Still Reading

The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine. Completely enjoyable, great characters, wonderful writing.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hossein. Good. Tragic and compelling.

The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille. Bleck. Why do I read stuff like this?

I really need to remember to do a little write up when I finish.

Still knitting, plodding away on Ariann, doing a few Lizard Ridge squares and contemplating a new project...

More books!

I can't believe it but I finished two books in the last four days. One clunker, Body Surfing, by Anita Shreve; and one that was fairly good, not great, but at least tightly written and compelling: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Haid.

I have loved a couple of Anita Shreve's books, particularly Fortune's Rock and even The Pilot's Wife. Given those books, this one just seemed kind of like a cop-out. I couldn't muster up any interest or sympathy for any of the characters. All in all, it was just a kind of blah book.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist was more interesting and quite beautifully written. It was about a Pakistani man who in 2001 graduated from Princeton as a scholarship student. He gets a highly paid job as an analyst for a vaulations firm where he is the most successful of all the new hires. Then comes 9/11. As a Middle Easterner, he increasingly feels like an outsider, and bitter towards America. It was told in the first person during a lunch meeting with an American. It was pretty short, actually, but I didn't get the impression that there were a lot of loose ends.

I started the Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. Good so far...

Another book...

So I finished The Knitting Circle, by Ann Hood. I really wanted to like this book. In a nutshell, it's about a woman who finds knitting after her only child, a five-year old girl, dies after contracting bacterial meningitis. She joins a knitting circle at the urging of her mother after her daughter's death and is introduced to other women (and a man) who heal despite horrible personal tragedies through the power of knitting. Okay, I get it. Knitting is great that way. My problem with the book are that the dialogue between the characters was completely absurd. I need to find some examples - I should have marked them but I was too busy rolling my eyes. Another issue I had is that a parent losing a child is a relatively rare occurance, thankfully. But somehow everyone in the knitting circle had lost a child or was about to lose a child or was about to die of cancer leaving her four children motherless or whatever. Like I said, I really wanted to love this book because I completely believe in the transformative power of knitting. How restorative and therapeutic it is. And the fact that the author lost her own daughter. I dunno. I wanted to like this book but I just did not find it to be original or, or, or, something. Can't put my finger on it. It was like the plotline was kind of manipulative in some way. Not horrible, but I kind of wish that I had skipped it, especially since there are so many beautiful books stacked up waiting for my attention. Next up is The Reluctant Fundamentalist. We'll see...

Oh, and the new computer has shipped - hurray. Except that the monitor has been backordered. Bleck. And knitting? I've started the 2nd sleeve of Ariann and so of course I started a dishcloth. I just need something kind of mindless right now. What I really need is for the next two or three weeks to just pass me by then hopefully everything will be back on track. Ahem.

Recuperating

Blergh - got some weird stomach bug (and puked in my trashcan AT WORK) on Wednesday so I took Thursday off and slept and knitted a little bit of Ariann's sleeve. Crazy headache, too. I don't get sick like that very often, thankfully. I didn't get that much accomplished (knit-wise) because of the wicked headache. It was almost all I could do to just lie on the couch.

I read Christine Falls by Benjamin Black and was not too impressed. It was quick, though, which was good. And I started on Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris (who wrote Gentlemen and Players, one of my all time favorite reads).

I've been getting tons and tons of books from Paperback Swap - yay. I've gotten about twenty five books. The vast majority are in almost perfect condition, too. I got two Pulitzers (Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson - one of the books whose condition was a little bit disappointing with all the writing and underlining in the margins; and The Known World by Edward Jones) to add to my Pulitzer collection. Right now i have them all stacked up on our desk so I can just admire them. I'm such a library fiend, but I am kind of tired of hauling hardback library books on the bus and the train. And I think it's kind of fun to read a book and then release it into the world again. Such nice connections to be made with people you don't even know all thanks to the internet and a passion for books.

AND, the biggest news is that I ordered us a new computer! Huzzah. I can't wait. This thing is just too small and too slow for us any more. I cannot wait to be able to download some wordy goodness from Audible.com. I have the new Al Gore book in my wishlist but I am also eyeing Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian. And I need (yes, need) to listen to more This American Life. I am completely in love with the podcast. I need to remember to donate to Chicago Public Radio and stop being a freeloader.

On my walk today I re-listened to some of the Ishmael Beah book - I still cannot fully get my head around how that (the war in Sierra Leone and the recruitment of boys to be soldiers) could have happened. It is just so incredibly tragic. I keep wondering if it wouldn't be so heartwrenching for me if I didn't have a son the same age as Beah was when he was recruited (which is the most completely inaccurate word for what they did to those children). I just know that my son would behave in exactly the same way - I think it all kind of boils down to survivor's instinct, and although what he did as a "soldier" was horrific, it was the only way he could have possibly survived. He was just so incredibly charming on The Daily Show.

Speaking of my boy, he is an eighth grader now! Almost as tall as me and as glorious as anything I could ever imagine (so tall! so skinny! so blond and blue-eyed with perfect skin). He made the silver honor roll all three trimesters so he and his dad are out now getting him a little prezzy as an acknowledgement for his work.

Yay - long weekend

Aaaah, nice long weekend, makes me SO HAPPY. I have big plans, to sleep and knit and read and go to dinner and the movies. The weather is lovely, too.

