All You Can Read Book Buffet this Thursday! 06/19/2007
I know that most of you are enchanted by reading – it cast a spell on you at some point, and you don’t really want to be released.It’s magical how a simple object like a book can transport us to another realm.
We’re very fortunate to have this resource in our lives.I’m not the first to observe that the materialism and hurry of modern life have left many people “disenchanted.”
I suspect that may help to explain the popularity of Harry Potter and Lordof the Rings – human beings seem to crave a little magic in their lives.
So this month I will be featuring titles where magic or enchantment plays a role.Among others, we’ll talk about the Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark Materials, Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, and The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike.
So – please join us for the All You Can Read Book Buffet on Thursday, June 21 at 12:15 p.m. at the West Palm Beach Public Library at 100 Clematis Street.
And please let me know if you have a particularly “enchanting” tale you would like to recommend.
Do you have your summer reading list yet?Or is that a sort of painful memory of when reading was required instead of just fun?Being the omnivorous little nerd that I was (and still am, pretty much) I generally enjoyed the required summer reading.
There are a lot of summer reading lists out there for you to pick from.Here’s a link to Oprah’s list:http://www.oprah.com/obc/summer/obc_summer_main.jhtml. By the way, I think we’ve read at least four of these titles over the years in the Second Saturday Book Club.My favorite would be The Poisonwood Bible, which is great to listen to.
What’s on my list?It’s still in the early stages, but I am definitely planning to read (ta-da!) Summer Reading by Hilma Wolitzer.I would love to know what you are planning to read this summer!Please let me know!
Freddie Montgomery doesn’t really set out to kill Josie Bell, but it happens anyway.This whole novel is a harrowing presentation of “evidence” about his crime – about his life and the events leading up to the murder, as well a description of its aftermath.
I can’t describe this as a happy book, but it is a remarkable one.Banville’s use of language is original but clear; his characters are strikingly delineated though almost none of them are sympathetic.
There are literary echoes, too – the Greeks, Camus, T.S. Eliot – but you wouldn’t have to know these authors to appreciate the novel.I would describe it as Gothic, in the sense that it deals with the grotesque, and you keep reading if only to find out what new dreadfulness is around the corner.(No, it is not gory.)
Like the aforementioned authors, the novel poses questions about what it means to be human, and ultimately the questions will have to be answered by the reader.
I can see why it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.Highly recommended.
Maybe you’re planning to take the kids to Disney World this summer, or spend a week in the mountains, or take a guided tour in Europe.These are wonderful things to do, and if such is your pleasure, I wish you bon voyage.But if you’ve ever daydreamed about more adventurous travel, please come to the All You Can Read Book Buffet this Thursday, at 12:15 p.m. at the West Palm Beach Public Library.We’ll be discussing books from Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad to Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.Yes, these books will help you become a better informed and more enlightened traveler, whether or not you never get to Katmandu (or even get out of that armchair).
And – I would love for you to tell me your next travel destination, even if it’s still in the fantasy stage.I’ll find you something wonderful to read or view that will make your trip even more rewarding.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 05/11/2007
I just finished this book yesterday – and I’ll be leading the discussion on it at the Second Saturday Book Club tomorrow.
As you may know, Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a renowned Latin American author and the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature
The writing style is very rich in the evocation of a time and place – even if one is not exactly sure where that place is.I don’t claim that it’s an easy read, but I’m certainly glad I read it.It helped that I had two days in a row off from work to concentrate on it, because it deserved my full attention.
The characters, including some of the fairly minor ones, are lavish creations.
And the way that the characters work out their destinies causes the reader to ask questions about how life should be lived, and what is the nature of love, and what do we owe our fellow human beings.
The world and the people of Love in the Time of Cholera will be with me for a long time.
