Hello to 2019 and another mix of books! My first month's reads are all either from my at-home to-read stacks or library books that have been on my Goodreads to-read list for a long time. I'm planning on focusing my reading as much as possible on books that meet either of those two qualifications in the months to come.
Tender at the Bone - Ruth Reichl (1998)
"I was slowly discovering that if you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were."
This memoir is well-written and feels conversational and intimate in tone. Reichl's descriptions of her various travels and jobs as they related to the restaurant/foodie world are interesting, and she includes a variety of recipes that were important throughout her life, to boot.
However, I had a few personal caveats - for one, reading about Reichl's controlling, manic-depressive mother occasionally hit too close to home for comfort. I also felt I had trouble relating to Reichl's mindset of coming from a (albeit difficult) relatively permissive and monetarily-privileged background (her family hired maids and cooks; she went to a private French boarding school and traveled abroad).
Related Reads:
Garlic and Sapphires (Reichl)
The Opposite of Fate (Tan)
Coming Clean (Miller)
The Apprentice (Pepin)
Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett (2001)
"No other species anywhere in the world had invented boredom. Perhaps it was boredom, not intelligence, that had propelled them up to the evolutionary ladder."
This book is an example of Pratchett at his Discworld series best; it feels like something of a culmination. It's helpful to have read most of the Death story line before reading this one, but not strictly necessary.
The Truth - Terry Pratchett (2000)
"Truth was what he told. Honesty was sometimes not the same thing."
This is something of a stand-alone book in the Discworld series, so it really could be read at any time - although I don't suggest making this the first Pratchett book you read, in part because there are a lot of peripheral characters from other books that appear. I particularly liked the journalism-focused plot line and all the varied characters here.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning - Margareta Magnusson (2018)
"I have death cleaned so many times for others, I'll be damned if someone else has to death clean for me."
I've had this on my to-read list ever since reading an article about it a few years back. To be honest, there's not a whole lot more to gain from this book than what's already in related articles. It works as almost a supplemental to other similar books - it fits along nicely with Marie Kondo's works, for instance.
Overall, this little book is a to-the-point a reality check that's really geared more towards older people in the empty-nester category. But I think it has good advice for everyone to keep in the back of their minds; when you're gone, who will be left dealing with all of your "stuff"? And is everything you own really necessary for your life and serving a purpose for you now?
Related Reads:
The Little Book of Hygge (Wiking)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Kondo)
Victoria - Daisy Goodwin (2016)
"Victoria pulled her shoulders back and stuck her chin in the air, trying to lift herself from four foot eleven inches to a full five feet - if only she had a few more inches. It was uncommonly hard to be regal when everyone could see the top of your head."
I thought this book might be about Queen Victoria's entire life, but it's focused almost entirely on the first couple of years of her reign. In particular, the author details key incidents during those few years, as well as Victoria's various relationships with the people she was closest to, including her mother, her first prime minister Lord Melbourne, and, finally, her husband-to-be Albert.
Written in a very readable, almost historical-fiction type tone, Victoria a fairly easy read, albeit a little repetitive. It manages to feel both light and informative as the reader gains insight into the queen's formative years.
Related Reads:
The Heir Apparent (Ridley)
The Romanov Sisters (Rappaport)
Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury (1946)
"The sidewalks were haunted by dust ghosts all night as the furnace wind summoned them up, swung them about, and gentled them down in a warm spice on the lawns. Trees, shaken by the footsteps of late-night strollers, sifted avalanches of dust. From midnight on, it seemed a volcano beyond the town was showering red-hot ashes everywhere, crusting slumberless night watchmen and irritable dogs."
Why haven't I picked up this book until now? Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical work is centered on a boyhood summer in the late 1920's. It's awash with beautiful prose, interwoven with nostalgia, philosophy, and the occasional unexpected tinges of science fiction and horror. All in all, this is a moment of Americana captured and bottled - dark and bright, full of endings and beginnings.
It's worth noting that the bulk of the sections/episodes read like short stories; I'd read a few of the pieces before in various short-story collections.
Related Reads:
My Family and Other Animals (Durrell)
Gilead (Robinson)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente (2012)
"Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble."
This YA fairy tale-adventure was fine overall - I find that I don't have anything that I particularly loved or hated about it. The fairyland world was creative and chock-full of unique characters, things, and wordplay, but I also had a bit of an overall sense that it was trying too hard, and it felt somewhat unfinished, even taking into account that this is the first book in a series. I also felt there was a (possibly intentional) uncomfortable sexual undertone to (adult male) Green Wind's treatment of the 12-year-old female protagonist, which bothered me enough to take me out of the story a bit.
