A New Year
January 30, 2022
Is it? Still? A new year? I’m hanging on to the “new” in New Year and its associated sense of optimism and hope for as long as I can!
Gemma Correll‘s illustration, “Is this the most January January ever?”, made me laugh. There definitely seems to be a general malaise afoot as 2022 gets rolling. Conversations I’ve had with fellow readers have reflected this. Due to the mood, there is a prevalent sense of disappointment &/or frustration from an inability to focus on reading with the ease we have in the past. I’ve felt it too. I admire those who have been able to embrace a Pandemic pause in their lives to devour bigger books and more pages than ever. My books-per-month count may be way down but I have found a new appreciation for essays and short stories. It seems writers and publishers have as well – there are so many new collections on the shelves and more to come. If you’re struggling with getting into a novel, why not dip a toe into a book of essays or stories? There are many genres but here are a few that may lighten the mood or distract you with intriguing thoughts.
I Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott – Sometimes when all the news articles seem to be too much one needs a little escape. This collection from a charming, self-professed Type A-overthinker, abounds with humour and poignancy. Philpott writes self-deprecatingly but honestly and often with a wink. Marriage, parenthood, big life moments, and more importantly, the little moments all feature.
The Souvenir Museum by Elizabeth McCracken – I’ve yet to read McCracken’s work but feel strongly pulled to dive in. She is the only reader Ann Patchett apparently trusts for input on a manuscript. Now that’s an endorsement for having an understanding of words! “With sentences that crackle and spark and showcase her trademark wit, McCracken traces how our closely held desires—for intimacy, atonement, comfort—bloom and wither against the indifferent passing of time. Her characters embark on journeys that leave them indelibly changed—and so do her readers.“
The Book of Delights by Ross Gay – “A volume of lyric essays” in which poet Ross Gay shares “a daily essay about something delightful – an essayette” . The Crow’s Ablutions, and Flowers in the Hands of Statues, Loitering, and The Sanctity of Trains just a few titles among the 102 included here. Plenty of quick little reads to make you pause with a gentle hmmmm or a giggle. Truly delightful. Perhaps this will serve as inspiration to slow our pace and notice the delights we encounter in our own days.
Midlife Bites: Anyone Else Falling Apart or Is It Just Me? by Jen Mann – Jen Mann is a popular blogger, known for writing with humour about home life with kids and the crazy-making expectations that bombard us. Her epic “Overachieving Elf on the Shelf Mommies” rant went wildly viral and gathered her a fervent following among the more “realistic” mom-set. Now Jen has taken her truth telling to the mid-life crisis and her wry humour is hitting a nerve yet again. “I inhaled this book in one sitting; it’s a must-read for anyone over forty. This should become the gift all girlfriends give one another.”—Zibby Owens, host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books
Binge: 60 Stories to Make your Brain Feel Different by Douglas Coupland – Feels like it’s been a while since we’ve had something from this creative thinking icon. I’m intrigued by the title alone and look forward to giving this a try. “The characters, of course, are Doug’s own: crackpots, cranks and sweetie-pies, dad dancers and perpetrators of carbecues. People in the grip of unconscionable urges; lonely people; dying people; silly people. If you love Doug’s fiction, this collection is like rain on the desert.” (goodreads)
The Joy of Small Things by Hannah Jane Parkinson – Happy focused vignettes by a young English writer on topics as wide-ranging as Finding Lost Things, Fonts, Pockets, The Smell of Wood and Being Inside When its Raining. Many of these pieces appeared in her very popular column in the Guardian newspaper. Hard to decide whether to fly through them all in one sitting or dole out just a few deep sigh worthy moments at a time.
The Most of Nora Ephron – Our beloved Nora wrote some of the most enjoyable, funny, challenging, and poignant essays of our time. Two collections, I Feel Bad About My Neck and I Remember Nothing are included in this recently released compilation of ALL of Nora’s writings. Screenplays, novels, essays, blogposts … they are all here in one “most” impressive collection. “Readers will admire their literary heroine even more when … they discover, or are reminded, of the brave positions she took, and of how far her preoccupations and her writing ranged.” —Francine Prose, The New York Review of Books
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett – I read this lovely collection over the holidays; it was a favourite gift. Ann always inspires with her way of seeing the world and some of these essays will remain with me always. A great thing about essays is that they are more easily re-readable. I can see keeping this on a nearby shelf and re-visiting on down the road and finding new gems that emerge with the passing of time and a change in perspective. Highly recommend.
