Category: Books

Reading – Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison and The Increment by David Ignatius

The Increment by David Ignatius
If you want to read a good spy novel The Increment by David Ignatius is
it. I read it on my Kindle in a couple of days and couldn't put it
down. The book is about the Iranian nuclear program and the American
and British intelligence services. It seems very timely and authentic. It was very entertaining summer reading.

Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison
The Reno Newcomers Club book club selection this month was Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison. I finished reading it last week and the meeting was yesterday. The book is about death and mourning and a family in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Given the subject matter the book is surprisingly,  a hopeful book. I didn't find it at all depressing but instead really enjoyed it.

Jim Harrison is a poet and there is a lot of poetry in his writing. This is a character driven book without a plot and I found that I really cared about the characters. Harrison is also a cookbook writer and his food descriptions, especially the wild berry pies were mouth watering.

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American Lion – Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

I'm working on reading a biography of each American president. I just finished American Lion by Jon Meacham about Andrew Jackson our 7th president.

Meacham says:

"Running at the head of a national party, fighting for a mandate from the people to govern in particular ways on particular issues, depending on a circle of insiders and advisers, mastering the media of the age to transmit a consistent message at a constant pace, and using the veto as a political, not just a constitutional, weapon, in a Washington that is at once politically and personally charged are all features of the modern presidency that flowered in Jackson’s White House. Jackson was a transformative president."

I found it interesting to see how so much that was new in Jackson's time is still with us today. For example I didn't  realized that before Jackson presidents only used the veto when they believed legislation was unconstitutional.

Jackson was also the first president not from the east coast. He was from Tennessee. Duke and I visited his home, The Hermitage, when we were in Nashville on our honeymoon.

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett and Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts

I finished two books this week. One was literature and the other was pure escapism.

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett was the book club book for the month. It engendered a very interesting discussion. Ann Patchett is the author of Bel Canto and several other books. Truth and Beauty is her story of her friendship with Lucy Grealy, the author of Autobiography of a Face.

The book is subtitled, "A Friendship" so I assumed it would paint a positive picture of friendship and would give me insight into what makes a good friendship. It did neither. None of the book club ladies liked the picture of Lucy painted in this book and in fact the lady next to me said that she found Ann Patchett to be passive aggressive. She thought this book was Patchett's way of getting back at Lucy. I agree.

I did enjoy reading Truth and Beauty for it picture of a codependent friendship. Patchett is a wonderful story teller. I found Truth and Beauty to be engaging.

While I was reading Truth and Beauty I decided I needed some escapism too. So I read Nora Robert's Chesapeake Blue. I think I like her books so much because I like the people in her books. They are pure fantasy but they are just real enough to draw you in and make you enjoy them.

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The Guernsey Literay and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

While I was on vacation I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. What a wonderful book! It is a series of letters written after World War II. Through the experiences that are shared in the letters lives unfold and the experiences of the people of Guernsey during the German occupation are shared. This is a real feel good book without being sickly sweet. I would recommend it to anyone. I've added it to my list of books read this year here.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The book club selection for the Reno Newcomers Club Book Club this month was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I decided to get this book from the library rather than buy it for my Kindle because I didn't think I would want to read it again but now I am not sure.

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I can't say I enjoyed reading this book because  as I read it I had a sense of dread. How can you not have a sense of dread when the book is set in Nazi Germany and the narrator is Death.

In spite of the fact that I didn't enjoy reading the book I was totally blown away by the book. What a masterpiece. The multiple layers. The unforgettable characters. I feel like I know them. My sense of dread was because I cared about them.

The Book Thief talks about the power of words to heal as well as wound. It talks about the power of words to calm. One of my favorite parts of the book was when the main character, Liesel, reads to her neighbors and family in the bomb shelter. It reminds me of how I read to my girls when they were growing up. Especially how I would sit between their two rooms and read to them when they were teenagers and were going to sleep after an exhausting day.

I think if I were to read The Book Thief again I might be able to relax and enjoy the intricacies, the colors, the words and the rich themes of love, loyalty, humor, community, and the power of words.