I don’t know if anyone else is having similar weather, but this is possibly New York’s worst day this winter. Sure we got that huge blizzard that stopped everything up and caused all kinds of problems. But at least that was pretty.
Today, we get freezing rain and lots of wind, which is making everything wet and dirty and overall disgusting. SO, it’s a good day to stay inside and read, right? Here are some recommendations from us, should you soon find yourself in our situation:
Dave is reading a book called Fame by Daniel Kehlmann. It has a hilarious first chapter in which this computer-technician guy gets a new cell phone and begins to recieve calls meant for someone else, named Ralf. At first, he tells the callers that they have the wrong number, but then he begins to answer them and say things like “Cancel it!” or “I’ll be there.” thereby anonymously sabotaging this “Ralf”‘s life. Or is he helping him? One can never tell.
Marcia just started Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch – her first in this country – and was hooked by the Dickensian references. A little boy, born in the slums of nineteenth-century London and totally ignorant of the animal world – walks right up to an escaped circus tiger and lives – only to find his life totally changed by the encounter! And soon he’s off on a sea voyage to capture a fabled sea dragon – she’s reading as fast as she can.
Kelly is reading Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada, because she couldn’t resist the story behind who wrote it, and under what personal conditions. And even though she finds herself crying at the turn of each page, the lives of the characters, such as Otto and Elise Hampel (based on a true story) a working-class couple in Nazi Germany and their three-year resistance campaign against the Nazis, is not only inspiring but gives you an intimate window into what it was like to live under Hitler as it was actually happening. The many characters in this novel and their abilities to be brave and resilient makes this a true masterpiece. A heavy read, but worth it on so many levels!
Erica picked up Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan last week at Midwinter and has been transported to summer on the coast of her home state ever since. Snow, sleet, or rain outside is no match for the family drama and dysfunction as three generations of Kelleher women descend upon the family’s cottage. It promises to be Erica’s top pick for summer reading lists!
Here’s to staying warm.
Clink,
David