I just read Sue Miller’s _While I Was Gone_. It was a strange but powerful novel. The protagonist was so relatable, so evolved and yet also so flawed. It was an unusual bit of storytelling but despite some weirdness I can’t quite articulate yet, I was riveted. Her admiration for her spouse was all too familiar and I wept - recognizing my own ( Read more... )

Ah yes, Tuesday was indeed a much better day than Monday. The day started with hearing Elise’s heartbeat and having the doc report that all is well. Blood pressure is a phenomenal 124/78 and weight gain is surprisingly slow (despite feeling like a whale) - 18 pounds as of this 26th week ( Read more... )

I began reading Alice Sebold’s _The Lovely Bones_ yesterday morning. Sometime after the hour long screaming, wrestling match with my kid, her big toe and its splinter, I needed an escape. The first chapter gripped me and while it certainly served my needs well, it wreaked havoc on my emotions. Bill’s too, it would seem. No matter how I framed ( Read more... )

_Talk Before Sleep_ by Elizabeth Berg ( Read more... )

Thoughts ( Read more... )

I read _The Complete Persepolis_ and I met a new group of women ( Read more... )

I finished reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel _A Pale View of Hills_ late last night. I still feel haunted by it. It is Ishiguro’s first novel and like the others, it is slow moving from the outset. This story though finds a much brisker pace sooner than the others ( Read more... )

Ishiguro Kazuo’s _Remains of the Day_ was a slow but compelling read. I am fine with Kazuo tending to the tedious for his narrators. I read aloud through the more arduous patches. I don’t mind the theme of irresolution. I like to wonder where things could have gone or are going - so not having a bow at the end is okay by me. I will say though ( Read more... )

_Never Let Me Go_ by Kazuo Ishiguro ( Read more... )

I recently read Sara Gruen’s _Water for Elephants_ and found it to be a most entertaining experience! The format was easy to understand - a back and forth between one’s expansive memory-reverie (aren’t they all of equal parts?) and the oh-so narrow present. The shifting to and fro was novel for awhile then grew a little tiring. The chunks of ( Read more... )