It’s not going well. I’m behind in all my “assigned” reading. Does this mean I haven’t been reading? Not at all. I read Bob Ward’s “Four Kinds of Rain.” I re-read TRUTH AND BEAUTY. I’ve started reading Liz Perle’s book on women and money. I read Jane Bryant Quinn’s book on money. (Do you detect a theme? Please do not worry. I am not struggling with an excess of money. Or a deficit. I am struggling with some really stupid pyschological stuff re: money, almost paralyzed by the need to make decisions about my retirement funds and other investments. The Quinn book, which promises to be easy and direct, is pretty easy and direct. But I still felt as if I was on the verge of hyperventilating.)
Reading is so . . . impulsive, whimsical, moody for me. I plucked BOOK BY ONE OF MY BIG LITERARY HEROES out of the pile the other night. In the right mood, I will love this book. But it wasn’t doing it for me. The next day, I bought Gail Godwin’s latest. The subject matter — a young woman working as a journalist, hoping to be a novelist — was a natural for me, and Godwin is a great favorite. But I was a bit put off by the historical aspect. When I read a historical novel, it’s so hard for me to forget that I’m reading a novel because there’s so much awe-inspiring research. I read to escape. But just a few pages into the Godwin, I can tell it’s the right book at the right time. For one thing, there’s her voice, which I’ve always loved. I’m glad that Godwin was established before the the term “chick lit” was coined. It’s easy to see someone using it to dismiss, say, A MOTHER AND TWO DAUGHTERS. (I’m not anti-chick lit, far from it. I just hate the way the term has been used as a shorthand for Not Wholly Serious.) Her characters have such lively minds, such full, complicated lives.
So I’m behind. On everything. But I’m still reading.
Well I am so unoriginal because I am re-reading THE LION,THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.
The other book I’m reading is a history of The Orthodox Church which is intersting. I wonder if God ever intended religions to be so complex and to create such opposition and opinion among people?
How are you finding the Liz Perle book? I coveted it in the bookstore, then later read a review of it that made me think I’d made the right financial decision in not buying it.
I read Quinn’s book but somehow can’t bring myself to get moving(except to buy umbrella insurance). Of course, I also read Andrew Tobias,Personal Finance for Dummies, Orman(9 steps) and Singletary(money mantras) since the beginning of the year)- and just read the wash post review of Perle’s new book(I just don’t think I can read another money book right now). All of this information has made me totally lost- however, I will do something- soon. I want to retire from my current job in 2 years, 2 1/2 months(when I become eligible). maybe I will go into DC and buy a powerball ticket tomorrow- I hear it is up to 300M.
I listened to 44 Scotland Street in the car- finished yesterday. I recently read The Bus Driver who wanted to be God by Etgar Keret(I was told he is the hottest writer in Israel today?) and am reading Heir to the Glimmering World by Cynthia Ozick- both were recommended by our 86 year old synagogue librarian.
My daughter is reading Crime and Punishment for her AP lit class -maybe I will read it again- the last time being when I was a college freshman.
I am not sure which Jane Bryant Quinn book you are reading, but I think she is about the best generalist financial writer I have read. I have been in the financial services business for many years and Quinn’s columns in Newsweek have shown great insight in areas that are relatively complex. (Although her books can go out of date.) Another book that I did like and have recommended was A Random Walk Down Wall Street. It was originally published in 1973 (I think) andis still updated and in print. It mainly deals with stocks and mutual funds. I don’t like most business books because many they give poor or incomplete advice so don’t let too many books confuse you. One piece of advice that is often mentioned is “don’t invest in what you don’t understand”. Otherwise it may be the way for someone to earn a good commission.
Glad to hear, Laura, that you sometimes can’t get into a book and set it aside for later. I do the same and try to go back to it to give it another chance, but sometimes I don’t ever get into certain books. I just finished Alice Hoffman’s Here On Earth (very good) yesterday and then started Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees last night. I’m loving it! I too need to figure out where to do a Roth IRA… I have heard about a Managed Fund (or something like that???) that is set up to mature the year you plan to retire. That sounds easy (and good)!
The Liz Perle book will probably go into my give-away pile (an endorsement, remember) but I do like it. I saw one negative review, which damned it for being too anecdotal and not revealing enough. But I just heard her on Diane Rehm and was mightly impressed. Money is a great topic — forbidden, screwed up. I think people lie more often about money than they do about sex.