Best Books I Haven’t Told You About … Yet!
May 27, 2020
Ok, “Anonymous” commenter – this one’s for you. I can’t resist responding to a “Quick, I need a book recommendation!” plea … These are the books that stood out to me in the last year or so of reading. Hope you find something that sparks your interest. Feel free to add your own recent favourites in the Comments.
The Braid by Laetitia Colombani – A creatively structured story of three women living across the globe from one another, in vastly different circumstances, whose tales become entwined in poignant ways. Not widely promoted for some reason but a special find. I hope more readers get to enjoy it.
From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home by Tembi Locke – I simply adored this. I wasn’t expecting the writing to be so evocative but there were moments to stop and savour throughout. You will smell the Sicilian soil and tomatoes, I promise! An emotional story but told without high drama, just tenderly and respectfully shared. I don’t re-read very often (so many books, so little time) but am tempted already to re-visit this one.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins – A juggernaut of positive promotion preceded its publication, Oprah blessed it too, but then controversy set in. I’ll leave you to the Googling to learn more about the politics but my experience as a reader was absolutely positive. I was captivated by the storytelling and found it to be a fascinating portrayal of a mother and son’s bond while bravely fleeing terrifying circumstances. I suggest reading the Author’s Note first. When I learned of the author’s inspiration for the story, I could personally reconcile any concerns raised among the naysayers.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – A big thank you to KM for this recommendation. A juicy big multi-generational saga set over several decades in Korea and Japan. An immigrant journey and a family story that is epic in scale and yet intimate in its portrayal of each character. Engrossing.
I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott – Sometimes when all the news articles seem to be too much, the reading of a personal essay can be a pleasant, just as brief, escape. This collection from a charming, self-professed Type A-overthinker, abounds with humour and poignancy. Philpott writes self-deprecatingly but honestly and often with a wink. Marriage, parenthood, big life moments, and more importantly, the little moments all feature.
The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali – A stationery shop in Tehran in the tumultuous 1950s provides the setting for a young love to ignite. The romance is complicated by politics, culture and family but the love remains intensely felt for a lifetime. An emotional story of paths taken and not taken – a really heart wrenching journey but so worth the read.
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal – Don’t let the title scare you away (or make you overly giddy for that matter!) This is a wonderful story of a writing group for Punjabi widows that takes a bit of an entertaining turn. I get so many requests for “funny book” recommendations and this one has lovely humour, though it has some feisty adventure in it too. In fact, I was surprised by the unexpected depth. Looking forward to Jaswal’s next work.
The Library Book by Susan Orlean – AN thoughtfully gifted this to me and I looked forward to an interesting non-fiction foray. But let me tell you, I was not expecting this to be as riveting a tale as it was. Wow. I was fascinated by each of the many threads that Orlean wove together. It could be considered an academic account but it reads like a page-flipping novel. The essence of the story begins with the 1986 Los Angeles library fire and then fans out to explore the life of the suspected arsonist, the history of the library – its architecture and the people who were part of its soul over the years. This was written by a lover of reading, and this lover of reading approves!
An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff – Homelessness is a social condition that intimidates many people. In this memoir, Laura Schroff writes honestly about her own lack of understanding and how, through a simple gesture that grew, her life was changed by a young boy on the streets of New York City. Reminiscent of The Blind Side, this is an inspirational story that will stick with you.
Belgravia by Julian Fellowes – The word “romp” keeps coming forth whenever I describe this book. It reminds me of one of those Oscar Wilde plays, a comedy of manners, where everyone is dancing around everyone else and we’re only in on half of the story until it all pieces together in the end with a few wily maneuvers that leave you gasping and snickering. Julian Fellowes is of course the creator of the Downton Abbey antics and this, too, has become televised in the UK. The book was such fun, I can only imagine the TV series will be too.
Turbulence by David Szalay – A slim little chapter book oh-so-creatively pieced together and beautifully written. You know one of my favourite books of all time is Let the Great World Spin and this has a little sprinkle of that fairy dust. A passenger on a plane (you know, in the olden days) converses with his neighbouring seatmate. That seatmate goes on to have another conversation in a different city and so on and so on. The story winds around the globe and back again connecting regular people in extraordinary ways.
The Waiting Hours by Shandi Mitchell – The world of first responders doesn’t often appear in mainstream novels and so this was an interesting world in which to travel. With elements of suspense and heart wrenching emotion, it provides a glimpse into the challenge of processing trauma, personally and professionally. A Canadian writer who has also written Under This Unbroken Sky.
