You would think that if you had a month that included 4 days of an R & R getaway in the mountains with not much planned, followed by 19 days of pretty much not leaving your house – first on quarantine and then a Stay At Home order – you would read a lot. Especially for a heavy reader like me. That just hasn’t been the case. We started March with a quick getaway to the mountains during my college-age daughter’s spring break. We returned March 12th as the COVID19 virus situation was escalating in Colorado and haven’t left our home much since. But I just haven’t read much. I was consumed at first with preparations and then with worry. Like pretty much everyone else I am unsettled. I worry for my family members and friends that are under other roofs both locally and in other states. I think in such unusual times that are so stressful some people shy away from their normal routines and I think that is what has happened to me. I just haven’t been able to pick up a book much and concentrate. As we continue this unsettled journey into April, I am hoping I can take a deep breath, try to relax a little and pass some time with a delightful book or two or eight or twenty. 🙂
With all that said, I did complete 4 books in March and all were pretty good. Here s what I did accomplish from my reading pile in March.
Long Bright River – Liz Moore
Excellent. I came a tiny bit close to saying 4.5 for one reason; I didn’t love the author’s way to portray the dialogue. Instead of grammatically correct quotations, she chose a dark, gritty, hard to sometimes understand style of a hyphenated conversation. But then I thought about this style in a deeper manner. This is a dark, gritty story that is very hard for many to understand the complexities. With that in mind, I have decided, while difficult for me to get behind, it seems fitting and 5 stars stand for me. It is the story of two estranged sisters in Philadelphia, one a cop, the other an addict. Their haunting past catches up with the present in this story of the bonds of family. I can’t say much more, I just don’t want to spoil it – it is too good for you not to enjoy yourself. This is the second book I have enjoyed by Moore, (I read The Unseen World a couple of years ago) and I will be picking up Heft very soon.
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Catch And Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators – Ronan Farrow
I thought I knew the meat of the Harvey Weinstein scandal. I was wrong. I dove into this tell-all reporting investigation that snow-balled the Me Too movement on audible and have to say – if you like to listen to books, then this one is a must in this medium. Ronan Farrow narrates and his audio impressions of certain people are very entertaining. Additionally, you will hear some of the actual taped recordings that occurred by this hideous predator. There are some surprises too, at least there were for me. Not an uplifting read by any means, but if you want to know more about how corrupt something can be – this was a great book. I haven’t followed, read or watched much Ronan Farrow before and that will now change for me.
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The Book of Lost Friends – Lisa Wingate
Very emotionally exhausting book but a wonderful story. It took me a while to get through The Book of Lost Friends, it is a tough time to read such a heavy book right now. I think I would have enjoyed it more at a different time, but it is a well written, good book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Ballantine Books – Random House for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. The Book of Lost Friends will be available on April 7th.
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Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir – Ruth Reichl
Save Me the Plums is another audible completion for me this month. While I do normally listen to books on my commute to work and that of course came to a halt this month, I did try to listen while cooking, cleaning and enjoying walks in my neighborhood.
This was a book club pick for me and I actually suggested it. It had been on my TBR list and as I was beginning to struggle with not being able to concentrate with a book, I thought that this one may help me in that regard. Thankfully I was right. Having something a little less emotionally charged, deep, complex, dark or sad was what I needed. Reichl was the editor of Gourmet magazine before its demise. She is the narrator on Audible and I always enjoy when an author reads their own book. She weaves in stories of her childhood and past, including her previous job as a restaurant review writer in Los Angeles. While she talks quite a bit about her past hippy life, I was surprised at times how pretentious and honestly a tad snobby she seems. That part didn’t walk the walk for me. However she does seem to make it sound that she couldn’t get away from that part of her job at Gourmet and was much happier at the end once she let that go. Her final trip to Paris before Gourmet folded was a highlight for me. I found the book fascinating to get a behind the scenes look at the industry, learn how Gourmet met its match and failed and enjoyed the recipes sprinkled throughout the book. A great distraction from our current reality.
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Book of the month: Long Bright River
