Read In November 2019

Ten books this month:

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult - Even when the subject matter doesn't sound like something I would like, Picoult's writing always surprises me. Her's is a diverse and talented pen.

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson is reminiscent of the classic Strangers On A Train. This book is the kind worth reading. 

Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips took me right back to Under The Tuscan Sun and made me wish I had somehow managed a trip to Tuscany when I was still enjoying traveling.

Trail of Blood by Lisa Black is #3 in her Theresa MacLean, forensic scientist series. Unfortunately it is the only one my library has. I would read more of Ms. Black's books, especially if they were, like this one, based on true happenings.

Tabloid City by Pete Hamill - After watching a Sunday Morning segment about Hamill and learning he had authored several books, I decided to give one of his novels a try. Hamill's life as a NYC reporter really shows through this murder mystery. I wish my library had more of his books.

Garlic and Sapphires [The Secret Life Of A Critic In Disguise] by Ruth Reichl was given me by my daughter after she read and liked it so much. When I first began reading it, I just couldn't get into it, but when I picked it back up a couple months later, I really enjoyed it.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert - I resisted reading Gilbert's previous books, but thought I would enjoy this one set in 1940's NYC. It wasn't as good as I had thought it might be.

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier was my favorite read this month, the story of one of England's "surplus women" after her fiance was killed in WWI.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is a story about a brother and sister and their obsessive connection to an iconic house they once lived in.

Akin by Emma Donoghue - When I saw the title of this book I wondered what it could be about because I grew up where the surname Akin was well known. Ah, but the title is a.kin meaning of similar character or related. It is the story of a 79-year-old man entrusted with the care of his 11-year-old great-great nephew that he has never before met. 

November was a month of good and diverse reads.

Look at the Pictures

Home is so Sad
      [Philip Larkin]

Home is so sad. It stays as it was left,
Shaped to the comfort of the last to go
As if to win them back. Instead, bereft
Of anyone to please, it withers so,
Having no heart to put aside the theft

And turn again to what it started as,
A joyous shot at how things ought to be,
Long fallen wide. You can see how it was:
Look at the pictures and the cutlery.
The music in the piano stool. That vase.

Moving Across The Landscapes

              Wild Geese
                                         [By Mary Oliver]

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the small animal of your body
       love what it loves.

Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
      are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
Over and over announcing your place
      in the family of things.