What I'm reading this week (4/9/18)

Last week I finished

This is the second book I've read by J. Randy Taraborrelli, and after finishing, I have to say I'm a big fan. He's written three books about the Kennedys, Jackie, Ethel, Joan; After Camelot; and the newest, Jackie, Janet & Lee. He conducts dozens of interviews with folks intimately connected with the principle characters in the biographies, including family members, servants, friends, lovers, exes, and politicians. The books feel very well researched, but they are also very readable. They never bog down with uninteresting detail. They skip along, giving in-depth personal information, and sometimes border on, but never quite cross the line into, salaciousness. They're also quite balanced, not seeming to take sides, as it were. Taraborrelli knew Jackie Kennedy Onassis when she worked as an editor, so the author has a personal frame of reference. This book details the lives of and relationships between Jackie Kennedy Onassis, her mother Janet Auchincloss, and Jackie's sister Lee Radziwill. There were powerful dynamics between the three, power plays, hurt feelings and resentments, and years and years worth of meddling and coping with each other. Janet was a controlling woman who insisted she knew what was best for her daughters. Jackie was a taciturn woman well-loved and quite damaged by the assassinations of her husband, JFK, and his brother, Robert Kennedy. Both women believed that money was power, and both money and power were essential to happiness and security. Lee, the younger of the Bouvier girls, harbored deep resentments toward her famous sister, Jackie, for always having life handed to her so effortlessly simply because of who she was. The book details the numerous romances, marriages, and extramarital affairs of the three and the men they were involved with. It details the various family relationships with the Bouvier sisters, their Auchincloss stepsiblings, Janet Jr. and Jamie, and the half-siblings from Hugh Auchincloss' previous marriages. It takes us from Jackie and Lee's early childhoods to Janet and Jackie's deaths. It ends heartbreakingly, when we realize that the difficulties of their relationships were not resolved. In all, it was a very good book, a look at how the other half live, and I enjoyed it very much. I was also glad to go back to my much simpler life when it was over. My rating: 4.5 stars.

I have been a fan of Li-Young Lee's poetry since he burst onto the poetry scene in the early 1990s. I have read some of his early poems so many times I have them nearly memorized. So, I was excited when his latest book, The Undressing, was released earlier this year. Lee's poetry is complicated. Some of his poems are as accessible as unlocked houses, others are impenetrable as stone fortresses. The title poem of the collection, the first poem in the book, was one of the latter. It alternates between two lovers, one undressing the other, while the undressee speaks at length about...something. I have no idea what was being said or what it meant, and I fretted for pages the Lee had finally taken his verse to a place of unintelligible jabberwocky. But the poems that followed felt more like the Li-Young Lee poems I enjoyed so many years ago. I didn't find anything here that set me on fire, but I enjoyed the feeling of familiarity while reading his poems. He definitely has a style of his own. I would recommend the reader look at his earlier books, especially Rose and The City in Which I Love You, before tackling this one. My rating: 2.5 stars.

This week I'll finish

 

Oh my gosh you guys, I am loving this book. I read a lot of books each year, but only a very few of them make me want to not put the book down until it's finished. This is one of them.

I recently abandoned

I forgot to report on this one. I've read at least a half dozen books about women escaping the FLDS cult run by Warren Jeffs (and other polygamist FLDS communities). They're all pretty similar, lots of sister wives and half-siblings, lots of poverty, lots of violence and abuse. But Breaking Free is the only one I have not finished. Rachel Jeffs speaks so descriptively about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hand of her father, Warren Jeffs, that I just had to put it aside. It wasn't a bad book otherwise.

I'm continuing with

 

This month of reading is shaping up to be stellar, and these two books are part of the reason. My review of Hillbilly Elegy will be up next week.

Last week I began

I'm enjoying Roger Housden's latest in his "Ten Poems" series, although I can assure you we cancel each other out when we go to the polls.

My audiobook

I think this one is too long by half. It's not unenjoyable, but I'm glad I'm listening to it instead of reading it. I think it would really drag in paper. I'll review it next week.

