There are always those little battles between couples, the ones that aren't really supposed to matter but somehow do, or at least feel like they do. For Kevin and I, packing luggage with enough books to read (at least one book per day plus a few extras in case some don't work out) is one of those battles. However, last week was a small victory! I read every book I brought on vacation. Kevin read quite a bit, too, and loved everything as much as I did and we left all of the books at the cottage we rented in Jamaica. Perfect: a happy husband with lighter luggage and a happy wife with new favorite reads to share with you today!
So, here are the books that traveled to (and stayed) in Jamaica:
Let's start with the hilarious and clever
American Housewife by Helen Ellis. These short stories had me laughing out loud, smiling and marveling at her ability to be wicked, mischievous and nutty. Ms. Ellis definitely operates on the unhinged side but if you relish reading fresh smart fiction, then this is for you.
Now, moving completely from the ridiculous to the sublime, I picked up
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This is a memoir written by a brilliant ambitious young doctor who learns that he has terminal cancer. Before you run screaming to the hills about yet another depressing and despairing book, bear this in mind- this exquisite book teaches us how to live. Dr. Kalanithi discusses the definition and possibilities of hope, which he describes as the intersection of desire and confidence. In the book's epilogue, his wife Dr. Lucy Kalanith defines the ingredients of love perfectly: the ability to be vulnerable, kind, generous and grateful. I have dozens of paragraphs underlined and continue to think about and reread passages. Remarkably,
When Breath Becomes Air leaves you appreciative, informed, and inspired.
Next, as an example of my rather varied reading preferences, I whipped through
America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein about the founding of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1913. You may be tempted to snooze but consider this: the early 1900's are eerily similar to today: vigorous debates about income inequality and concentrations of wealth and therefore, resulting populist enthusiasms and disruptions. Lowenstein does a brilliant job of telling this story. You will be riveted by the characters - famous, infamous and unknown - who brought about legislation that has shaped the 20th and 21st century. Even if you only have a passing interest in this subject, I urge you to take a peek.
I then read what I consider fiction at its most perfect:
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, of Pulitzer prize winning
Olive Kitteridge fame. Ms. Strout has the William Trevor ability to distill a story down to its most essential - just spare, powerful language touching our hearts, awakening our brain and mesmerizing us. This is the story of a long estranged mother visiting her sick daughter in the hospital over 5 days. Yet, as their conversations include gossip, reflection, and silence, we are struck by this being a story of love; of reconstructing a life both by distancing it from poverty and their lives being unalterably shaped by that poverty. As Claire Messud said in her
New York Times review, "There is not a scintilla of sentimentality in this exquisite novel. Instead in its careful words and vibrating silences,
My Name is Lucy Barton offers us a rare wealth of emotion, from darkest suffering to simple joy." As I reached the last page of this glorious small novel, there was the quiet pleasure of inhaling a richness of words and the kind of storytelling that helps us live to our fullest.
One last note, we have an
event Monday evening with Jane Mendelsohn. She is a good friend, a neighbor of our's in Castine, Maine, the best selling author of
I Was Amelia Earhart, and a smart, charming writer. Please make an effort to join us at the store as she discusses her new book,
Burning Down the House.
See you in the store,
