Vacation Reads and Eats

Vacation, glorious vacation! That week when I go away to a big cabin with my family (all 20 of them) and just eat and read and swim and read some more. We have some food traditions at our vacations, mostly just eating a lot all the time, but guacamole and Dan's chicken and a tub of licorice is always in order (though not necessarily in that order). Some foods, I noticed, seem to be quintessential reading food, as well as vacation food. Other times, the book begged for a certain food. So grab a snack for yourself and check out what I'm reading (and eating) this summer.

This is What Happy Looks Like
Young Adult by Jennifer E Smith

I actually read this a while ago, but I didn't you to miss out on it because it's a great book for a variety of reasons. A) It's a sweet summer read, about a teenage couple that falls in love over emails and summer vacation and ice cream. B) It's a CLEAN young adult book that my daughter can read, in case you are, like me, on the quest for books of that genre. I kind of wish I had read it on vacation, actually, because it was set where I'd like to vacation someday: small town East Coast, lots of lobster and ice cream and picturesqueness. I think you can guess what pairs well with this book: ice cream. My favorite right now is Talenti brand gelato. I try not to eat the whole tub. (Hey, they're small.)

The Wonder of All Things
By Jason Mott

I also read this before vacation, but my mom wanted to know what I thought, so I'm writing about it. (Are you reading, Mom?) This reminded me of a book I read years about but I can't remember what it was. That ethereal quality pretty much sums up this book. A little girl in a small town in the southern US is suddenly discovered to have healing powers, and the country basically descends upon her, asking too much of her, including various people in her life. It is slightly mystical, beautifully yet briefly descriptive (the author is also a poet, so he wastes no words), yet slightly unsatisfying in some way. The ending is not happy but couldn't have been different. What did you think, Mom, and why did we not talk about this on vacation? I think this book pairs well with apples and carrots. It's fall in a farm town. Plus I was making up for the ice cream.


Something Like Faith
Young Adult by Mike Rumley Wells

This book is dear to my heart because a friend wrote it. You can download it here. Here is what I wrote about it on Amazon reviews: "If you like John Green, check out Mike Rumley-Wells. A coming of age story that will connect with young adult readers, aaaaand with those adults who aren't quite ready to admit they're not young anymore: Paxton had a childhood that could have messed him up but a strong inner voice, a cast of gritty but faithful friends, and his love of a girl keeps him headed in the right direction. He constantly questions that direction, and himself, but it just makes him more likeable. How much he's allowed to love the girl is in question as well, which kept me reading all the way to the end, along with other well woven tensions. Written with heart and smarts, this is one to pick up." Pairs well with? Whatever your childhood nostalgia food may be. I ate Luke's Organic Veggie Straws, which are mostly potato chips shaped like tubes, but some are green, so I felt like I was eating healthy Pringles.

Britt-Marie Was Here
Fiction by Fredrik Backman

If you haven't read any Backman, get a book by him now. I like them all. The bestseller is "A Man Called Ove," which I read this time last year and still can't decide how to say his name. This is actually a follow up to "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry," also a vacation read and also great. Backman takes this grumpy, horrible characters and makes us understand them, through their past tragedies that made them so and through their subtly narrated view of the world that makes them seem, just, human. Britt-Marie is suddenly single, middle aged, and jobless, but also must clean and make things proper or she will die. She ends up in a dying town as their rec coordinator and soccer coach--hilarity and also blood ensues. She saves people and they save her in Backman's special brand of misfits coming together. You don't have to read the first one to get this one, by the way. At the lake, this paired well with popcorn. It's like watching a train wreck as Britt-Marie accidentally insults person after person. You need something to put in your mouth to cut the tension.