 

April 2018 reading list

I've only settled on 13 books for April, but I think I'll likely get to a couple more. I've already begun several, and I've abandoned several more. It seems more and more I don't stick to the list, which is likely a healthier way to go about things, but I do love these line-up posts, so I'll keep creating them until it no longer makes sense to. There's a little bit of everything this month, as usual, with a special emphasis on reading some books that have been very popular like Hillbilly Elegy, Little Fires Everywhere, and Bossypants. It should be a fun month!

Fiction

 

Nonfiction

 

 

Biography and Memoir

 

 

 

 

Poetry

March 2018 wrap-up

I believe I read more books this month than any other with a total of 17. And I enjoyed them all, by and large. Ratings, one-word reviews, and links to my full reviews below.

delightful

4.5 stars

feel-good

3.5 stars

enjoyable

4 stars

average

3 stars

 

odd

3 stars

melancholy

4 stars

 

charming

4 stars

educational

3.5 stars

wonderful

4 stars

lovely

3 stars

 

stunning

5 stars

personal

4 stars

quirky

4 stars

stellar

4.5 stars

 

contemplative

3 stars

 

exhaustive

3.5 stars

 

cute

3 stars

 

 

 

 

What I'm reading this week (4/2/18)

Last week I finished:

Some books win the Pulitzer Prize and you've never heard of them or have no interest in reading them, and some books win, you read the book, and you understand why it was given one of literature's highest honors. Empire Falls is a small town in Maine that's seen better days. The mills that had employed so many are shuttered, and most anything that works in the town is owned by heavy-handed Francine Whiting, including the Empire Grill, run by our main character, Miles Roby. Miles is going through a divorce, and his soon-to-be ex is dating "The Silver Fox" who tortures Miles with his overbearing presence daily. The story follows other folks, including Miles' teenage daughter, Tick, and her friends; Miles' unbelievable father Max; Miles' bother David; Miles' longtime crush; the woman who has had a crush on Miles her whole life; the demented priest and the gay priest; and others. It also ventures back in time to give us the background of Miles' life and his deceased mother's life. And there is an undercurrent of hopelessness that is almost a character itself. There are plot twists and turns that feel natural, and Russo isn't afraid to spend a lot of time on seemingly inconsequential scenes, which feels masterful. There are some intense situations, and some frank language, but there is also a depth and complexity of characters and situations that I don't encounter often enough in fiction.  I have a fondness for small town stories, and this is one of the best. Though the book is older (early 2000s), its themes are surprisingly current (there is a school shooting, for instance). After reading (listening to, actually) Empire Falls, I'm determined to tackle some of Richard Russo's other books, probably Nobody's Fool and Everybody's Fool. I can't recommend this one enough if you go in knowing and expecting a story that's often not gentle. But sometimes a story's magnificence resides in its ability to make the reader feel a part of things, and when that happens, I just have to pass along the recommendation. My rating: 4.5 stars.

I finished a re-read of Shauna Niequist's Present over Perfect last week, and it's interesting how a book can mean different things to you depending on when you read it. I read this the summer it came out (2016) at a time when my husband was struggling with some physical issues and I was licking my wounds over a falling out with someone in my church. I was feeling overwhelmed and under-loved. The book was a lifesaver for me then. This is the story of Niequist's realization that her life had gotten out of control; her schedule was too full, and her ability to care for herself was taking a backseat to all of the obligations she'd said yes to. She realized she needed to slow down, start saying no, start practicing self care, and start spending more quality time with her husband and two young boys. It's comprised of short essays about her years spent digging her way out of the mess she'd created. If you're unfamiliar with her work, it can be summed up as very personal essays with evangelical Christian themes that focus on family, faith, and food. She's the kind of writer Oprah talks to on her Super Soul Sunday show. Critics might say that her work is also highly emotional, and more and more I understand this critique. I've read everything she's written (some books twice) with the exception of her devotional book, and this had been my favorite. This time through, though, the book didn't do much for me. I found it too emotional (she uses the word "soul" a lot), too fraught, and not specific enough. I also feel there was just too much human will used to change herself and her situation, which is something I have found seldom works because it eliminates the purpose of the change the wrests the power from the only powerful One. Also, I just don't think I'm in the same situation Niequist is in. I don't have young children, I say no to things I don't want to do and/or won't enrich my life, and I'm very careful about how I spend my time. Not that I don't have things to work on, but when it comes to living a slow life, maybe my life is the "after" picture and this book is for folks living "before" lives. I do think that if you're looking for faith-based help on slowing down, this will be perfect for you. I guess that just wasn't what I was looking for this time around. My rating: 3 stars.

