On my recent vacation to Mexico, I got so much reading done; even for me, it was a lot. There are a few reasons for this: a) I get up way earlier than anyone else in our group, and so I read until breakfast and then I read until our friends finished breakfast, b) we had one day of rain and wind, and the best thing to do was to curl up on our sheltered balcony and read while our friends did some work, c) uncharacteristically, I wasn’t really interested in getting into too many involved conversations with strangers, and d) we had a lot of travel time. Shortly after we got to the airport in Kelowna the prescribed two hours prior to takeoff, it was announced that our flight was delayed two hours. Since the flight itself was six hours long, I basically spent ten straight hours reading. Similarly, on the way home, we arrived at the airport a stunning three and a half hours prior to takeoff, as the road traffic was unusually light, and then we sailed through security in under ten minutes.
I also read books that were not difficult or overly involved, and mostly quite short. I also had three – THREE! – DNFs, which is a new record for me. Two of them – The Good Part and The Seven Year Slip – involved magical time travel, which is a hard no for me. The third – Just Haven’t Met You Yet – was not interesting to me. Why I downloaded these books on Libby in the first place is somewhat of a mystery, but I’m proud of myself for just saying no.
Winter in Paradise. This was exactly like reading a soap opera! A woman gets a call to discover her husband is dead, at which point she learns a) he has a $15 million dollar villa in the USVI, and b) he has another family. So that’s where we start and there’s lots of details to uncover, but the ending is clearly setting up for a series and you know what, I was not into it. It was fine for the plane though, but I’m not tempted to read more.
All The Lonely People. This had all the elements of a good read for me: sympathetic characters, a lonely elderly man who wants to make friends before his daughter visits him, so she won’t be worried, a theme of community and different generations coming together to combat isolation and loneliness. HOWEVER. There was a twist near the end which was SO VERY STUPID that it completely wrecked the book for me. Honestly, it was so dumb that I wondered how on earth it even got published. Sometimes I despair thinking of all the lonely writers out there who are desperate to get published, and then I read something like this, and it pushes the despair into white-hot rage.
Small Things Like These. I had not heard the term Magdalen laundry before; these were institutions run by the Catholic Church in Ireland, for unwed mothers. It’s unknown how many babies and young women died in these institutions, but it’s thought to be in the tens of thousands. This book is about one such place, and a man who is living the very saying “there but for the grace of god go I.” It’s a very thoughtful little book, well written and moving.
What Alice Forgot. I’m continuing my revisiting of Liane Moriarty! Imagine suddenly having every memory for the last ten years erased; that’s the premise of this book. It’s a reread for me and it was a good one! A woman suffers a head injury and wakes up to discover her life is unrecognizable – she has three children and is the midst of divorce. Think of what your life was in 2015, imagine you couldn’t remember anything from the last decade. I mean, some things I would rather forget, it’s true, but still. Wouldn’t it be bizarre to wake up and discover what had happened even in the last five years? You’d never believe it if someone told you about the pandemic, for example. I really like this book and it was definitely worth the reread.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I had heard about this book for decades and hadn’t yet read it. It was worth the wait! I really enjoyed this book; it was written from the perspective of a 15 year old boy with autism. In trying to find out who killed the neighbourhood dog and why, he discovers a lot more. The writing style is so interesting and compelling.
Just As Long As We’re Together and Here’s To You, Rachel Robinson. Recently Sarah (HI SARAH) mentioned these books and I had to go back and reread them. I downloaded everything Judy Blume I could, including Blubber, which is still a wildly upsetting book, but it only took me about forty-five minutes to read and contains the great line “It’s pretty hard to be on the other side, isn’t it?” Truth. These books about a trio of friends were perfect for a poolside read. Judy Blume was really the master of empathy and showing that people can be many different things. Also, we are all carrying burdens that no one else can see.
My Darling Wife. Thrillers are not usually my jam, so I have no idea how or why I downloaded this from Libby. Are we sensing a theme here? Was I drunk when I loaded up my Libby prior to vacation? I don’t remember doing that, but I guess I wouldn’t, WOULD I? Or maybe someone recommended this? I DON’T KNOW. Anyway, I’m not generally a fan of thrillers but this was diverting enough. It follows a married couple who seem to find murdering young girls an aphrodisiac. They try to pin these murders on a serial killer but things, as they are wont to do, go askew. It’s pretty creepy and twisty, so if that’s your thing, you’ll probably enjoy this. It was too creepy for me, but maybe that’s a selling point for you thriller lovers out there.
I’ve got some great, non-vacation books to talk to you about next week. Don’t forget that Daylight Saving Time starts THIS WEEKEND JUST KILL ME NOW. Honestly, there are currently hundreds, perhaps even thousands of things that we could all rage about every minute of the day, but this is the hill I am going to die on today. WE NEED TO STOP THE MADNESS. If you have ten minutes, listen to the episode of the Wirecutter podcast, entitled “How To Survive Daylight Saving Time.” Lots of helpful advice, as well as empirical evidence that affirms what I have always believed, and that is that DST and time change is terrible for our health and well-being. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE! It is possible I am projecting my feelings about the international situation, such as it is, on to the concept of time change, but so be it. Take care of yourselves, friends. Reading is a great distraction; tell me if you’ve read anything good lately, or bad, or ugly. Any DNFs? Tell me everything. xo
