Don’t you just hate it when you’ve started a book and something interrupts you and you don’t get to finish it? Normally I pick up a book and read it straight through cover to cover, sometimes in one day. Of course, I’m wrecked the next day if I’ve been reading into the wee hours, but some books you just can’t put down. There are three books that I’ve started, that I really want to finish, that I won’t be able to get to for three or four weeks.
The first is a book that was widely popular a number of years ago: “Tuesdays With Morrie.” I’ve started it, and I know the basic arc of the book, but I set it aside, claiming that Christmas was demanding my time. I don’t handle death and dying as well as I’d like, and I know there are great lessons to be learned from this book, so once the wedding is over this will be the next book up.
One of my nieces is always reading. She keeps an eye on what the book clubs are discussing and what the best sellers are, and occasionally she will give me a book. Since she knows that I traditionally read trash, she gave me something more enlightening: “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant. The novel is the story of the Biblical character Dinah. I’ve read more than half the book. I set it down at the point where Dinah’s father is going to send her life in a totally unexpected direction. The Boston Globe said of this book: “An intense, vivid novel…It is tempting to say that The Red Tent is what the Bible would be like if it had been written by women, but only Diamant could have given it such sweep and grace.” Diamant has done a superb job of showing us what life in those times must have been like.
The last book I need to finish is “Under The Tuscan Sun” by Frances Mayes. Mayes and her husband purchased a Tuscan villa and renovated it over several summers. The book is based on her journals, and begins with the search for the right villa, and carries us through the vagaries of construction, permits, and contractors to the point where they are able to welcome friends to their summer home. It’s packed with descriptions of the local food, and in some places feels like a travelog. The heat of the day, the frustration of getting good help, and the incredible textures of Italian food all pour out of this book. It’s the perfect volume to pick up on a chilly, rainy day.
There’s one more book I haven’t read, but I hope to pick up today. It’s called “A Round Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance,” by Jane Juska. The author placed this ad in a personals column: “Before I turn 67–next March–I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me.” This Midwestern English teacher had endured an unsatisfying marriage and become a single, mostly celibate, mom, and wanted to experience the pleasure of touching before her life ebbed away. I’m interested in the courage it took to pursue this passion, and the story of how she chose the men who played a feature role in her life. My understanding is that she made love to men in a range of ages and that the unifying factor was that almost all of them wanted the same kindness in a relationship that she was hoping to find. There were cads and selfish men, but the majority were gentle men reaching out to make a connection and break the bonds of loneliness. I’ll have to let you know if the book lives up to my expectations. *S*
So…..have you read any good books lately??