It’s been quite a busy month here.
- We were all very taken up with the Astros winning their Division and hopefully moving forward to the World Series again, but that was just not meant to be this year.
- Weather changes have brought us glorious morning skies.
- Our two crazy kitties keep me on my toes. One has to sleep in a separate room because she’s a typical kitten at night. The other wakes me up at 4am without fail, and I’ll get up and shut her in our laundry room before going back to sleep.
- The school book fair is in about 3 weeks, which means it’s finally time to start doing things instead of simply planning them. I have an assistant for this:
- I straightened my hair one day and picked up SG at school… she did not recognize me at all! She thought I was “some lady” and was looking for her mom.
- Our house is really coming along. It is now completely framed and almost finished being wrapped. Windows arrive today!
- I got a new puzzle app on my phone (Jigsaw Puzzle) and it’s pretty hard to put it down. I guess there are worse things.
- The Mussar class that I have been facilitating for a few months is ending today with our last topic and a bit of a celebration. I made little art gifts for each participant and have been squeezing in time here and there to work on them. I had my helper for this too:
- I voted, cleared out our garage, got a flu shot, toured some middle schools, had lunch with friends, walked most mornings, went to our downtown art festival, led a Girl Scout meeting, and spoke on a panel discussion for our religious school about being involved in the community.
- I finally returned the 4 chairs from Target that I’d ordered to use in our rental house kitchen (but didn’t like). They have been sitting in my garage for almost a full year!
And I’ve been reading… I saw this tshirt on Facebook and thought it was hilarious. If you don’t want to read my reviews, I’ll skip ahead and tell you you must read Meet Me at the Museum: A Novel by Anne Youngson. It’s a sweet, slightly sorrowful, and beautiful story. I’m about to begin An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.- Posts coming very soon on the house and some art projects!
You’ve Been So Lucky Already: A Memoir by Alethea Black
Just after grieving her father’s death, Alethea develops an illness. The book seems to flit randomly to various points in her life, telling of childhood memories and reflections. I just could not finish this one. I read about half and didn’t like the way Black rambled on and on about her feelings about what I think is an invented mental illness.
“You’re halfway through the movie when you discover that you’re crying, which is strange, because it isn’t even a sad movie. You’re crying because it’s good. On this day, when the movie ends, the other people get up and file out of the theater, talking and chewing their gum, as if they haven’t just been present at a miracle. Because that’s the way it always is: first, miracle, then: time to make the chicken. But on this day, you don’t get up. You don’t get up because you don’t want it to be over. So you continue to sit there, silently holding your Kit Kat wrapper in your seat at the back, long after the music has stopped and the lights have come on and everyone else has gone home.”
Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
Edgar Allen Poe, his wife, and his mistress (who tells the story). I’m not quite sure that the premise of this novel is a solid one, but regardless, the writing was definitely engaging. This is a novel best read by someone who doesn’t know many facts about American history or literature of the early 19th century. Cullen paints Poe to be a sex magnet, confuses various personalities of their literary salon, and shows the excessive emotion of Osgood while leaving out her brain.
“Slowly, I lifted my eyes to meet his. I would not look away even though it was wrong for me to interact with a married man in this intimate manner. And what I saw within his dark-rimmed eyes – not just with my own eyes, but perceived powerfully, clearly, with an unnamed sense – made my chest ache with joyous recognition. A smile of wonder bloomed simultaneously upon our faces.”
And this, on writing: “I sat back, wrung out, as I always am after I have brought forth a true and honest work, regardless of its subject or length. It is as if producing a creative work tears a piece from your soul. When it is ripped completely free of you, the wound must bleed for a while. How similar it is to letting go of a dream, your hope, or your heart’s desire. You must open up and let it drain.”
There Are No Grown-ups: A Midlife Coming-of-Age Story by Pamela Druckerman
The way Druckerman writes is humorous with just the right amount of neuroticism thrown in. I really loved her book about parenting her children in France and how things are vastly different. Here she shares her shock that being in ones forties leads to changes: people call her “madame” and treat her differently; she is expected to be “the person in charge;” she wants to try new things “before it’s too late.” Each chapter ends with a list of “You Know You’re In Your 40’s When…” and I think those are the best part of the book. It’s an honest, quick read.
“Even in France, being ‘comfortable in your age’ doesn’t happen automatically. It’s a deliberate, adult act. It requires believing that your particular shape, mind, and assortment of qualities — including your age — have a valid place in the world. It means making a choice about how you’re going to age. And it means believing that the person in the mirror is you.”
