What with the subscription to Entertainment Weekly, why not talk books? It is one of the list of seven things I can do with my leg elevated. (What are the other six? Movies, Eating, Painting, Pearls, Puzzles, Games). I can't clean, cook, do laundry. At least that is what I am claiming while Mom is here. Once a youngest child, always a youngest child...
Books I've read since breaking my leg-I've averaged three a week, but I can't think of them all. If I can't think of it, it doesn't mean they are bad, it just means I'm forgetful.
Outliers, Sense and Sensibility, Love the One You are With, Better, Gilead, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, The Painted Veil, Time Traveler's Wife, If Today Be Sweet, and The Beach House.
Some of these are not worth mentioning. Others are definitely worth a mention. When you read books, do you think about whether the author would make a good dinner guest? I do.
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell. Such an intellectually curious man. I love reading his stuff and watching him in interviews. Definitely on the short list for who to have over for dinner for a good conversation.
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen. Addicted to Jane right now. You can always be assured of a happy outcome. This IS cheating knowing the ending will be happy, but with a broken leg that has to be elevated, I don't care. Jane is not on the list for interesting dinner guests. Don't know why, might have something to do with shyness and or pretention.
Love the One You are With - Emily somebody. Skip. Not invited to dinner or even coffee.
Better - Atul Gawande. A follow up to his first book, Complications (which I really liked). I liked Better. Not at first, but it grew on me. Atul is also on the short list for interesting dinner guests. His intellectual curiousity applied to his profession gives the reader tons of insight into the complicated world of medicine today.
Gilead - Marilynn Robinson. This was THE book two years ago. I tried to read it then and was too tired with the chicklets to not fall asleep. This time I made it through. Beautifully written. It is not for everyone. Marilynn doesn't get to come to dinner. I know this doesn't seem fair but it has to do with her prose, it is complicated and requires a great deal of concentration. I really don't feel like concentrating that hard right now.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down - author?. This was another reattempt. I have a really bright friend whose wife is an aspiring author. I had trouble the first time, but now that I have hours, I was able to focus. FASCINATING story about a Hmong family with a severely epileptic daughter navigating the U.S. medical system. Hopeful and tragic both. Alternate dinner guest.
The Beach House - author?. Skip unless you are at the beach. No other reason to read, except it makes you want to move to the beach. Only invited to dinner if my invitation will get me an invitation to nantucket. Yes, this is shallow - it comes with the Entertainment Weekly subscription.
Time Traveler's Wife - author? Title says it all. Really liked elements of this book. Other elements seemed strange and out of character. Anyone this creative gets to come to dinner.
If Today Be Sweet - author? Good story about a women trying to decide whether to leave her life in India after the death of her husband and start over with her son and dil in Ohio. Compassionate look at grief and family. Invited to dinner. Asked to bring appetizer.
The Painted Veil - Somerset Maugham. Maugham is the author of one of my favorite books. It is easy to love his work. A fascinating, gifted author - this book has the same effect on me as War and Peace - during which I constantly say, " just one more chapter, and then I'll put it down." Definitely invited to dinner.
Next up - River of Doubt - another one I failed to finish the first time. So Brave, So Young, So Handsome, The Zookeepers Wife, The Story of Marriage, and The Reason for God. Stay tuned for more dinner invitations.
Clear directions to the facilities are a critical component for many guests.
We live in a label-conscious culture.
This contributor enjoys the performing arts as well.
The elusive artist.