There is a graduation gown hanging in my bathroom (to hopefully steam out the wrinkles although that didn’t work with eldest’s), one tired high school senior sleeping on the couch in the family room. a husband puttering around his bonsai trees (with the requisite two dogs), one cat probably sleeping somewhere in youngest’s room (with the horizontal closet – what cat could resist?): it is another Sunday in the Hinterland. We had our last track meet of the year on Friday night and youngest’s last run of high school. It was a good run and I am grateful that he has had excellent coaches who believe not only in the importance of running, but also the importance of being a well-rounded quality individual. My reading slump continues but I have made progress on The Discovery of Heaven and have three new books from the library including The Bird Sisters which I am looking forward to.
Here is what caught my interest this week:
I am familiar with John Mortimer (author of Rumpole of the Bailey) so when Diane of Bibliophile by the Sea shares the first paragraph of Penelope Mortimer’s The Pumpkin Eater, I looked the author up only to find she was one of his wives and the novel is based, in part, on her experiences. The Pumpkin Eater is about a woman speaking to her therapist. She has had many marriages, children, and still feels lost and in need of self-definition. I liked the image shared in that first paragraph so this is going on the list. I wonder if my mother has read it – it was originally published in 1962.
When I am in a reading slump, I am drawn to mysteries because of their structure and the dependability of their plots. And, due to a life-time affection with both Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, I am very fond of British mysteries. Much to my delight, Fleur Fisher writes about a British author that I have heard of but I haven’t explored, Simon Brett. Fleur review’s Brett’s The Body on the Beach, the first in his Fethering Series featuring a retired Home Office worker named Carole and her neighbor. Carole stumbles across a body which then disappears. I read the first few pages and now have to find the book to in order to find out what happens.
Winston’s Dad made a brief mention of a translated Icelandic novel by Sjon, called The Blue Fox which sent me looking all over the internet. I enjoyed The Tricking of Freya and want to read more from and about Iceland beyond the few murder mysteries I have read. Sjon is an Icelandic author and poet, and on an obscure note, he has written songs with Bjork (remember the odd swan dress from the 2001 Academy Awards?). The Blue Fox is a short novella set in late 19th century with two story lines: Reverend Baldur is seeking the legendary blue fox and and then there is Fridrik, and his charge Abba (who has Down’s Syndrome). Eventually these two stories intersect. Every review I have read mentions the incredible writing, especially the almost poetical first section. I also found a review at Stuck in a Book that explains more about the book. This one is going on the Inter-Library Loan list. Then, in one of those bookish coincidences that seem to happen, I found Tom from A Common Reader has reviewed another Sjon work called From the Mouth of the Whale. This one will available in the US in January 2012
As a child I read The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, all by Francis Hodgson Burnett. In fact I read them over and over (particularly Fauntleroy as I had my mother’s copy from when she was a girl). Burnett wrote such satisfying reads. I didn’t know of her other work but Jenny from Shelf Love reviews The Shuttle which has been reissued in 2007. The plot is typical Burnett – a wicked impoverished English Lord, the wealthy American girl he marries and abuses, her sister who comes to save the day. And also typically it sounds like a resoundingly good yarn. And the good news is that it is free on Kindle as it is in the public domain.
Becca from Bookstack reviews a novel by Evan Fallenberg called When We Danced on Water. A second review of the book can also be found on JHS’s site Colloquium). Teo is an 85 year old ballet choreographer, working with the Tel Aviv Ballet on his ballet “Obsession”. He meets a lonely, forty year-old waitress and together they explore their pasts as well as the place of artistic excellence in their lives. I have read the first few pages and this is definitly going on the list. Becca calls the novel “thoughtfully executed and beautifully written” and also states, “The novel raises the question ofhow far one is willing to go to achieve perfection in art, in relationships, in life itself.”
In looking at reviews for Fallenberg’s novel, I found a new blog to read, Colloquium, and JHS also has a review of a debut thriller by Spencer Seidel called Dead of Wynter. Alice returns home after a long absence when her abusive father dies and her brother disappears. The story alternates between this present and 1984 where certain events took place that have a direct impact on the present. Described as a thriller, this novel is about those single events that echo for years as well as the acknowledgement and reconciliation of the past. This sounds like the perfect airplane read.
Last week I mentioned Rachel of Book Snob was reading They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell – she published her review this week (it is definitely worth reading) and it reinforces my desire to read the novel.
Happy reading.
What a varied reading list you have. I also enjoy mysteries (we call them thrillers over here in the UK). I have enjoyed British writers like Ruth Rendell and P D James but the Scandinavians seem to have taken over the genre recently and Jo Nesbo and Karin Alvtegen have become recent favorites of mine.
Nice choices, as always! I’ve been curious about When We Danced on Water. It sounds like the kind of book that I would like!