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A Few Quick Reviews
I make continual resolves to actually write more book reviews. I talk about books a lot and mean to write a lot of reviews but frequently I move on to the next book and the review never gets written. Here are a few miscellaneous thoughts about what I have been reading lately. The Birthday Boys* was my first book by Beryl Bainbridge. I have heard of her books before but have never come across one. This book about Scott’s trip to the south pole is divided into five sections. Each section is told from a different viewpoint. It is left up to the reader to mesh the differing perspectives into…
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Growing Up and Letting Go
My son turned sixteen earlier this month. My son, who not that long ago was sitting on the floor playing with Thomas the Tank Engine, is now old enough to drive. That is a scary thought. The kid who frequently doesn’t seem completely sure who his body belongs to and where those huge feet came from is old enough to be put in charge of a huge hunk of moving metal and allowed on the road. Excuse me while I go lie down for a minute. My son tells us that he thinks getting his license is practical because then he can get a job during shop cycle at school…
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Autumn in New England
The roadside stands were piled with golden pumpkins and russet squashes and baskets of red apples so crisp and sweet that they seemed to explode with juice when I bit into them. I bought apples and a gallon jug of fresh-pressed cider…. The villages are the prettiest, I guess, in the whole nation, neat -and white-painted, and-not counting the motels and tourist courts-unchanged for a hundred years except for traffic and paved streets. The climate changed quickly to cold and the trees burst into color, the reds and yellows you can’t believe. It isn’t only color but a glowing, as though the leaves gobbled the light of the autumn sun…
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Book Mail
I haven’t bought very many books lately. I just looked back and I haven’t done one of these posts in two months and today I only have six books to show you. Six books in two months is a pathetic showing for someone who claims to love books as much as I do. I really need to up my book buying game for the sake of my blog. The problem is that my kids keep outgrowing their clothes so all my possible spare cash goes on replacing the barely worn clothes they can no longer fit into. Please tell me that a 6’1″ sixteen-year-old with size thirteen feet will eventually…
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Book Review–My Dear Bessie- A Love Story in Letters
I bought my copy of My Dear Bessie at Daunt Books when I was in London. Isn’t it the prettiest bookshop? I wish I could go back right now and spend the day browsing and buying too many books. Then I would go find a cafe and sit drinking tea, eating cake, and dipping in and out of all my new books. Doesn’t that sound like the most perfect day? My Dear Bessie–A Love Story in Letters is a compilation of the letters Chris Barker and Bessie Moore wrote to each other during World War II. It is edited by Simon Garfield. I originally heard about it because excerpts were…
