Thinking about books and reading...

Normally this blog is dedicated to reviews, but my recent birthday gave me pause to think about what I read and how others perceive my choices.  Two different friends gave me these books for my birthday.  Both friends know of my love of literature and Canada.  The person who presented this lovely edition of poetry by Dylan Thomas actually sent a text asking if I liked this poet.  I am delighted to have this because previously I only had examples found in anthologies.  This New Directions edition even includes an essay on the Art of Poetry by Thomas.  The second friend took a chance that I would not have How To Be a Canadian * (Even If You Already Are One) by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson in my library; he was correct.  This is an amusing book; one to pick up, read a bit, skip around, and read a bit more.  But a book of poetry also requires the willingness to read a book a little at a time, even if the level or type of engagement with the text will be quite different.  As I tend to read from several books at the same time, it is nice to have some offering varying intensities of attention.

It is also nice as I am about half way through my reading year to reflect on my progress.  I always set myself a goal, and having challenged myself to 75 books in 2014, I am a bit behind.  I know why as life interferes and a different work schedule has changed my reading time.  But with less work in the summer and reduced teaching in the fall, I anticipate catching up and making my goal.  Unlike the past few years when I had categories to challenge my tendency to lapse into only fiction, this year I decided to start with a particular shelf of books and see where it took me.  

The year began with Canadian authors: two authors of YA novels and an adult novel on the "Canada Reads" list.  I was also reading short stories from the anthology for the Introduction to Literature class I taught.  I moved into a more recent novel, Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, followed by The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder...again, for my class.  Together with a third novel,, the connections between time and where our lives take us emerged as a common theme.

As my annual pilgrimage to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada approaches, I usually revisit some plays by Shakespeare and perhaps one or two of the other plays I'll be seeing with my seminar group.  But over the past few years I've also enjoyed the liberty of reading some books inspired by Shakespeare.  It is fun to see how other people make connections with the plays.  Last year I discovered a wonderful novel, I, Iago by Nicole Galland in preparation for a performance of Othello, and will revisit Fool by Christopher Moore along with King Lear for this summer.  But two other books have also jumped off the shelf together with my beloved Pelican edition of The Complete Works of Shakespeare: A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson and Shakespeare's Daughter by Peter W. Hassinger.

A Midsummer Night's Tempest is a classic from the genre of science fiction.  The back cover offers inviting promise: "Welcome to the world of Puck and Caliban, Oberon and Titania, Ariel and Neptune, to the world of Faery, where a single night can while away a century  and gold can turn to dross in the twinkling of an elfin eye...but what in the world of Faery is that steam engine doing there - and King Charles: he wasn't even born when Shakespeare wrote!"  Anderson has joined the worlds of A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest with additional surprises.  It offers me a fun way to revisit the Dream.  And Hassinger has written a YA novel that creates a world for Susanna Shakespeare.  I always had some students who enjoyed historical fiction; after all, Shakespeare did not expect us to be treating his plays like the Bible.

And who knows...perhaps as I shift between the physical books on my shelves and the Nook Library I am becoming accustomed to, I may even take up the challenge of another friend and read a romance.  This morning I finished reading a classic ghost story on my Nook.  The world is full of marvelous things.

Three Short Reviews...

Back in January I posted a review of two novels by Tim Wynne-Jones; hence, this review briefly highlights what I love about his writing.   

Blink & Caution is a YA novel about two teenage runaways appropriate for ages 13+.  It takes place in Ontario, and Wynne-Jones’ knowledge of both the rural areas and Toronto make the settings and description vividly engaging.  In this novel the character of Blink alternates between the rare 2^nd person point of view and limited 3^rd person.  It is done so smoothly I was halfway through the book before I noticed.  Caution’s character remains in the 3^rd person.  The characters and story line are realistic and believable with enough ambiguity to make the happy ending acceptable.  I will definitely be looking for more novels by Tim Wynne-Jones.

Wynne-Jones, Tim. Blink & Caution. Somerville MA: Candlewick Press, 2011        

Another author whose work I will always return to is Ann Patchett.  Bel Canto kept me riveted, so when I saw her first novel available on my Nook, I added it immediately.  The Patron Saint of Liars is about a young pregnant mother and a Kentucky home for unwed mothers.  But Rose is not unwed, and there the story truly begins.

The novel is divided in sections with the first containing the story of Habit; the town that contained a miraculous hot spring.  This section is a history and provides the setting for the center of the story.  The center of the story is Rose.

Rose is not happy in her marriage, and upon discovering her pregnancy, she takes off.  She goes to a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky.  Rose, despite her closeness to her mother, says nothing to her or her husband:

But learning is easier than forgetting.  The fact that my mother, that Thomas, didn’t know where I had gone or the reason, made my life easier, but I liked to think it made things easier for them as well.  The world is full of things we’re better off not knowing. (37)

            To tell more of the story would break my rule of no spoilers.  But the world of Rose Clinton is thought-provoking, tantalizing, frightening, and convincing…totally convincing.  Now I want to read all of Patchett’s books.

Patchett, Ann. The Patron Saint of Liars. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1992. E-book.

Anyone who has entered my home realizes I probably have enough books to read, but sometimes a book is left behind.  Timmy Failure Mistakes Were Made No. 1 by Stephen Pastis came with a great recommendation – two in fact.  My Godtwins, Leo and Faye Stiffler, had both read it and said it was great.  They are correct.  If you are familiar with the “Pickles” comic strip, you know the work of Stephen Pastis.  This novel was written for elementary school level, but Pastis cannot help dropping a few lines for the adults in a child’s life.  For instance, Timmy explains that the family name used to be Falyeur.  And now I am ready to have a book discussion with the twins.  I hope to see them again soon.

Pastis, Stephen. Timmy Failure Mistakes Were Made No. 1. Somerville, MA; Candlewick Press, 2013. Print.