Half a Year Away: Where I Was, What I Read, and What I Wore

 I really didn't mean to take such a long, long, long break. No excuses. Just caught in a gentle drift. Now I'm back. Not ready to be a not-blogger yet.

Where I was: Home, work, book group(s), an overnight trip to Springfield. Also, on my phone too much.

What I wore: The usual stuff. Haven't found a white Emily Dickinson dress that suits me.

What I read: 27 books. Not a huge amount, but some of them were chunksters.

1. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life. (nonfiction) - Ayelet Waldman. Audiobook.

2. Be Ready When the Luck Happens. (memoir) - Ina Garten. (I thought Garten's memoir would really resonate with me, but something fell flat, like an unsuccessful souffle.)

3. Long Island. (novel) - Colm Toibin. (enjoyable Edith Wharton vibes!)

4. Giovanni's Room. (novel) -James Baldwin. (so glad I finally read this book!)

5. Burning Bright (novel) - Tracy Chevalier. Audiobook.

6. Who Is Cynthia Erivo? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

7. Waiter Rant. (nonfiction) "The Waiter".

8. Who Is Ariana Grande? (nonfiction) -Kirsten Anderson.

9. The Man Who Lived Underground. (novella) - Richard Wright.

10. Carrie. (novel) - Stephen King. (Intro by Margaret Atwood!)

11. The Only One Left (novel) -Riley Sager. (read for the first meeting of my very newest book group.)

12. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol I. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

13. Animal Dreams. (novel) - Barbara Kingsolver. (read this one for my other book group. I adore and revere Barbara Kingsolver, just not this book, and one of the other members got huffy at my saying so.)

14. Who Was Shirley Chisholm? (nonfiction) - Crystal Hubbard.

15. The Poppy War. (novel) R.F. Kuang. (new book group; it has no name. The more I read of Kuang, the more impressed I become.)

16. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 2. (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

17. Mary McLeod Bethune. (nonfiction) - Sandra Donovan.

18. The Constant Rabbit. (novel) - Jasper Fforde. (read this one for new, no-name book group)

19. The Autobiography of Mark Twain Vol. 3 (nonfiction) - Mark Twain. Audiobook.

20. Three Days in June. (novel) - Anne Tyler. (Anne Tyler was interviewed on a Sunday morning talk show. I nearly swooned from happiness.)

21. What Was The Renaissance? (nonfiction) - Roberta Edwards.

22. Who is Carol Burnett? (nonfiction) - David Stabler.

23. Woe. (graphic novel) Lucy Knisley. (Linney! You're my new favorite cartoon cat!)

24. Severance. (novel) - Ling Ma. (new no-name book group read. It's an immigrant experience novel! It's a dystopian, apocalyptic tale! It's a zombie story! Who says you can't have it all? Not Ling Ma!)

25. A Promised Land. (memoir) - Barack Obama. Audiobook. (wise, wry, reflective. can't wait for volume 2.)

26. Jane Austen's Bookshelf. (nonfiction) - Rebecca Romney. (favorite book so far this year. It woke up the extreme bookloving part of myself and made me realize that I wanted to keep blogging. Read it, please!)

27. The Dog Stars. (novel) - Peter Heller. (read for new no-name book group. Not my favorite. Author is a travel writer who channeled Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy and came up wanting. Also: clunky sex scenes.

I was going to tidy this post, but I've almost lost it twice, so off it goes to meet the orange Publish button.

Eat, Sleep, Read: Bookish Resolutions for 2025

 

I can't decide if I should keep my resolutions manageable this year, or let this be a twelvemonth that I swing for the fences. 

Maybe a mixture of the two:

1. Read 64 books

2. Continue with my new book group

3. Fiercely patronize my local bookstore Bazoo Books  

and 

devotedly haunt my newest and most favorite library, James C. Kirkpatrick Library at the University of Central Missouri

4. Keep up my reading journal -- the one where I record all of my supposedly deep thinky-thoughts about what I've read daily, weekly, etc.

5. Bigger, better bookshelf. My whole damn home library all along one wall of the living room.

6. A sofa upholstered in emerald green velvet

7. Less phone, more book

2024 Nonfiction

* = Wow

1. Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond - Henry Winkler *

2. Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend -Karen Blumenthal  (audiobook)

