So I finally did finish The Last Temptation of Christ, and am really just glad that I did.  I started it in 1993 or 4, so finally, it's done.  And the last temptation is precisely what I had expected it to be.  Last time I spoke more kindly about the book, because when I finished I just felt weird.  Oh well.  It's nice to have completed it.


So another weird book, in a different way was 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.  This was also oddly religious, and strange, but incredibly compelling.  I did want to see how this big book ended, for sure.
I really don't know how to describe it, as it was very unusual.  I guess I'll leave it at that.  It did have a really unusual love story, with, you guessed it, a happy ending after all.  You know that I love a happy ending.


I don't know what will be the future of this poorly tended blog, but thankfully, there are so many books to read that I guess I'll keep checking in. 


Oh my goodness, now here's a good book: The Last Letter from Your Lover, by Jojo Moyes.  I did not believe how much I enjoyed this.  Not that I'm into infidelity, but this was so well written that I could hardly put it down.  And yes, a happy ending, after much heartache and remorse.  I know that I look forward to reading more by Jojo Moyes!


Happy Summer!

I read a fun book that was a quick read, but a really nice one.  The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is an endearing tale of a socially awkward yet super smart scientist, who effectively learns how to navigate his way in the world through falling in love unexpectedly.  I'm looking forward to reading its sequel, The  Rosie Effect.  I'm really interested in seeing how the romance progresses, in that inescapable journey of marriage.

In a slightly more serious and seasonal move, I'm also reading The Last Temptation of Christ.  I've started this book several times, but I feel this is the season that I'll actually finish it.  I cannot fully describe how this work has changed me, and enhanced my faith.  It's kind of funny because I had the soundtrack from the movie a long time ago, and loved it, but yet never watched the film, and only started the book so long ago, until my recent, devoted attempt.

I don't know how much I'll keep up with this blog, obviously, but I'm so glad that I caught up with my faithful reader, my sister-in-law.  She did not even give me a hard time about not keeping up with this.  In any case, I'm feeling much better about my reading currently, and am so excited about the many books.

Oh yeah, enjoyed a great book by Daniel Silva,  The English Girl.  This was rather engrossing and suspenseful novel, and I love the idea of reading about spies and foreign intrigue.  I doubt that I will read books like this exclusively, but this was interesting to me, and had some fine wisdom in it.

Well, that's all for today.  Happy Easter!

Yes, I have been reading, but not blogging

So very sorry, but did not mention that I had read The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry.  I found this very interesting, pleasant, and insightful.  How about that Wild West!  Although it is imperative that I read Lonesome Dove in my life journey, now is not quite the time, so this light and elegant novel really made me happy.




Rather frenetically read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, that was some kind of a thought experiment.  It helped me to understand a little bit more about being a woman, you know, in times of war, and also childbearing, that mystery that is beyond my comprehension.  I've learned that this is not actually a book to recommend to everybody, but I really don't want to be the only person in the whole wide world who has read it.  I doubt very seriously that my husband will read it, though in all fairness, I have not yet read Lonesome Dove.  Who knows what the future holds?




Just finished The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.  This was a very pleasant read, for those of us that just love books.  Verily happily did I recommend it to an acquaintance who loves books, a Friend of the Library, who no longer holds the book sales in the basement, and is loathe to volunteer after having been notified that she is no longer allowed this territory of her favorite library, because the new director deemed the basement as unsafe, after a minor accident there.  I can't wait to hear what she thinks of this book.  The sci-fi that she recommends is usually too hard for me to read.


Right now my task is to figure out what to read next, even though I think that I had thought of something, though I honestly cannot remember what.  It was probably a self-help book anyway, and I try not to post about those that I read and/or skim.


Happy Holidays!

This is my take on The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt.  I did enjoy it, and admittedly I did fall in love with the beautifully drawn characters of Theo and Boris, and Hobie.  I felt much sympathy for Theo's love for Pippa, assuredly. And his dear friend family who took him in was lovable, too.

The only problem that I found with the novel was its great length, but when I finished it, it was with much satisfaction.  I can see how the book might be especially boring if the reader doesn't appreciate really impressive substance abuse, but as a significant part of the character's lives, it does read well.

So it's not a book for everybody, but it is right nice for me.

I am now completely enamored of Matthew Quick, whom you might know from The Silver Linings Playbook.  I very quickly and happily read, The Good Luck of Right Now, which is his latest.  What is so nice about this book is that it has incredibly quirky characters, that are also incredibly lovable.

Now I'm reading The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert.  It's pretty good, not too precious, and interesting, especially if one shares an interst in botany. 

