A Night to Remember by Walter Lord
The Titanic disaster has been the subject of oodles of books, many of which I’ve read, but I keep going back to this old chestnut. Walter Lord has written the most wonderfully readable narration of the events of April 14 – 15, 1912, on that ill-fated voyage. His writing is clear, concise, and compelling. Best of all, he conveys a sense that “you are there.” (Anyone else remember those Walter Cronkite documentaries we saw in school?) If you read only one book about the Titanic, make it this one.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Two Women's Lives
The Senator’s Wife by Sue Miller
Sue Miller’s books always remind me of the pleasures of everyday life: the beauty of a bowl of fruit, the enjoyment of eating a fine cheese, the consolations of cooking a meal. This new novel is no exception. The other Miller hallmark that is present here is the sense of the fragility and strength that inhabit our daily lives. Here, two women’s lives intersect when Meri, the younger woman, and her husband, Nathan, move into a historic townhouse that adjoins the home of Delia, the estranged wife of a senator who had been an unfaithful husband. As Meri and Delia befriend one another, Meri is intrigued by the older woman’s insightful comments and mysterious past (and present). When Meri becomes pregnant unexpectedly, the tide begins to turn for all the characters – and the results are unforeseen. Select this book for your book club, and talk all night.
Sue Miller’s books always remind me of the pleasures of everyday life: the beauty of a bowl of fruit, the enjoyment of eating a fine cheese, the consolations of cooking a meal. This new novel is no exception. The other Miller hallmark that is present here is the sense of the fragility and strength that inhabit our daily lives. Here, two women’s lives intersect when Meri, the younger woman, and her husband, Nathan, move into a historic townhouse that adjoins the home of Delia, the estranged wife of a senator who had been an unfaithful husband. As Meri and Delia befriend one another, Meri is intrigued by the older woman’s insightful comments and mysterious past (and present). When Meri becomes pregnant unexpectedly, the tide begins to turn for all the characters – and the results are unforeseen. Select this book for your book club, and talk all night.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Out on the Prairie
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Though I loved Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, for some reason I was ducking My Antonia. (I think I thought it would be treacly.) But when my book club added it to our list, I was stuck reading it – and ended up enjoying it immensely. The narrator recalls his childhood friendship with – and later estrangement from – Antonia, a girl from a nearby farm. The honesty of his feelings makes this novel stand out. The thing that particularly surprised me is that I found myself feeling nostalgic for a time and place I never knew. Cather has a way of evoking the harsh truth while making it beautiful.
Though I loved Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, for some reason I was ducking My Antonia. (I think I thought it would be treacly.) But when my book club added it to our list, I was stuck reading it – and ended up enjoying it immensely. The narrator recalls his childhood friendship with – and later estrangement from – Antonia, a girl from a nearby farm. The honesty of his feelings makes this novel stand out. The thing that particularly surprised me is that I found myself feeling nostalgic for a time and place I never knew. Cather has a way of evoking the harsh truth while making it beautiful.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Who Knew Australia Was Hilarious?
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud, and this audiobook had me roaring on multiple occasions. My land, Bill Bryson can tell a tale; and my land, he can turn a phrase. I’m not a fan of the travelogue, so this book was a departure for me – and I’m so glad I went. Bryson’s good-spirited story of his travels in Australia is a hoot and a holler. The author reads the book himself, and his droll tone and occasional ecstatic exclamations add to the glory of this book. I’ve read and listened to other works by Bryson, but this one is my favorite.
It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud, and this audiobook had me roaring on multiple occasions. My land, Bill Bryson can tell a tale; and my land, he can turn a phrase. I’m not a fan of the travelogue, so this book was a departure for me – and I’m so glad I went. Bryson’s good-spirited story of his travels in Australia is a hoot and a holler. The author reads the book himself, and his droll tone and occasional ecstatic exclamations add to the glory of this book. I’ve read and listened to other works by Bryson, but this one is my favorite.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The Lost Is Found
The Eyes of the Amaryllis by Natalie Babbitt
The lost book of my childhood. When I was about 11 years old, I checked it out from the library, loved the book, returned it, and went to the shelf to find it again later – to no avail. I could remember the area of the shelves (near the beginning of the alphabet) where I’d found the book initially, and I made the pilgrimage back over and over again, searching for the “amaryllis” book. I should have asked a librarian! Years and years later, when online catalogs appeared in libraries, I did a title keyword search on “amaryllis” and found my long-lost book. Hooray for technology! The nifty thing is that this little tale – of searching for something that is lost – is also a theme of the book itself. And, wonderfully, when I re-read the book as an adult, the book was as wondrous as I had remembered. Young Jenny visits her widowed grandmother, who lives by the sea. Years ago, her husband, a sea captain, went down with his ship, and now Gran walks along the shore and waits for a sign from her beloved. And as she does so, a mysterious stranger watches her… Love, loss, and longing. Haunting.
The lost book of my childhood. When I was about 11 years old, I checked it out from the library, loved the book, returned it, and went to the shelf to find it again later – to no avail. I could remember the area of the shelves (near the beginning of the alphabet) where I’d found the book initially, and I made the pilgrimage back over and over again, searching for the “amaryllis” book. I should have asked a librarian! Years and years later, when online catalogs appeared in libraries, I did a title keyword search on “amaryllis” and found my long-lost book. Hooray for technology! The nifty thing is that this little tale – of searching for something that is lost – is also a theme of the book itself. And, wonderfully, when I re-read the book as an adult, the book was as wondrous as I had remembered. Young Jenny visits her widowed grandmother, who lives by the sea. Years ago, her husband, a sea captain, went down with his ship, and now Gran walks along the shore and waits for a sign from her beloved. And as she does so, a mysterious stranger watches her… Love, loss, and longing. Haunting.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Great Memoir
True North by Jill Ker Conway
Jill Ker Conway is best known for her first memoir, a wonderful book called The Road from Coorain, in which she describes her remarkable childhood in the Australian outback. But I like True North even better. It picks up the story when she arrives at Harvard for graduate school and carries her through the years of her academic career until she is named president of Smith College. Her description of the academic life is absolutely enticing.
Jill Ker Conway is best known for her first memoir, a wonderful book called The Road from Coorain, in which she describes her remarkable childhood in the Australian outback. But I like True North even better. It picks up the story when she arrives at Harvard for graduate school and carries her through the years of her academic career until she is named president of Smith College. Her description of the academic life is absolutely enticing.
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