3. Who was Salvador Dali? - Paula Menzanero

4. Child Star - Shirley Temple Black

5. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry *

6. What is the Story of Romeo and Juliet? - Max Bisantz

7. Granny Smith is NOT an Apple - Sharon Glen Fortson

8. I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast *

9. Class - Stephanie Land *

10. Who is Taylor Swift? - Kirsten Anderson

11. Knife - Salman Rushdie *

12. What were the Shark Attacks of 1916? - Nico Medina

13. What was the Great Molasses Flood of 1919? - Kirsten Anderson *

14. Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Philip Gefter

15. It Ended Badly: 13 of  the Worst Breakups in History - Jennifer Wright *

16. Rx - Rachel Lindsay

17. The Road to Oz - Kathleen Krull *

18. Lost Boy: The Story of the Man who Created Peter Pan - Jane Yolen *

19. Who Gets the Drumstick? - Helen Beardsley

20. Who is Michael Phelps? - Micah Hecht 

21. Random Family - Adrian Nicole LeBlanc *

22. Mornings on Horseback - David McCullough * (audiobook)

23. Bibliophile - Jane Mount *

24. Loving Sylvia Plath - Emily van Duyne *

25. Who is Billie Jean King? - Sarah Fabiny

26. Who is Lin-Manuel Miranda? - Elijah Ray-David Matos

27. American Isis: The Life and Art of Sylvia Plath - Carl Rollyson

28. Sociopath: A Memoir - Patric Gagne

29. Who is Travis Kelce? - Ellen LeBrecque

30. What is the Story of Smokey the Bear? - Steve Korte

31. World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly - Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan *

32. A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 - Jeanine Basinger *

33. The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)

34. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher *

35. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh

36. Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin * (audiobook)

2024 Fiction

* = Favorites

  

1.  The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion - Fannie Flagg (audiobook)

2. The Witches of Worm - Zilpha Keatley Snyder

3. Eligible - Curtis Sittenfeld (audiobook)

4. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

5. Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly * (audiobook)

6. Akin - Emma Donoghue

7. The Vaster Wilds - Lauren Groff

8. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, age 83 1/4 - "Hendrik Groen" * (audiobook)

9. The Guest - Emma Cline *

10. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan * (audiobook)

11. Emma - Jane Austen * (audiobook)

12 The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman *

13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey (audiobook)

14. Come and Get It - Kiley Reid (audiobook)

15. When Christ and His Saints Slept - Sharon Kay Penman *

16. Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid * (audiobook)

17. The Overstory - Richard Powers * (audiobook)

18. Miss Kopp Investigates - Amy Stewart * (audiobook)

19. Kopp Sisters on the March - Amy Stewart

20. Dear Miss Kopp - Amy Stewart

21. Dear Hanna - Zoje Stage *

22. The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love - Oscar Hijuelos (audiobook)

23. Lady Oracle - Margaret Atwood * (audiobook)

24. Time and Chance - Sharon Kay Penman *

25. A King's Ransom - Sharon Kay Penman * (audiobook)

26. Leave Her to Heaven - Ben Ames Williams

27. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain *

Reading My Age: 2024 Stats

 Once upon a time (maybe 8 or 9 years ago?) I was struggling to figure out a reading goal for the year. I had tried for 100, and come up short and frustrated. Then I saw or heard about someone reading the same amount of books as their age, and it was such an elegant solution that I've adopted and used it ever since. Most years I exceed the goal, but this year, I barely made it, and I know why: Too much phone. Can I fix this? Can I manage my addiction? Neuroplasticity is a wonderful thing. Stay tuned.

Here are a few stats from my reading year:

Books read: 63

Fiction:27

Nonfiction: 36

Audiobooks: 18

Graphic novels: 3

Library books: 50

My books: 12

Gift: 1

First book of 2024: Being Henry: The Fonz and Beyond - Henry Winkler (memoir)

Last book of 2024: Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin (nonfiction)

Longest book: The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman (novel) 936 pages

Shortest book: Granny Smith is NOT an Apple! - Sharon Glen Fortson (picture book) 32 pages

Funniest book: Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan (novel) and I Must Be Dreaming - Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Saddest book: Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing - Matthew Perry (memoir)

Most helpful book: Animals Make Us Human - Temple Grandin (nonfiction)

Bridge books (started in 2024, will finish in 2025: One of Ours - Willa Cather (novel), Be Ready When the Luck Happens - Ina Garten (memoir), and A Really Good Day -Ayelet Waldman (nonfiction)

DNF I don't think I DNF'd anything this year. I wanted to, but I didn't, which brings me to the next category...

Give me back my time: Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens (novel), Sociopath - Patric Gagne (memoir), and Leave Her to Heaven - Ben Ames Williams (novel). In the case of the two novels, watch the movies instead.

Smooth Bookworm Moves: 

1. Discovering Sharon Kay Penman's books

2. Discovering Temple Grandin's works

3. Finishing the Kopp Sisters series

4. Quitting lame-o book group 

5. Finding new book group where organic discussion is prized 

6. Joining university library -- so vast and delightfully niche-y at the same time.

Next up: The fiction I read in 2024

Putting 2024 to Bed: December Reading

What about that December, eh? I have a confession: I didn't think that I would make my goal (63 books), so I sneaked in a short favorite, The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain. I'm  so unashamed for manipulating the results. Gasp. Next thing you know, I'll be wearing an ankle bracelet like the femme fatale in Double Indemnity.

Here's my brief December list of reads:

1. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M. Cain. Novel. I never get tired of this book. Noir at its best. From the title to the last line, it's a delicious, dark treat.

