The unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having this winter is rolling right into spring and things are budding, blooming, and leafing out very much ahead of schedule. These last two days have been downright hot and humid, which makes me think we’re in for a wicked summer.
In the meantime, it’s nice to see the first color of the season.
Posted in In the Garden, Life in General, Weather | Tagged France, Paris, travel | 1 Comment »
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is exactly why we recommend books to one another. Here, for whatever reason, is a book I doubt I ever would have read if it hadn’t been for a couple of friends (whose opinion in books I value) raving about it. A medical drama set in Ethiopia? Pass. The fact that it’s been on the best seller lists for years meant nothing to me. Thankfully, I was lent the book to read and just a few pages in I was hooked. Everything about Cutting for Stone is captivating; the prose, the characters, the story, the location, even the medical story elements, had me engaged throughout.
Cutting for Stone is the story of twin brothers Marion and Shiva, born out of wedlock to a nun and a talented surgeon working in a struggling hospital in Ethiopia. When their mother dies in childbirth and their father flees the country, the boys are adopted by a pair of doctors, colleagues of their father’s, who treat them as their own, raising them against the backdrop of family drama and political upheaval. As the twins grow up, they drift apart until a painful event severs their bond and places an ocean between them. The Stone family’s story is an engrossing tale of betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption that had me reading the conclusion with a lump in my throat. Highly recommended.
Posted in Books | Tagged books, reading | 2 Comments »
Recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing my photos from France for sale: reprints, photo cards, notebooks, that sort of thing. There’s a street festival in my neighborhood every June and in the past we’ve used it as an excellent weekend to hold a yard sale. This year, I thought I’d float some of my photos out there to see what happens.
In the meantime, I’ve entered a photo contest sponsored by Le Boat, the charter company we used on the Canal du Midi in France last fall. The contest is through Facebook, so if you’re so inclined, I’d really appreciate your voting for my photos. The contest page is here; scroll to the bottom and you’ll find my photos a few pages in. The grand prize is a boat charter in France. If I win, I promise to raise a toast in your honor while I’m there. Thanks!
PS–If you’re on Facebook and we’re not already connected, feel free to send me a request.
Posted in Photography, Travel | 1 Comment »
Emily, Alone by Stewart O’Nan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Eight years have passed since we last met Emily Maxwell in Wish You Were Here. In that leisurely book, author Stewart O’Nan took twice the length to tell the story of the family’s final week-long vacation at their Chautauqua summer home, bouncing the narration between all nine viewpoints of the main players. Coming in at less than half the page count, Emily Alone is a brisk telling of nearly a year in the life of the matriarch. The title hints at the bittersweet story of an aging woman living alone, reflecting on her past while acknowledging her diminishing days in the future, but it also refers to the book’s point of view. While all the Maxwells make an appearance in the sequel, this is Emily’s story alone.
Emily’s life has settled into a routine, much of it spent with her sister-in-law Arlene. Her days are punctuated by classical music on the radio, conversations with the dog, and honest and amusing details that O’Nan gets just right. Emily spends months in anticipation of her children and grandchildren visiting and then quickly becomes irritated by their invasion of her space. Her expectation and subsequent critique of thank you cards and systematic method for distributing a supply of Kleenex about the house had me chuckling. The Pittsburgh setting was an added bonus, a pleasant return to a location I visited a few years ago; it was fun to spend time with Emily, out-and-about in her town.
O’Nan’s trademark is simple, striking prose. In Emily Alone, every chapter reads with the strength of a short story; when stitched together they are an enjoyable account of an ordinary life well worth the reader’s attention. Despite moments of sadness, regret, and the inevitable aches and pains of aging, there’s an underlying hopefulness that buoys what could easily have been a depressing tale about the sunset years of life.
As with Wish You Were Here, O’Nan’s characters are so vividly realized that I believe them to be real, out there in the world living their lives. I think of them often, wondering what they’re up to and how they’re getting on.
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Every year since 1993, I’ve compiled a list of favorite books read during the year to share with friends. This year’s list solidly falls under the “better late than never” category. So here, in no particular order, is my nineteenth annual recommended reading list. Happy reading!
Posted in Books | Tagged books, reading | 2 Comments »
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (1996)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I would never have chosen to read this book–despite the raving popularity of the HBO mini-series adaptation–had it not been recommended to me by someone whose opinion I trust, and boy, am I glad I did. This first installment of the Song of Ice and Fire series was the big surprise of my reading year and easily one of my favorite books of 2011.
That this series is classified as fantasy fiction was a huge red flag; scifi and adult fantasy novels hold no appeal for me. (Young adult fantasy is another story.) However, on the strength of solid writing and fantasy elements that are suppressed for much of the story, I was able to enjoy the book as a work of period fiction, completely immersing myself in the details of the medieval setting, the complex characters, and an exciting, tangled drama of warring kingdoms.
This tome is a breathless, whirlwind of a read. By the end, when a fantastical storyline reared its head, I was so invested in the characters, I hardly minded and couldn’t wait to start the next book in the saga.
Posted in Books | Tagged books, reading | 1 Comment »
Look what I discovered this afternoon. The witch hazel bushes that were planted last fall are showing the first tiny blooms of spring. The second week of February seems early to me, but that’s probably a product of our crazy-warm winter–the warmest in eighty years.
While it’s nice to see a little (and I mean l-i-t-t-l-e) color in the yard, I’m still waiting for more snow. Hopefully I’ll get my wish tomorrow, when the prediction is for 6+ inches of lake effect snow. I’ll take it any way we can get it.
Posted in In the Garden, Weather | Leave a Comment »
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