On Tuesday – dropped youngest off at the airport for a very long journey to Salzburg. He was both excited and nervous at the same time. The hardest part of getting ready was shopping for new dress shoes (youngest does not shop well) and picking which books to take. Eldest put up with all the general confusion helping with technology issues (Himself still being gone) and offering dress shirts if needed. Himself came home the same day making one depressed (and obsessed) dog very happy. I finally gave up on The Stranger’s Child – I found myself struggling to get back into it after our vacation. So I am busy reading A Canticle for Leibowitz for book group on Monday.
Here is what caught my interest this week:
Matthew of A Guy’s Moleskin Notebook reminds me of one of the classic madcap novel Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis. Many of you may be more familiar with the movie. or the Broadway play. The novel details the adventures of a young boy growing up as the ward of his eccentric Aunt. If you haven’t read the book yet it is definitely worth a look. Matthew writes, “This book is like an ongoing party with the gayest hostess. Auntie Mame is enchanting and gorgeously funny.” If you haven’t read it, you should give it a try. The perfect anecdote for a gray afternoon.
My mother just finished The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown, a story where three adult sisters either haven’t left home or they have come back to the nest for the summer. Meg Mitchell Moore’s novel The Arrivals, reviewed by Buried in Print, covers some of the same ground but from the review, it sounds like it is covered at a much deeper level. Ginny and William Owens live in Vermont with their last child leaving the nest five years earlier. They have a comfortable routine and one summer that routine is disrupted as each of their three children (and some of their families) come to stay for an extended period of time. It sounds like a great story of a family in process.
There are many reading challenges hosted by various bloggers on the internet and while I haven’t joined in any of them, I do follow some of them for ideas on books to read. One challenge has caught my interest more than once – the Literature and War. September’s book is described by Caroline of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat is one I have to put on my list. Peace by Richard Bausch. Set in the waning days of the WWII in Italy, this fairly short novel (192 pages) looks at war and morality from the eyes of one solider leading a scouting mission a short while after a horrific act of violence by his Sargent. Reviews use words such as “lyrical”, “distilled”, and “lean”, something to be expect by a writer who is well known for his short stories. It is worth checking out the short quote from the book that Caroline uses. It certainly hooked me.
Happy reading!
Thanks for metioning the readalong. I’m really looking forward to Peace. From what I’ve read so far the writing is wonderful.
That challenge does offer excellent reading choices, I agree, though it’s not one that I’ve joined (yet) either.
Thanks for the shout-out about Meg Mitchell Moore’s debut; I finished reading her second novel a couple of days ago and really enjoyed that too. They are what some might call “quiet reads”, but I wholly enjoy that kind of novel. As much as the first one was about connections between family members, the second novel (So Far Away) is about the connections we make when we don’t have those family connections (or when something has happened to sever or strain them). Both books read very easily, and I almost didn’t realize how much the characters were taking hold, until I was finished reading.
My book club read Canticle. It was very interesting and made for good discussion.
It was one of our more fascinating discussions. The book seems to bring out some vehement response in some people. I would love to know more about what your group thought of the novel.
The Richard Bausch novel I read (not Peace) was excellently written, so I can certainly recommend him. I’d also like to read The Weird Sisters – did your mother enjoy it?
I got Thanksgiving Night by Bausch out of the library to read and I liked the opening chapter. As for the Weird Sisters my mother liked it somewhat. I read it sometime ago and Basically, I thought it was a fun read but a little formulaic and lighter in tone than I expected.