2. Cher: The Memoir, Part One - Cher. Memoir. This first volume follows Cher from her origins up to her 30s, as she is trying to break into acting, and finding some resistance. I love her conversational style. Can't wait for Part Two!

3. Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh. Nonfiction. True Crime. John Orr was a brilliant and respected arson investigator in Glendale, California. But guess what? He was simultaneously a serial arsonist, committing crimes all over the state. I was interested in this book because of the stark duality of John Orr, and also because true crime is so satisfying. Law enforcement starts with merely jigsaw pieces of clues, and they slowly and methodically put the puzzle together then build their case, hoping that a jury will concur with their finding and serve up justice. All of that was present in Fire Lover, but I do not care for Wambaugh's style, which gets in the way of the story he is trying to tell. His asides are not edgy, nor incisive, nor funny. They're just static. He's most effective when he stops his verbal swaggering and merely reports the facts of a case.

4. Animals Make Us Human: Creating The Best Life for Animals - Temple Grandin. Nonfiction. Grandin, who has worked with animals in one way or another during her long career, structures this informative and entertaining book around the emotions of animals, particularly the "blue-ribbon" emotions as identified by neuroscientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp: SEEKING (throughout the book, the emotions are written in all caps, in the style of Panksepp) RAGE, FEAR, PANIC, LUST, CARE, and PLAY. Grandin focuses mainly on the first four, using examples from her own experience and research. SEEKING is a pleasurable emotion, and needs to be satisfied or animals will suffer abnormal brain development, which is exhibited by continuous repetitive behaviors usually seen in animals in captivity but not in their wildlife counterparts. Grandin is adamant that their environment can be modified to benefit their mental health. She discusses dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, and other animals. Grandin is insightful, intelligent, and caring. This was one of my favorite reads of 2024.

By now, we're a couple of days into the new year, and I'm more than ready to get nerdy with my bookworm stats in the next post.

 

I Remember November

 Since this post is a little late, it's going to have that hurried feel. Once I recall my reading adventures in November, then it'll be time to recount December's reads, then do a look back at 2024. I set my goal at 63, and I'm just barely going to make it to that number. I know exactly why, and I'll fix it in 2025.

Nonfiction November was fun, and here are the four books I read:

World of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly - Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Nonfiction. One of the most enjoyable parts of my trip to Seattle in 2019 was a visit to Chihuly's museum. This book, from the juvenile shelf, traces Dale Chihuly's life and career as a glassblower. Stunning photographs and great interviews with Chihuly and his co-creators. In the picture above, my son is standing against the leg of what I think of as a big red bug.

A King's Ransom - Sharon Kay Penman. Novel.  Audiobook. The final book in Penman's Plantagenet series. This covers Richard the Lionheart's final years, from his departure from The Holy Land, to his capture and imprisonment in Germany, and his last years in France, trying to protect his vast territory from the French king, I'm reading this series all out of order. Next up is book #3, The Devil's Brood, and then I'll wrap things up with #4, Lionheart. While Penman's storytelling is riveting and unmatched, just as entertaining are the afterwards to her books, in which she scrupulously explains what she found in research and what she was compelled to invent. She writes with such rigor, like an accountant looking for a penny, or like the lawyer she once was, preparing a brief. 2024 brought me a lot of reading riches, and at the top of the list is Sharon Kay Penman.

A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 - Jeanine Basinger. Nonfiction,  In this 1993 volume of movie history, Basinger looks at "Women's Pictures", which are films featuring a strong female character who can be good, selfless and noble or bad, selfish, and nasty. Basinger critically appraises how the films are put together and how the script always seem to have a message or moral for the female audience. For example, a successful career woman can't seem to have it all, meaning love and marriage. No, she must give up everything for love, or she's a failure. Things like that. When Basinger finds an exception to the rule, she gleefully pounces on it. I got a lot of ideas for classic movies to watch this winter.

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum - Temple Grandin. Nonfiction, Audiobook. When Temple Grandin as a very young child was diagnosed as autistic in the late 1940s, knowledge about the condition was in its infancy, and fated to go through some serious missteps, like the belief that autism is psychological, and that it was the "fault" of cold, uncaring parents, particularly mothers. In the decades since, researchers have come to realize that it's more about the brain. As technology has also advanced, Grandin, a scientist, has gamely and cheerfully taken part in several brain scans, measuring them against so-called "normal" brains. In a huge paradigm shift for the field, she cites a researcher in Quebec who challenged other researchers to not frame differences as deficits, but instead assets. Grandin ends the book by challenging parents to study their autistic child from early on to determine where their strengths lie, and prepare them for a career that fits these strengths, instead of letting them drift along defined solely by the label of autistic. Grandin is an admirable blend of idealistic and common sense. She's my new favorite author, and I'm already halfway through her book Animals Make Us Human.

In book group land:  For December, our topic is Willa Cather. I'm going to re-read Paul's Case, one of her short stories, watch the 1980 PBS version starring Eric Roberts as Paul, and read One of Ours.