reading. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. This too is an interesting read and a little disquieting as well. It really is as if you are in her life and she is telling you some, but importantly not all of the secrets. You are left, really, at the end with a mystery. You will read very quickly at the end, trying to get the answers to many questions. But she only tells you what she wants. This style is engaging and we question, why. NY Times Review.

Winter Reads?

The air we breathe around here should be our inspiration to stay inside and read a good book and I have a couple new ones for you. Most recently breezed through and thoroughly enjoyed The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende. However, one warning, I didn't love it. I wanted to though. After all, it's Allende and it's a love story. I agree with the New York Times review, the characters didn't grab me. The idea of the plot grabbed me, it's set in a rest home with multitude of characters and ties to historical events(Japanese internment). I just wanted it to be so good. However, don't let it stop you from picking it up. It is well worth the read, and much better than going outside!

But here's one I really liked, and it's a fast read as well. Although I didn't love Life of Pi(I know that may sound ridiculous to you) I really loved Yann Martel's new book The High Mountains of Portugal. There are really 3 different novellas here but Martel weaves them together powerfully in an artfully drawn setting far from our inversion. This one is gripping. You will have a hard time letting it go. It is really about grief, but somehow he uses humor to reach in to us. All three are wonderful, but my favorite was the last one. There you will meet Odo, the ape, and what really does human mean? Martel will make you believe that we are all part of the same creation and humans benefit when they realize that.

Now, for those of you who need to improve your attitude!-a little non-fiction power talk from Caroline Webb. January, February, they just drag on. Dirty snow and bad days at work? Could it get worse? No! it can get better! at least with Webb's advice you can feel somewhat empowered over how you feel at work-try it and see. At least read the review and get some tips.

Holiday Stress Release

No, it's not Yoga, but it will clear your mind of all your worries.

David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks, has a new one called Slade House. It's a little one that will cause you to read furiously. Each chapter has a different narrator, although that's not uncommon, it it is fun. The first one is autistic, which really gives a unique aspect to the action. The character Nathan says "Mum says I have to learn how to Blend In more, but there aren't any classes for Blending In." Mitchell speaks from experience here as his son is autistic. Nathan looks into the houses as he walks by and sees Godzilla pick up a train on a TV. He says, "makes no sense because amphibians don't have thumbs." I love characters with real vision. Each chapter will draw you in a little more and leave you dying to solve the mystery. Yes, it isn't very holiday themed but then you might just have enough of that going on at your home already. And yes, there is a problem with soul sucking. But with all the awful things in reality, isn't it nice to read something that can't happen? And at least most of us can be assured we can keep our souls. The character development is great, as are the settings and details, although they do keep shifting. Keep this in mind for your holiday gifts as well, it's a little yellow book with a cutout on the cover. A great stocking gift for readers in your family. Also, you can have it read in a weekend and then share with your friends. NYTimes review.

Have you felt guilty about reading?

Ok, not because you should be fixing some fabulous meal or that you should pay more attention to your fascinating spouse, but because you feel guilty not finishing a book? I don't like to give up. I always think it's me. But The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher challenged my determination. Don't worry, I did finish, but boy it took me way too long. It is not because it isn't a really good read, it is just that in parts the details about all the people involved in the investigation distracted me from the main conflict. That of Mina Crandon, medium, and Harry Houdini. This is about a time period in the United States, after WWI, that people so longed to speak to their dead sons, brothers and fathers that Spiritualism took hold. Mina, a well respected upper crust young woman began to hear from her dead brother.

Things soon got out of hand. She was pretty but it's amazing what a little ectoplasm can do.

I found her character and motivations fascinating. The Scientific American was out to prove life after death. They set up a contest and started exposing a lot of frauds. Houdini was on the committee. Because of his acumen with magic tricks, he was especially qualified to spot a sham. It really is a fascinating story, especially when you realize that they thought psychic power was scientific. It makes sense, really, radio waves brought voices into their homes and they couldn't see them either. NPR liked this book and their review is excellent. Be patient with this one, it really is worth it and remember, don't feel guilty.

The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

Rosemary by Kate Clifford Larson is a must read. Please pick this one up. Larson writes a very compelling and compassionate biography of the Kennedy's oldest daughter. Actually, even though it is such a engaging read, it will break your heart. I have a Master's in Special Education and my early years of teaching were in this field. It is heart wrenching because of the mis-diagnosis of Rosemary, and her consequent treatment. She had been kept in the birth cannel by the midwife who would not deliver a Kennedy baby without the high priced doctor present. He was two hours late. After that Rosemary developed more slowly than her siblings. In a family of highly competitive achievers, you can imagine how her self concept was damaged. She had to repeat kindergarten and then repeated first grade. I will give the story away here, but her early years did have some happiness. However as a young adult, twenty-two, she became too difficult to handle. For Joe Kennedy, her behavior was a threat to the careers of the older boys. Hence when the promise of a new "treatment" loomed, Kennedy rushed to Dr. Freeman for a lobotomy for Rosemary. The results were tragic. Worse was the isolation that Rosemary now suffered. None of the children knew where she was. Even her mother didn't know for a long time. I think the tremendous insight into the family, the revelation of attitudes toward the disabled at the time and the tender portrayal of Rosemary herself make this the best read of the fall. "In her engaging and compassionate Rosemary, Kate Larson illuminates the poignant story of a resolute girl falling behind in a glamorous and competitive family. Rosemary's own story comes alive against the broader and often shocking background of twentieth-century attitudes toward the intellectually disabled, and sheds fascinating light on how the characters of Rose Kennedy, Joe Kennedy, and Rosemary's famous siblings were indelibly shaped by her determined yet tragic life."-Will Swift Listen to the podcast from NYTIMES. Some of our younger readers are not even aware of this important story; this might make a great gift of knowledge to them.

Searching for Proof?

Well, you aren't going to find it. However, Roger Clarke's Ghosts, a natural history: 500 years of searching for proof, is a fascinating read. It's "a comprehensive, authoritative, and readable history of the evolution of the ghost in western culture, examinging the behavior of the subject in its preferred environment: the stories we tell each other." For me, it has always been about the stories. But here Clarke adds to the stories by revealing how they changed over time, what the real basis of the stories were, and really interesting how class status plays into the whole thing. Even though scientists or upper class people wanted to investigate, they didn't want other people to know of their interests. Whereas, with the middle class it was all out. What I found particularly fascinating was how much science was developed that we use today, that was originally invented to help prove or disprove ghosts! From NYTIMES REVIEW "Roger Clarke tells this and many other gloriously weird stories with real verve, and also a kind of narrative authority that tends to constrain the skeptical voice within". Just in time for next month BOOOOOOO!