It’s January! The time some of us try to make resolutions to do something new. This can sometimes extend to our reading habits. When it comes our reading diet, most of us stay in our narrow comfort zones. We know we like a certain genre and tend to stick to it. I know that’s true for … Continue reading Change of Pace: Novels in Verse
The book’s beginning is somewhat deceiving. As the story opens, we meet an older man, widowed ten years in a semi crisis state. He’s noticing he’s somewhat forgetful. He's a bit panicked because the housekeeper he has relied on since his wife’s death has had a personal emergency and doesn’t know when she’ll be back. A rookie meter reader comes to the house and Baumgartner takes him down the poorly lit basement stairs and has a bad fall and struggles with the injury without help. So starts the story. My impression was that this was a doddering man on his way down.
I am always amazed by what I learn from historical fiction and how it illuminates diverse perspectives and little known events. Given what is going on in the world right now, regardless of your personal viewpoint, fiction and poetry can make us think in a way we can’t get from other sources. Sure, the horrific images shown over and over inform us, but some writers have a way of making us expand our thinking.
The third annual Saratoga Book Festival took place this past weekend. Heartfelt congratulations to the many people who made it happen. Over four days, more than 25 festival events featured big stage interviews, more intimate conversations, and panel discussions. It was hard to choose which events to go to. Many intrigued me. The sessions I attended were varied and I was introduced to some authors I was familiar with and those who were new to me. I want to share with you some of the books and introduce you to some of the writers that were showcased. I plan to read them and hope you'll give them a look.
I read this book quite by accident. Looking for an audio book from the library collection can be challenging if you aren't looking for #18 in a mystery series or self help. Anything remotely interesting is on hold and doesn't help the need for wanting it now! But then, every once in a while, there is a neglected book that turns out to be better than those high up on the best of lists. This may not have a great title but The Collected Regrets of Clover turned out to be a terrific story. Please don't be put off thinking it dark and dreary.
Deadly Depths has all the ingredients of a great read. It has vivid, well-developed characters, twists and turns you might not see coming and great pacing. It is rooted in a dark history that has lived in the shadows.
There is little new to learn about the immigrant experience in Small Worlds. It does not explore unfamiliar, unknown ground. The protagonist has no dreams for his future that isn’t experienced in many coming of age stories. The protagonist, Stephen, born in England to Ghanian parents, articulates a story universal to immigrants everywhere in the world. He wants to find his place in the world where he is accepted and free to be himself. However, what sets it apart from other similar stories is how it is absorbed through the senses. I would describe it as an exquisite meditation on the immigrant experience.For the most part I felt I was like I was in a boat, gently rocked through rich imagery and the distinctive repetition of a ballad.
Hollywood was in the news last week but not forthe usual glamor, gossip and new movie roll outs. Actors joined writers, for the first time in sixty years, in calling a strike to address some of the new issues of our changing media world. They seek to protect themselves from the emerging threat of AI in co-opting their likenesses and desire to get a meaningful piece of residuals in the new age of streaming services. I thought it interesting that this new novel, DO TELL, was released the very same week. To give some historical perspective, it looked back at the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s and 40s. I think its safe to say it was set in a time when actors and writers clearly had no agency at all.
This is a great summer read. A coming of age dramedy about friends, lovers, and an Ireland steeped in chaos. The book is fully inhabited by a lovable, yet flawed twenty-something trying to figure it all out. It's all there— crisis, humor, confusion, love.
Paris California is a small coastal town. There had been little change there for years. As in many small towns, Paris's mom and pop stores slowly went out of business. However, the longterm residents were content, the beach was open to everyone, children played freely, the old carousel building was at its heart, and it had the friendly feel of small town America.
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