What I'm reading this week (3/26/18)

I had a wonderful readcation last week. I finished three books (two start to finish) and made headway on several others. I even got in a bit of 80s sitcom viewing--nothing like some Kirk Cameron to bring me back to childhood.

Last week I finished:

I made the right choice saving Force of Nature for my readcation. It was the perfect book to read in large chunks over a couple of days. If you like books that keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing as to how things are going to work out, this is something you must pick up. I'll recap the plot without giving spoilers: Five women and five men are on a three-day hiking retreat as part of a teambuilding exercise for work. The men's team and the women's team start at different times, but only the men's team makes it out on the third day intact. Four of the five women make it out that day, but the fifth is still somewhere within the dense, cold Australian woods. No one has the whole story, and it's a race against time to find the woman before the elements take her--that's if she's still alive. The book moves back and forth between the present-day search for the missing woman and the events of the last three days in the woods. If you enjoy thrillers, this is the best of the best. I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series, The Dry, earlier this year, and I liked this one even better. The investigator, Aaron Falk, is a good, honorable character, all of the other characters are well written, the plot is tight and unfolds at just the right speed to keep you invested and in suspense. I can't recommend it highly enough. My rating: 5 stars.

Years ago I read Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place, and although I remember liking it, I don't really remember much about it. More recently, I read Corrigan's Glitter and Glue, and I was disappointed with it, thinking it much shallower and less interesting than her previous memoir. So, I wasn't sure what to expect from Tell Me More, her newest book. I'd seen a number of other bloggers give it positive reviews, so I started it hoping I'd enjoy it. And I have to tell you, it surprised me. It had a maturity and gravity to it that her last book didn't, but it was still sparkling with Corrigan's sometimes raucous humor. This is her examination of the 12 hardest things she's learning to say such as "I Don't Know," "No," and "Tell Me More." Although this structure did seem a teensy bit forced, it was an effective vehicle for Corrigan to present her stories of motherhood, friendship, and grief. Throughout the book she talks about losing her friend and her father in a close period of time and how that changed her. This book might especially appeal to folks who have lost someone close to them recently. The feelings and emotions are raw and tender, and it felt genuine. The book, and the author, reminded me quite a bit of Amy Dickinson's Strangers Tend to Tell Me Things. While it's not my favorite of the "women writing about women for women" books, it was very good. (Glennon Doyle Melton and Lena Dunham blurb the book, if that helps you decide.) My rating: 4 stars.

The book industry just does not stop presenting books about Julia Child, and I just do not stop consuming them. When Alex Prud'homme, Julia's grandnephew and co-author of her memoir My Life in France, and author of the wonderful recent follow-up The French Chef in America, came out with France Is a Feast: The Photographic Journey of Paul and Julia Child last fall, I was all in. Unfortunately, I found the text of this book sort of a re-hash of the books that went before, and I was bored by it. The photographs, mostly architectural, all black and white, were very nice. The book was lovely, but I felt the story was disjointed, moving back and forth in time in an odd, jolting way. And I was hoping for more photos of Julia than of post-World War II France, which, I have to say, was a very sad-looking place. The whole book sort of brought me down with its rather melancholic feel. Perhaps I was just not in the right mood for it. Maybe it's more contemplative than my spring break mind is willing to be. At any rate, it sort of felt to me like Prud'homme was cashing in on his aunt and uncle, and using Julia to sell Paul's work when I think Paul's photos could have sold themselves with less help from Julia, or at least deserved the chance to try. Check it out for the photographs, especially if photography is your thing. Many are quite stunning. My rating: 3 stars.

I love to buy little books that clock in at less than 200 pages and defy genre. These are the kind of books that spur my creativity and bring freshness to my reading. I began Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly (I know her as a poet) last week and began reading it during sitcom commercial breaks. It's that kind of book, easy to pick up and put down. This is a collection of 52 micro-memoirs (or "flash memoirs," to use the old term) that is reminiscent of the wonderful Amy Krouse Rosenthal's Encyclopedia of My Life (one of my favorite books). Being a poet, Fennelly is expert in knowing what to include and what to excise to make a succinct tiny story. Each memoir is a tidy package, an anecdote that you can savor (or laugh with). It really did make me want to write some of my own. So often I think only in terms of "saleable" pieces, longer pieces, but oftentimes, the best stories are short and sweet. I recommend this one. It's wonderful. My rating: 4 stars.

 

Last week I started:

I hadn't meant to start Tell Me More until this week, but not only did I start it, I finished it. So, this week I have moved on to my April chunkster, Jackie, Janet & Lee, a biography of the relationships between Jackie Kennedy, her mother Janet, and her sister Lee. I'd read another Kennedy book by J. Randy Taraborrelli (After Camelot), so I know I'm getting a well-researched biography with a good narrative thread. I'm enjoying it so far.

This week I'll finish:

 

I think I'm actually going to be able to do it! I'm on track to finish all 824 pages of Pablo Neruda's All the Odes this month. Wow. I did not think that was going to happen.

And I'll be finishing my re-read of Present over Perfect. Review next week.

 

My audiobooks:

I'll finish Empire Falls next week, and I know already that I'll miss it. And then I'll pick up the third Penderwicks book, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette.