Ruby, Sean, and I are having a quiet Christmas week in San Diego this year. Like most of our days off together, the holidays will involve some exercise, good food and drinks, listening to music, reading, movies, visiting with good friends, and maybe a trip to the beach. I am grateful.
When I was a kid I’d spend the days after Christmas reading new books that I received. I haven’t changed much. I plan on reading a lot over the next week or two. I’ve been missing poetry lately, so I’ll probably read through my two favorite collections: Jane Kenyon “Collected Poems” and “The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry.” Also, I’m working thru a stack I picked up at the library a few days ago.
I can’t wait to read these books in 2015…
“Purity” by Jonathan Frazen. YES! So glad he has a new one coming out. “Freedom” and “The Corrections” perfectly capture our American experience. Even better – I’ve heard that this one may include some magical realism.
“The City of Mirrors” by Justin Cronin. This book has taken FOREVER to come out. It is the final book in the creepy, amazing Passage trilogy. Hopefully the story concludes in a satisfying narrative.
“The Buried Giant” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ishiguro writes haunting books, my favorite is “Never Let Me Go”.
“God Help the Child” by Toni Morrison. Reading and discussing “Song of Solomon” in college remains one of my best memories of school. Morrison never fails to astound me.
“In the Unlikely Event” by Judy Blume. Blume writes readable, relatable novels that a lot of us that grew up in 80’s will devour. “Summer Sisters” was a fun read, and I’m sure this one will be too.
“A God in Ruins” by Kate Atkinson. This book will be a spin-off of “Life after Life”. That book amazed me, so I have high hopes for this one!
“The Invasion of the Tearling” Erika Johansen. The 2nd book in the YA series that I reviewed here.
What I’ve been reading…
I’ve been reading some good, but not extraordinary, books the last few weeks. They are quick reads and I enjoyed all of them.
“The Vacationers” by Emma Straub. A dysfunctional family takes a trip to Spain and secrets are revealed.
“Lucky Us” by Amy Bloom. Two half sisters in the 1940’s live an unordinary life. A short, satisfying read.
“Thunderstruck & Other Stories” by Elizabeth McCracken. Perfect, disturbing little short stories. “The grandmother was a bright, cellophane-wrapped hard candy of a person: sweet, but not necessarily what a child wanted.”
My Big Red Glasses 