I am reading Through a Glass Darkly, and I am wondering if the damn thing will ever end. I can't remember why I thought I would like it. It's kind of stupid. Yeesh. I guess I don't hate it enough to stop reading it but still.

I broke down and bought yarn for Something Red by Wendy Bernard. It's Blue Sky Alpacas cotton - so soft! If I start it now I'll probably be finished in September (it's short sleeved - more of a spring/summer garment). And yes, I'm still slogging away at Ariann. I have ripped the sleeves out more times than I can remember. I dropped a bunch of stitches off the needle and couldn't figure out how to put them back on so I went to knit night at A Knitted Peace, but I didn't really get it put back together right to I ripped it yet again. and I had made huge progress, too. I kind of feel weird about asking for help with a project when I didn't purchase the yarn at that store.

I also bought some basic felting yarn (Ella Rae) - I want to make another felted bag like my beloved red one. I just love that thing. But I'm telling myself that I need to finish Ariann and the Lizard Ridge before I start on the bag. I might cast on for Something Red sooner. Just so I'll have time to wear it before it gets too cold. It's also knit from the top down in one piece. Yay - hate finishing, I do.

Books, books, books

I've been reading a ton (just started with Paperback Swap, and I really like it - I'd like it a lot more if the people to whom I'm sending books would acknowledge receipt promptly...) so I thought I should update my list.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. Blergh. The one thing I will say about this book is that it held my interest and made me a little weepy at the end. A doctor delivers his twins in a snowstorm in 1964 (two months before I was born, interestingly). Son born healthy and the daughter born with Down Syndrome and dad impulsively gives the baby to a nurse and tells her to deliver the baby to a home for disabled children. Oh, yeah, and he told his wife that the girl was born dead. The nurse ends up taking the baby herself and raises it. The dad's secret slowly tears the family apart. The mom/wife drove me absolutely insane. Hated this character. She was insipid in the beginning, and then of course turned into this hard driving career woman. Honestly, aside from the deception, I had a lot of sympathy for the father and very little for the mother. Not an awful book but just kind of annoying. The prose was lovely at times, but kind of overdone. I got sick of hearing about "Norah's delicate wrists," and "Norah's delicate feet," and let's not forget "Norah's slender neck." It made me almost embarrassed for the author at times. The jacket said that she went to the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and it surprised me. The author is no Ann Patchett (another IWW alumna).

Good thing I had a book that I completely enjoyed after reading that drivel. Avalon, by Anya Seton. I completely enjoyed this book and I liked it more than The Winthrop Woman. I thought it was a little tighter than TWW. Kind of meandering like TWW. I love this author and I'm so happy that I've found a new obsession. Anyway, Avalon was the story of an English girl, Merewyn, in the 900's. She thinks she is a descendant of King Arthur, but actually her mother was raped by a Viking. Her mother confessed to Lord Rumon, who promises not to tell Merewyn. Anyway, long and convoluted - Rumon takes Merewyn to King Edward's court and he falls in love with a scheming evil queen, Merewyn of course loves Rumon. She is taken to Iceland after a Viking raid and is reunited with her father. Okay, so it's completely implausible, but I liked the book enough to overlook this silliness. She marries and has two children and eventually returns to England (after residing in Greenland for many years) and claims to be the heir to King Arthur. Rumon finds her in Greenland, she wants nothing to do with him, he becomes a monk and upon her return she finds him. They don't end up reuniting, but rather Merewyn finds a new husband whom she doesn't really love but who takes good care of her. Finally on Rumon's deathbed, he asks her to stop claiming to be King Arthur's heir and she agrees, and her husband still loves her and she's still accepted... That's kind of a crappy review, but it was very meandering. I liked the era, it is something that I know little about (kind of like the Winthrop Woman in that sense). Just so good. I loved this book.

I'm reading my first PBS book - Through a Glass Darkly, by Karleen Koen. It kind of looks like a romance novel (embarrassing - I wish I could get over that, but I can't). I can't remember where it was recommended, but it's pretty good so far.

I'm kind of on a historical fiction bender right now. Specifically British historical fiction.

Aaah, springtime

A perfect day! The weather was glorious, upper 70's.

I took a nice long walk and listened to my audiobook, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah. Heartbreaking, but so compelling. I am almost ashamed that these horrible atrocities were taking place in this world and it never crossed my radar. It's all the more poignant because my son is the age that Ishmael is when he was "drafted" (for lack of a better word).

Anyway, I need to take more long walks - it felt so nice.

I came home and read my newest library find, 44 Scotland Street, by Alexander McCall Smith. Wonderful. It was written in installments for a newspaper, a la Armistead Maupin. Completely sweet and enjoyable. A perfect springtime patio read. I'm halfway through and just started today. I told K that I felt like I was on vacation, reading my eyes out on our lovely patio, watching the birds scold my cat and eating way too much chocolate.

I felt unsure of my work on the Ariann sleeve, so I ripped it out and started over - I probably didn't need to do that. It's actually kind of fun, it is knitting up quickly and I've got it all charted out so I feel pretty confident in my progress.

I also hauled out the pink and lime green felted slippers that I started last spring. I don't think mine will make it much longer so I am starting their replacement. I made a ton of progress on the Lizard Ridge too - I am cranking out those squares.

What a lovely day, I couldn't ask for more. I am so lucky to have such a life.