In the Book Basket

Books.
We always laugh that we were rich in three things:
aunts
books and
family photos.

In fact when we moved to our little house by the beach, we would have tipped it over with our books and the photo albums and bags of photos, the journey of our family of four and, somehow, Great Aunt Agnes's photo albums and a few of my grandmother's and other relatives' old photos too. We became the keepers of the photo albums across a couple generations, some finely chronicled and organized, many haphazard but beloved. We kept most.

But we had to part with many of our books. Since most had come from book fairs and used book shops, we passed the favor back and donated them everywhere.

Still, always, there are books around us, yawning open on the arm of the couch or in teensy print on the iphone, the pages the size of a half a playing card. The ones I am reading or can't wait to get to gather in a big basket.
 
The Latest Reads ~ In and Around the Book Basket:

12/7/12



11/8/12 

We the Animals by Justin Torres -  Just happened upon this book at the library, read the first chapter and fell right in. It is the story of three brothers, their mother, "an uprooted Brooklyn creature," and their father. These are the words that caught  me: "...those mornings when sunlight found the cracks in our blinds and laid itself down in crisp strips on our carpet, those quiet mornings when we'd fix ourselves oatmeal and sprawl on our stomachs with crayons and paper, with glass marbles we were careful not to rattle..." (Torres 3) A family, tangled up, troubled and true. A beautifully written story and harrowing, so very sad in in parts, I had to step away for a while.

Don Quixote - This summer I started to reread Don Quixote and I read little bits of it whenever I can, making my way slowly, laughing out loud often. Don Quixote, constant reader of books on chivalry, imagined himself a knight. He's about to set off on his adventures when he realizes a knight errant needs a woman to be in love with, so he can vanquish giants on her behalf. "It is said that in a neighbouring village, a good-looking girl resided, of whom he had formerly been enamoured, although it does not appear that she ever knew or cared about it; and this was the lady whom he chose to nominate mistress of his heart," (Cervantes 6). Ha! Comical as his tilting at windmills is, there's something endearing too about his stubborn hope.


Cherries in Winter - my family's recipe for hope in hard times by Suzan Colon. Perfect blend of lovely narrative and recipes. I love cookbooks that tell stories.

The Pen/O. Henry Prize Stories 2011. I try to read The Best American Short Stories or this collection every year because so many different voices live in them and because I find old greats and meet new writers.  I've loved short stories ever since my college professors assigned them way back when. So many short stories  have stayed over the years and years. "The Shawl," "This is What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," "Proper Library," "A Small Good Thing," "Why I Live at the P.O.," "Everyday Use,"  the stories by Jhumpa Lahari and an amazing story called "Rubiaux Rising" by Steve De Jarnatt about a man who was trapped in his attic, detoxing from drugs, during Hurricane Katrina, as waters swirl and rise upward. That character came rushing back to me last week as I saw the destructive force of flood waters in our town and on the news. Then there was a story by Dave Eggers told from the point of view of a dog. I absolutely loved that dog.  I shiver thinking about Flannery O'Connor's character the Misfit.

In this latest Pen/O. Henry collection, several stories lingered, like "Crossing" by Mark Slouka and "Never Come Back" by Elizabeth Tallent and  "Nightblooming" by Kenneth Calhoun, about a young guy who sits in for one show with "dudes...severely elderly" who are in a jazz band. What begins as a hoot ends in a way I wasn't expecting.