Caren > Recent Status Updates

Tedious and painfully repetitive and I’m glad it wasn’t my first book read of hers because I often consider her books my guilty pleasure (no guilt, really, but I like the term) to escape to. I rarely ever relate to her characters but often enjoy her descriptions of Nantucket very much.

“Whatever our way out of this mess, one thing is certain. This degree of inequality, this withdrawal of opportunity, this cold denial of basic needs, this endorsement of pointless suffering – by no American value is this situation justified. No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching, can be summoned to defend what we have allowed our country to become.”

In whatever might have been called “normal times” I probably would have enjoyed the book enough but during recovery from a surprise attack of Covid on my 76 yr-old self I’m wishing I had another 300 pages to look forward to so I’m taking soup and ice cream breaks to make my enjoyment last. Anyone who writes “…as giddy as squirrels in a Snickers factory.” can be this old lady’s friend for life.

I’m re-reading this one. I confess to being a sucker for most books with bookstores. I’m finding this one again an excellent place in which to decompress and hide out.

Reading again

I usually use Notes in my phone to copy down passages from books I’m reading that resonate with me but in the case of this book I’d have to copy nearly the entire book and so I will merely re-quote from the back cover…oddly (or not) from Financial Times - “Williams’s prose [is]… life-affirming and written with a turn of phrase that makes the reader want to underline something on every page.”

Only on the second page and joyfully remembering how Niall Williams magically turns poetry into prose. Ahhhhhhh

A third of the way into the book I realize that what happens for me, when reading Catherine Ryan Hyde, is the sense of receiving an infusion of kindness. Hard to describe any other way but I suspect that her readers understand.

It took a concerted effort to keep my eyes from completely rolling back into my head until somewhere well past the first hundred pages. Now, the jury is out until I manage to finish reading the book. Maybe I’m just too old for so many descriptions of variations on snarky smiles and rough hands…(but I enjoyed Book Lovers - perhaps I’m just a slut for book shops in books?)
To be continued

Having just finished reading Traveling With Pomegranates, I decided that I MUST read this one again.

Illuminating

I’m reading this for the second time; Three Pines is one of my favorite places in which to hide out.

Re-reading, need an escape and Barbara O’Neal offers that.

What lover of fiction wouldn’t be seduced by the title and cover? Bookshop, Paris, postage stamp...
I’m finding someone tasty tidbits but find myself skipping over paragraphs (romance-related, perhaps I’m just too old?) because I find it difficult to read with my eyes rolled back in my head. Hovering between 2 and 3 stars but still half a book to motor through.....
Meanwhile, kudos to the jacket designer!