Score!

My library's semi-annual book sale was last night, and I did pretty well!  The five titles that I'm most excited about are:

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.  Since reading What is the What I sort of want to read everything Eggers has ever written.  That will be very difficult since he has written so much outside of the typical novel format.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  When I picked this up, I actually had confused it with The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, which came out about the same time and has a similar cover, but I'm excited to read Major Pettigrew nonetheless.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.  I was turned off of Chabon after trying to read Summerland with my son, but after reading Fountain City, I'm back!  I also picked up The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Chabon.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. I really liked The Little Stranger by Waters, so I am interested to read this one too.  In searching for information about TLS online, I stumbled onto some reviews that seemed to imply that Waters is a lesbian author, meaning an author writing for lesbians, regardless of the author's personal preferences.  Velvet has two naked girls on the cover, and the summary says that it is the story of one falling in love with the other.  I guess we'll see how it goes!  I finally got a copy of The Little Stranger too.

And finally, The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory.  Yep, I needed more historical junk food.






I also picked up The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey, since I liked Parrot and Olivier in America  by that author, People of the Book  by Geraldine Brooks, since I seem to talk about that book constantly, Three Junes by Julia Glass, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo, and I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. 

Now it is clear that if there is an epidemic affecting Beverly Hills, Michigan, so that we cannot leave our home for a month, or six, I will not run out of books to read.  Hopefully someone will deliver food.

Thinking Nice Thoughts While Cooking

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender is billed as the story of Rose, a young girl who can taste people's emotions in the food that they prepare.  One can guess that she would taste her mom's cake and see feelings that a 9 year old daughter would not expect, or that she would taste something that a stranger prepared and gain a new perspective on that person.  That's what I thought I would get, but I was pleasantly surprised when it got all Time Traveler's Wife-y on me.

Speaking of that, I should add The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger to my Favorites list.  (Done!) 

Rose feels very alone with her "gift" and doesn't talk about it very much.  Communication and the lack thereof within families is a favorite theme of mine, and there is a gaping hole within Rose's family, where words should exist.  As always, if the family had talked more, the individual members would have felt less alone.  Rose finds a good listener in one of her brother's friends, who is a science geek, and is willing to suspend disbelief in order to trust his findings completely.

It's really hard to make you want to read TPSOLC without giving too much away.  There are several questions that remained unanswered at the end of the book, especially involving Rose's mom's relationship with her own mom, Rose's mom's role within the family, and why Rose's mom does some of the things that she does.  This would be a good book group discussion book, if anyone is looking.

My favorite part of listening to TPSOLC on CD is that the author, Aimee Bender, read it herself.  I really appreciated having a competent reader reading to me, rather than an actress.  And who better to know the proper inflections than the author herself?   If this had been read differently, like with a dreamy, "soothing" voice, it would have sounded too hokey and unbelieveable.

Next Up on CD:  I'm not sure yet, but I'm headed to the library tonight.

Still Reading:  Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart.  I have no idea why it is taking me so long to read this book!  It is really good, and I enjoy reading it, but I seem to only be able to read 10 or 20 pages a day.  I still have 100 pages to go!

How Much Will You Give Me?

When I started reading Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland, I was expecting to compare it to Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriett Scott Chessman.  However, in the first chapter, I realized that Hyacinth was the story of the owners of a picture as opposed to the story of the creating of a painting.  This led me to hope for something like Great House by Nicole Krauss or People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Great House is the story of a many-drawered desk that was owned by a series of writers through decades, with very little obvious connection.  People of the Book is the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah that passed through the hands of unrelated people of varying faiths through centuries.  Compared to the others, I found Hyacinth lacking.  In Hyacinth, the numerous owners of the painting all recognized that it was beautiful, said that they loved it, and then all converted the painting to cash.  To me, it read a little like the story of a dollar bill. 

In Great House, the desk figured in the story, but was not the very meaning of any of the individual stories.  It was a cherished, appreciated piece of furniture, and it passed hands through generosity and trust, but never for money.  In POTB, the Haggadah was considered precious, and was guarded, but was actually more of a liability than an asset in most of the eras in which it existed.  If it had been discovered, it would have been destroyed, and its owner may have been killed.  It was also interesting that each owner put his or her own mark on the Haggadah while owing it.

It seemed simplistic that every owner  in Hyacinth recognized the painting as valuable, and sold it or gave it away to relieve an obligation.  It wouldn't have been much of a stretch for an angry wife to throw the painting away, and then for some lucky person to find it in the trash, love it, and then keep it until giving it to a favorite niece for a wedding present.  The only time it even passed through a will was when the owner knew that it was a recognizable piece of stolen art, and that he would be arrested for trying to sell it.

It also surprised me that Vreeland would invent an unknown Vermeer.  In other (fictional) books that I have read, there have actually been questions about whether Vermeer painted all of the works for which he has credit, rather than claiming that he may have painted even more.

One thing that Great House, People of the Book, and Girl in Hyacinth Blue all have in common is that the prized possession changed hands during the Holocaust.  There had to have been other ways to lose family heirlooms in the 1940s.  In Hyacinth's defense, it was written before the other two, and couldn't have copied their device.  In Great House, the Jewish faith played a key role in the stories, so the Holocaust was obvious as a reason for the transfer of treasures.  The story of the Sarajevo Haggadah in People of the Book  is based on truth, and in that case, the story of its possession (but not its ownership) during the Holocaust is unavoidable.

Next up on CD:  The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Still reading:  Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart.  Don't rush me!