Related Reads:
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll)
The Wizard of Oz (Baum)
Tender at the Bone - Ruth Reichl (1998)
"I was slowly discovering that if you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were."
This memoir is well-written and feels conversational and intimate in tone. Reichl's descriptions of her various travels and jobs as they related to the restaurant/foodie world are interesting, and she includes a variety of recipes that were important throughout her life, to boot.
However, I had a few personal caveats - for one, reading about Reichl's controlling, manic-depressive mother occasionally hit too close to home for comfort. I also felt I had trouble relating to Reichl's mindset of coming from a (albeit difficult) relatively permissive and monetarily-privileged background (her family hired maids and cooks; she went to a private French boarding school and traveled abroad).
Related Reads:
Garlic and Sapphires (Reichl)
The Opposite of Fate (Tan)
Coming Clean (Miller)
The Apprentice (Pepin)
Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett (2001)
"No other species anywhere in the world had invented boredom. Perhaps it was boredom, not intelligence, that had propelled them up to the evolutionary ladder."
This book is an example of Pratchett at his Discworld series best; it feels like something of a culmination. It's helpful to have read most of the Death story line before reading this one, but not strictly necessary.
The Truth - Terry Pratchett (2000)
"Truth was what he told. Honesty was sometimes not the same thing."
This is something of a stand-alone book in the Discworld series, so it really could be read at any time - although I don't suggest making this the first Pratchett book you read, in part because there are a lot of peripheral characters from other books that appear. I particularly liked the journalism-focused plot line and all the varied characters here.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning - Margareta Magnusson (2018)
"I have death cleaned so many times for others, I'll be damned if someone else has to death clean for me."
I've had this on my to-read list ever since reading an article about it a few years back. To be honest, there's not a whole lot more to gain from this book than what's already in related articles. It works as almost a supplemental to other similar books - it fits along nicely with Marie Kondo's works, for instance.
Overall, this little book is a to-the-point a reality check that's really geared more towards older people in the empty-nester category. But I think it has good advice for everyone to keep in the back of their minds; when you're gone, who will be left dealing with all of your "stuff"? And is everything you own really necessary for your life and serving a purpose for you now?
Related Reads:
The Little Book of Hygge (Wiking)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Kondo)
Victoria - Daisy Goodwin (2016)
"Victoria pulled her shoulders back and stuck her chin in the air, trying to lift herself from four foot eleven inches to a full five feet - if only she had a few more inches. It was uncommonly hard to be regal when everyone could see the top of your head."
I thought this book might be about Queen Victoria's entire life, but it's focused almost entirely on the first couple of years of her reign. In particular, the author details key incidents during those few years, as well as Victoria's various relationships with the people she was closest to, including her mother, her first prime minister Lord Melbourne, and, finally, her husband-to-be Albert.
Written in a very readable, almost historical-fiction type tone, Victoria a fairly easy read, albeit a little repetitive. It manages to feel both light and informative as the reader gains insight into the queen's formative years.
Related Reads:
The Heir Apparent (Ridley)
The Romanov Sisters (Rappaport)
Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury (1946)
"The sidewalks were haunted by dust ghosts all night as the furnace wind summoned them up, swung them about, and gentled them down in a warm spice on the lawns. Trees, shaken by the footsteps of late-night strollers, sifted avalanches of dust. From midnight on, it seemed a volcano beyond the town was showering red-hot ashes everywhere, crusting slumberless night watchmen and irritable dogs."
Why haven't I picked up this book until now? Fahrenheit 451 author Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical work is centered on a boyhood summer in the late 1920's. It's awash with beautiful prose, interwoven with nostalgia, philosophy, and the occasional unexpected tinges of science fiction and horror. All in all, this is a moment of Americana captured and bottled - dark and bright, full of endings and beginnings.
It's worth noting that the bulk of the sections/episodes read like short stories; I'd read a few of the pieces before in various short-story collections.
Related Reads:
My Family and Other Animals (Durrell)
Gilead (Robinson)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente (2012)
"Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble."
This YA fairy tale-adventure was fine overall - I find that I don't have anything that I particularly loved or hated about it. The fairyland world was creative and chock-full of unique characters, things, and wordplay, but I also had a bit of an overall sense that it was trying too hard, and it felt somewhat unfinished, even taking into account that this is the first book in a series. I also felt there was a (possibly intentional) uncomfortable sexual undertone to (adult male) Green Wind's treatment of the 12-year-old female protagonist, which bothered me enough to take me out of the story a bit.
Related Reads:
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll)
The Wizard of Oz (Baum)
