weekend reads

The joy of reading outside.

Summer has officially begun and with it, summer reading can begin in earnest. Do you read different types of books when the days are longer and warmer? I think I read more fiction during the summer.

I'm currently trying to finish a big ol' book I have little interest in: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It's the last (thank goodness) in the Larrson trilogy. Reading it for book club although that book club meeting has come and gone. I just feel obligated to finish.

What I have coming up to read that I'm jazzed about are these books:

• Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (author of The Glass Castle)
• Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

What are you reading this weekend? Will you be reading outside?

weekend reading

I just finished reading Colm Toibin’s novel, Brooklyn. It's a coming of age novel about a single woman named Eilis who leaves her working class home in Ireland in the early 1950's to emigrate to America. She emigrates not so much because she wants to but more because the rest of her family thinks it's a good idea.

The young protagonist takes a job in a Brooklyn department store and a room in a boarding home for single women. Lonely and homesick, she struggles to fit in with her motley crue of fellow boarders. Eventually she meets a man. A relationship ensues but is it love she is feeling or escape from lonliness? A crisis takes Eilis back to Ireland where she is forced to make a decision that will forever alter the course of her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this concise and finely tuned story. I love reading about immigrants, their years of transition, the origin of various customs and values, their contribution to America's ever evolving melting pot. And for some reason I'm drawn to the Irish culture, in part, I suppose, because of several close friendships with Irish Catholic girls during my high school and college years.

In Brooklyn, it's easy to root for the heroine, Eilis, and identify with her uncertainty in trying to decide between first love and friendly affection. At times she seems a little too passive, however. I felt frustrated and at times incredulous at Eilis' lack of self advocacy which builds into a potentially ruinous situation. It felt a little bit like watching the heroine of a scary movie doing all the wrong victim-y things. Don't answer the door! Why are you running deeper into the woods? Calamity so easily avoided, at least that's the angle from the cheap seats.

At the same time I could relate to Eilis' indecision, her naive hope that a sticky problem, with a bit of denial, will go away on it's own . I could also see how the central conflicts in this story were a product of the traditional female role and expectations placed on women throughout history. Women not in full control of their destiny or, at least, not taking control. Women who place the feelings of others above their own only to discover the flaw in this reasoning when it's too late.

Weekend Reading

The fabulous Sassy B. sent me a copy of this book in the mail. I read it in one weekend. I had to literally pry my fingers off the book! Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of nine short stories, but they blend and interconnect beautifully... it feels like a novel. This book is an emotional rollercoaster. It opens with "A Temporary Matter," which tells the story of a young couple dealing with the loss of an infant. My husband and I endured a similar tragedy in our lives and the deep river of grief that we felt was portrayed so accurately by Lahiri's story. My favorite tale was "This Blessed House" where a newly married couple buys a home and begins to discover hidden Christian items in mysterious places throughout the old house. It was lighthearted and playful and a great contrast to the other more serious stories. Lahiri does a wonderful job of mixing Indian and American culture through descriptions of food, clothing, attitudes, social and political events, etc. It's a great weekend read!

Weekend Reading

For this weekend reading, I decided to recommend something that I myself haven't read! I was completely inspired last weekend when a very dear friend of mine brilliantly acted in an adaptation of this play. This play was written by Eve Ensler and was originally performed as a solo act by Ensler herself. Since then, it has exploded into an international production. Now, there is a worldwide movement called V-Day, which raises money for women's anti-violence groups through productions of the play. (The rendition I saw donated 100% of the profits for V-Day). The play is made up of various stories by women of all races and ages. It is clever, witty, sad, honest, and eye-opening. It deals with rape, sex, love, menstruation, childbirth, terminology, etc. Being a mom myself, I teared up during the childbirth monologue. They also managed to have the whole audience chanting the dreaded C-word. (Something I don't think I have ever uttered out loud!) So get out there and either read this book or attend a local production and raise money and awareness to protect women all over the world!

Weekend Reading

My latest adventure is reading a book called "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood." I once recall kissing a carnie so you know trash is in my blood. And now I can actually read about my peeps in a book. I'm not from the south or Georgia. I don't have a junkyard on my property - though one person's junkyard is another person's treasure trove. Or so I've been told.

I've been reading more of these nature-y books about land, pine cones, sky, forest duff, ecology - maybe nature, part memoir, mostly someone paying much closer attention to their surroundings. I live in a remote forested area and try to pay attention though I've yet to find enough taking place to write about. Perhaps a banana slug book is in order. I never knew these books existed for pleasure reading. Always assumed a book about the forest would be for(est) a class or an expedition. I'm finding these books compelling to read. Then I find my recommendations on Amazon in the area of spiritual direction. From crackers to spirituality. Who'd a thunk it!?

My interest in this kind of writing started with books by the author Kathleen Dean Moore, a philosophy professor who lives and works in Oregon. I was not too keen on philosophy either though I understood it and always did well in class. I started reading a book she wrote called "Wild Comfort." I own most of her books now and not a one of them mention the word crackers.

With the word cracker in the title, I somehow knew the book would be a winner, not because crackers are food but because I hail from a long line of po-white trash aka crackers. I've read up to about chapter 7. There's not too much to report except the book reads like a memoir that took place in a junkyard with chapters thrown in about the  and their demise. I can hardly wait to get to the cracker part.

Longleaf Pine–Grassland Ecosystem

Weekend Reading

Not sure where you live, but the weekend forecast around here is sunny and 70s which equals beach and a book... and not just any book. Sometimes Tolstoy or Proust can be a bit heavy for a beach retreat, you know? My solution: revert back to your childhood days where "Choose Your Own Adventure" was the biggest rage. Emma Campbell Webster has recaptured the page-turning excitement in this "grown-up" version. The main character is Elizabeth Bennet--but you are by no means stuck in a Mr. Darcy world. I have taken many quick adventures with this book and so far have managed to *gasp* marry Mr. Collins, spend a spooky weekend in Northanger Abbey, take a trip with Jane to Bath, all the while collecting (or losing!) Confidence and Intelligence points. It's silly, clever, and simple.

If you have a baby banana attached to your hip (as I currently do) then you know that your beach bag will be overflowing with so much equipment it seems as though you packed for an army and not a tiny little being. Stuff a board book into any pocket left--it will be very useful when trying to coax your child to sit still under an umbrella for snacktime. A lasting favorite in our collection is Rod Campbell's Dear Zoo. Nothing makes the little ones happier than a lift-the-flap book full of animals. Spoiler Alert: the book ends with a puppy being the perfect pet, which of course is every child's dream, right?

Perfect hot weather snack? Frozen chocolate covered bananas. Add some sprinkles or nuts for pizzaz. Find out how to make them here.