I did it! I finished all 823 pages of Pablo Neruda's All the Odes. Whew, I feel like I was on a arduous month-long trip, and it's nice to be home. I don't know if books like this are meant to be read cover to cover or to be used as reference, but I do know that I don't plan to read 800 pages of any one poet's work again anytime soon. It's like having the same breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for a month. Way too much of one thing. Yet, I really did enjoy the experience. I'm sure I didn't read every poem as critically as I would have had I only been reading a handful of his poems, so I'm sure a bit was lost along the way. But I did find some old friends here (Ode to a Pair of Socks) and I found some wonderful new friends: Ode to the Happy Day, Ode to the Simple Man, Ode to a Stag’s Birth, and Ode to the Storm. The collection consists of 225 odes laid out with the original Spanish (Neruda is Chilean) opposite the English translation. Having had four years of Spanish in my high school and college years, I sometimes tried to translate a line without looking at the English, and it's amazing how much I actually remember (nouns anyway; I seem to have lost all of the verbs). A collection like this often becomes its own thing, more than just a bunch of poems like in shorter books, and this one evolved into a series of questions that kept going though my mind as I read. For instance, I wondered throughout just how much is lost in translation. You can translate the words, sure, but can you translate the feeling? the creative nuance? the cultural and personal undercurrents? I also asked myself, or course, what my odes would be if I were to write 225 of them. So, although at times it felt like this collection was going to be the poetic death of me, I did enjoy the journey, and I recommend this book to those looking for good intermediate poetry--not simple, but not inaccessible. My rating: 3.5 stars. 

With the fifth and final Penderwicks book coming out in May, I find myself a bit behind. After enjoying the second book so much last year, I decided to listen to the third, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette (and hopefully the fourth, the Penderwicks in Spring) so that I can read the fifth one this summer. Book two ended with Mr. Penderwick getting married, and book three sort of keeps this plot in suspension while we go back to the plot of first book: the Penderwick girls are away on summer vacation. The three youngest are going with Aunt Claire to Maine while the oldest sister is going on vacation with a friend. And the parents and little stepbrother are going on a honeymoon, which essentially wrote them out of the plot of this book. While the girls are apart, Skye is the OAP (Oldest Available Penderwick), a job she does not feel prepared for, Jane is tackling romance both on the page and in real life, and little Batty is learning she has a skill none of the other sisters do. Their friend Jeffrey, from the first book, is back, and he finds himself face to face with a life-changing surprise. While I found at least part of the plot a bit farfetched, I enjoyed this one. The books are gentle, yet real. The girls don't always get along, but even when they don't, they really do. It's a good balance between reality and ideal. My rating: 3 stars.

This week I'll finish:

I finished my March books early, so I was able to get almost all of my April chunkster, Jackie, Janet and Lee, read last week. I'll finish it up today and post a review next week.

Last week I began and abandoned:

 

I'd been looking forward to reading Everything You Need to Know about Social Media since it came out last fall, but when I sat down and started it, I realized I just don't care enough about social media to learn about it (much less use it). I did learn a bit of background of various social media that I wasn't entirely familiar with, which was helpful, and that might be all I needed to get out of the book. It's not a bad book, I just realized I didn't care enough about the topic to continue.

Last week I began:

 

I was flailing around last week trying to find a Kindle book to read, when I started Hillbilly Elegy on a whim and was hooked. It's not at all what I expected, and I'm loving it. I've finished a third of it already.

I moved Movie Nights with the Reagans to a nighttime read because I wanted to open up a "main book" space for a new title I just discovered and am dying to read. This one is a nice pick up and put down book for bedtime reading. It's about watching movies with the Reagans during their eight years' worth of weekends at Camp David.

And I began Li-Young Lee's new volume of poems The Undressing. So far, I have mixed feelings, but I'm not far, so I'll reserve judgment.

 

My audiobook:

With a new book out this week by the duo behind America's First Daughter, I really wanted to get this read, so I'm listening to it this week. Other than the gentile southern accent feeling a little syrupy, I'm enjoying the story. This is historical fiction telling the story of Thomas Jefferson's daughter's life.

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.