Another book that I read and incredibly enjoyed recently was Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail by Louise Shivers.  What a treasure to read, and what a lovely lady who wrote it.  Although I was motivated to read the book by her recent passing, I'm glad that I was able to share this book with her, in my life. 

Well, that's enought blogging for today.  I hope that all is well.

Hi.  Sorry not to have posted for so long, but I just haven't really felt like saying anything.  Plus I'm hooked now on Goodreads.

In keeping with my fascination with the artistic temperament, I read two books that were just splendid.  Guests on Earth by Lee Smith is a tender book about a young lady who grows up in a mental health treatment center in North Carolina, whose life intercedes with another patient, Zelda Fitzgerald.  This is, of course, based in reality, though it is beautifully crafted fiction.  The narrator, Evalina, is perhaps the sweetest psych patient that is actually a gifted musician.  The title of the book comes from a quote by F. Scott about mental patients being, "guests on earth."  Funny, I know the feeling.

The other book that I super incredibly enjoyed was I Always Loved You by Robin Olivera, or maybe  Oliviera, I can't remember exactly, my bad.  This chronicled the love between Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas, which was wrought in a love for painting and mutual respect, though tempered by the romantic social constraints of the time.  It was a delight to read because of my new love for the French Impressionists, and because Mary Cassatt is so amazing, especially for her time.

OK so I left this as a draft for a long time, but I've been reading, and here's an update of a similar theme.  Just finished Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland, which also chronicled the lifestyle of a French Impressionist, Auguste Renoir.  This was a splendid, though at times ponderous read, that took me forever to finish, but had a very satisfying ending and inspired me to paint, for the love of it.  That's my take-away from the Impressionists, paint because you love it.  Degas, in fact told Cassatt, that she "paints love," and that was her strength.

These books made me so glad to be alive, despite difficulty, and have encouraged me to make art.  Granted, I'm still slow as molasses, but now the element of love is a part of my book selection and reading, and now as well of my painting.  I'll keep you posted on my next endeavors, though I think that my current book, The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt, might take me a little while to finish. 

Oh well, I love it. :)

Freud's Mistress, by Karen Mack and Donna Kaufman, was a very much fun read, especially if one is a psychology fan.  Read this recently, though am now taking a nonfiction break. 

Have been realizing that I should totally check the publication date on stuff, though also realizing that sometimes this doesn't matter so much.  Can you trust anything in this world at any given time, any way?  I wish that I were not so suspicious of everything, but at the same time, am glad to be so.

Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution by Francis Fukuyama, is the nonfiction dating from 2002 that I'm reading currently.  I grabbed it from the book return box, so was not actually led to the work from any personal intellectual pursuit.  Really, I just love thinking of the future.  I hope it all turns out okay.

My foray into the infidelity of the late nineteenth century has made my nonfiction find even more exciting and thought provoking.  I hope that the future will be tolerable and that there will continue to be great books to read. I still don't agree that men should keep mistresses, though, even if it does make for a fun read on a lazy weekend.

Sorry not to have updated in so long.  My extra time has been taken up by reading!  I read two books recently, that brought attention to passing time and to changing romance morality.

Night and Day, by Virginia Woolf, was a delight to read, especially with a fondness for the time from which the novel dates.  There were several characters involved in a very, very long and drawn out pursuit of marriage.  This was charming to read, though somewhat agonizing from the perspective of this day and age.  Actually Woolf's presentation of the inward and external turmoils of love did not really deviate from any modern agony, because that is the nature of love, you know.

The other book that I read was a more contemporary novel, On Beauty, by Zadie Smith.  In this novel there is a more established love relationship, and a long lasting marriage is described.  While there is not so much anxiety concerning who will marry, the morality of maintaining a marriage is explored in an agonizing episode of inward and external turmoil. 

While I did enjoy both books for different reasons, I must say that it was refreshing to consider the uprightness of Woolf's characters, especially when contrasted with the events of the modern day romance.  The question of what exactly is love, of course, is an enduring human struggle, for which all of the characters were beautifully described by both authors. Because those presented with the problem of love were so tenderly portrayed in both novels, I have to say that I fell in love a little bit with both books, even if it was strange to read these two particular novels in immediate succession, because of the changing social mores of the times.

One particularly naughty bit in Smith's novel almost made me decide that I did not enjoy the book, but because I was already so drawn into those particularly dear characters, I decided to forgive the novel.  I also forgave Woolf for making me feel as anxious for her characters as she did.  In both instances, I felt as if they had just asked my mother what to do, she would have set them straight. :)