I LOVE Godwin and loved – had have reread several times – MOTHER AND TWO DAUGHTERS.
Chick-lit does seem to be aimed at “beach books” which are the sort I don’t read; there seems to be a hint that they’re books full of brand names and “Sex in the City” lives and dilemmas and shallowness. But since it’s a word that is in all likelihood a creation of publicity types who are so often clueless about books, I try to avoid the label.
I’m reading about a4 books right now myself; about to start the new T J Parker, juggle it with a YA by Daniel Pinkwater (we’re SO behind on Pinkwater books, just got a slew of kiddy books from the library which features a couple of polar bears – SO CUTE), the second “Dexter” book, and oh man, several to review. So waht am I doing here? Not reading. Watching Olympic figure skating, doing crosswords, playing computer games, um….
Thanks for the reminder about the Godwin – I had meant to reserve it at the library and apparently hadn ot. I’m no. 89 on the list (I’d be 27 if I took the large print version but I can’t deal with those. Not yet). It looks like the library ordered and got about 12 copies – have 7 more on order. Nice that they have the money again to do that.
I don’t know what I’d do if I had to deal with money, but I know it would involve hiring someone to help me because dealing with it totally freaks me out. And would if I had more.
Laura, this is my only concern with projects like this. You hint at failure – “I’m behind” – but the way you should look at it is, “I’m ahead of where I would have been if I hadn’t had this project to encourage me”.
Okay, I’ll stop now – I’m beginning to sound like some kind of new-age guru.
I’ve only read two books so far this year, both YA, both by Louis Sachar (“Holes” and “There’s A Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom”) and they’ve restored my faith in the joy of reading.
First, a shout out to someone else who responded: This is what I love about Vickie – that she is getting married next weekend and still finds time to read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. You go Miss V.!
I am reading a great book that’s really pulled me in, the characters are well-drawn, and I don’t know where it’s all going. It’s “To the Power of Three”. Yes, I know the reading of our host’s work is neither manditory nor necessary condition for Memory Project participation, but I have read everything else, how the f*** did I wait this long. I’ll blame this past summer’s salpingo oopherectomy (look it up, it’s delightful), I’ll blame the two weeks not too long after that on a jury for a serial rapist, or I’ll – oh whatever, it’s a good read. Poor Josie!
It’s being complimented by what I think of as my Sherlock Holmes/bee triology: Arthur and George (about Arthur Conan Doyle – fabulous), A Slight Trick of the Mind (93 year old beekeeper Sherlock goes to Japan – I am in the middle of it), and The Secret Lives of Bees (not cracked the spine yet).
Which leads to another questions, which has probably been addressed here before – how many books do you juggle reading at one time?
I think I have nine going right now. It’s like a very long horse race, and then one suddenly takes the lead and I stay on that mount until it’s done.
For the lovers of A MOTHER AND TWO DAUGHTERS: I knew the three people on whom the characters are modeled. The older was my schoolmate and my sister was friends with the younger…and then we set out on our own paths. The father, by the way, was very much alive. Had I not been clued in before reading, knowing the book was set in Asheville,I would still have been able to identify my friend. Those of you who are writers probably hear such statements a lot, but believe me, the author captured my friend, right down to her very distinctive walk. To the best of my recall, I did not, however, know Gail Godwin.
No, Kevin, you’re right. There is no failure. The failure would be to give up reading because I’m not doing my “required” reading.
Hmmmm. Perhaps I should put together a list of utterly revolting “required” books and then I’d read only great ones.
To get really meta, Godwin then wrote A Southern Family (her best book IMHO, although I haven’t finished Queen of the Underworld yet, and it’s awfully good). In FAMILY, a novelist’s friend reflects on the book, clearly A MOTHER AND TWO DAUGHTERS, based on her family. The things she got right, the things she got wrong, the myths she seemed compelled to invent about the friend’s family because of the novelist’s more chaotic family.
An aside: Godwin was a critical darling who achieved bestsellerdom, nominated for some prestigious awards, etc. Yet while Jay McInerney’s latest novel was one of the most-reviewed titles of past weeks — according to Publishers Lunch — I’ve barely seen anything about her book.Sexism? Age-ism? It seems to me that a Godwin release is as notable as a McInerney, although his does take on the more topical subject of 9/11. Just wondering.