Some of her advice:
- If you’re wondering whether she’s the daughter or the girlfriend, she’s probably the girlfriend.
- Never wave at someone while wearing short sleeves.
- Do not buy the too-small jeans with the expectation that you will soon lose weight.
- It’s okay if you don’t like jazz.
At the Strangers’ Gate: Arrivals in New York by Adam Gopnik
I’m a big fan of Gopnik and his writing in The New Yorker and was excited to read this memoir of his first encounters in New York in the 80’s. The first few chapters were engaging… the tiny shoebox that he and his wife Martha lived in, his early employment, his failed attempts at cooking, the lovely reminiscences (is that a word?) of his marriage in the beginning. However, most of the rest of the book is about the art scene at the time. I just wasn’t interested in that. I still love Gopnik’s friendly and conversational tone and his vocabulary in general. I won’t count this book against him… I’ll still read whatever he comes out with next.
How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims
Truly, an excellent read about parents who do far too much to shelter children from any sort of strife… and how we are ultimately causing them to be unprepared for life without us. I think every parent should read this one. It’s as applicable to preschool as it is to college applications. Since reading it, I’ve pushed Sweet Girl to do even more on her own. Having scientific evidence that it’s good for her in the long run makes it even easier to do. As for all the academic pressure, I agree that there’s more to life than getting in to the top 100 universities. If I have to criticize one thing about this excellent and practical book, it’s that she focuses too much on the university admission process. I know that is her area of expertise though, so she’s forgiven.
The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
We are not unique in the current politics of fear. “Extremism, racism, nativism, and isolationism, driven by fear of the unknown, tend to spike in periods of economic and social stress—a period like our own.” This book tells of our American history, our best moments and those from darker times, and how we ultimately moved forward. Times of public despair are not new to us, and it’s helpful to learn from what came before.
“The opposite of fear is hope, defined as the expectation of good fortune not only for ourselves but for the group to which we belong. Fear feeds anxiety and produces anger; hope, particularly in a political sense, breeds optimism and feelings of well-being. Fear is about limits; hope is about growth. Fear casts its eyes warily, even shiftily, across the landscape; hope looks forward, toward the horizon. Fear points at others, assigning blame; hope points ahead, working for a common good. Fear pushes away; hope pulls others closer. Fear divides; hope unifies.”
Dear Committee Members: A Novel by Julie Schumacher
Told as a series of letters of recommendation interspersed with letters to colleagues, we learn the whole history of a sad creative writing professor and his struggles. It’s meant to be smart and witty, but it ends up being tedious. It was rough going to get to the end.
A Paradise Called Texas by Janice Jordan Shefelman and Tom Shefelman
The story of a German family looking for a better life in America in 1845. Sweet Girl is reading this in school, so I read it to be able to talk about it with her. Fourth grade is all things Texas history. I enjoyed this one and will probably get the other books in this series.
Just the Funny Parts: …And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys’ Club” by Nell Scovell
I read this one because the author is coming to Houston for our Jewish Book/Arts Fair in a couple of weeks. I am part of the small group of people that have not seen any of the shows she mentions writing for. I enjoyed her observations about women in the media and the advice she gives about finding your voice, failing and moving on, etc, but most of this book had too little substance for me. I did, however, love the Sheryl Sandberg introduction. 🙂
Meet Me at the Museum: A Novel by Anne Youngson
Truly a delightful little book! It reminded me a little of The Bridges of Madison County in that it was a late-in-life accidental discovery of a kindred spirit. We get to know the two main characters in their letters to each other as they grow closer. This is a tender and beautiful book – a must read!
“Our letters have meant so much to us because we have both arrived at the same point in our lives. More behind us than ahead of us.”
“I thought of the words we have used to each other, you and I, in describing our lives – mine bound up in the relentless timetable of food production, yours buried in the fossilized remains of the past. It is hard for us to say, isn’t it, that nothing is so fixed it cannot be altered? The seasons do not linger waiting for it to be convenient for the sowing and the harvesting. The artifacts you study are what they are. They represent a moment in time. They have no scope for change; that is why you study them. That is shy they are useful for telling us things we might otherwise never have known. I begin to think we have been misled by the types of lives we lead into overlooking our personal potential to be other than we have always been.”
I loved Meet Me At The Museum!