An Abundance of Katherines

Young Adult by John Green

If you notice the abundance of young adult, it's because I'm trying to read all the books in my classroom library so I can recommend them appropriately to my students. Good thing I kind of like to read. And wow, this is a great book, for the right kid. It is fouler than his other books and I would not let my seventh grader read it, so I'll be careful who reads it in my room. It also has Green's amazing teenagers who speak with eloquence about the human condition and deal with true, modern teenage hardships, but sometimes just want a hamburger, too. I love them. This is the story of a road trip by a child prodigy who just graduated high school and is in despair of making his mark, with his Muslim friend, who get sort of lost in the boonies and end of working for a cotton factory owning family with a pink mansion. You can't make that stuff up, unless you're John Green. Love it. Pairs well with...no, not hamburgers, dill pickle potato chips, of course! Actually, any salty or greasy food would do, as long as it's one handed so you can turn the pages as fast the as the dialogue goes.

 After You
Fiction by JoJo Moyes

This is definitely a sequel that you need to read after the first book. "Me Before You" is a bestseller about awkward girl Louisa finding her way while assisting rich, dashing, paraplegic Will with his daily life and then planned suicide. The sequel was demanded by fans, according to the afterword, and it's easy to see how a writer would want to meet that demand. I think Louisa's story was over, though, because this book kind of drifts around like Louisa does. She travels, falls off a balcony, meets a guy, thinks about changing jobs, meets Will's daughter he didn't know he had...easy to read and comfortable if you know Moyes writing, but kind of pointless in the story telling department. I enjoyed it as a beach read. Pairs well with licorice--sweet and totally unnecessary, but hard to walk away from.



By the way, I quit two books, too. One was called "The Bookaneers," historical fiction about people who stole manuscripts before copyright laws existed. It looked more interesting than it sounds, and then ended up being just as boring as it sounds. I think it was too smart for me. The other book was the opposite problem; I was too smart for it. I got a few pages in to the very beachy sounding "My Very Best Friend" and found I couldn't get past the problems with perspective (how did she KNOW what she did on the other end of the phone line?) or bad description. There's not enough time to read bad books. I may quit the one I'm on, too, if it doesn't pick up soon. I have a nice fat stack waiting for me and I just made some tzatziki dip. I gotta switch snack foods after vacation to fat-free Greek yogurt and veggies. My pants say so.

YA Is Where It's At

My tweenage daughter read my absolute favorite book recently. Anne of Green Gables has been recreated in a new series on Netflix and I told her she can't watch it until she reads at least the first book. She huffed a little and then read the book in remarkable time. When I asked if she was going to read the next one in the series, she said, "Not yet."

"Why not?" I wondered. Shoot, I thought. I made her not like them by making her read them.

"Their way of speaking gets into my dreams. I need a break."

I laughed and laughed. It's true. Books worm their way into our dreams and speech cadences and eventually our every thought about life and the way of the world and how and who we should be. While reading Angela's Ashes, I did dream in an Irish accent. And even more to the point, I reread the Anne books so many times that I had in my subconscious that I would one day marry a boy from my hometown who knows me better than I know myself, like Anne and Gilbert. (I did, by the way.)

I recently read two young adult books that I think showcase this remarkable ability of books, and also why it's so important to get the right books in the hands of young people.

The Secret Language of Sisters

Young Adult Fiction by Luanne Rice

My daughter got this at my school's book fair. She reads beyond the level of most of the books at her elementary school, so I let her get books from my middle school. She'll be there as a sixth grader next year anyway, which I am so excited about. I still check her books somewhat carefully, mostly so I can talk to her about anything that I think would confuse her or that I want to have a say in how she hears about it. I have taken away a few books that are full of swearing and sex. If I Stay by Gayle Foreman is a recent one like that, and this cover was somewhat similar. So I skimmed this one, okayed it for her, but then decided to read it first. She was in the middle of something else anyway and it didn't feel like a punishment to her.

This is a decent book. Two teenage sisters are texting and one gets in a car accident because of it. She is paralyzed for life. Through the incident, they discover they are not as different from each other as they thought. It's quite clean as far as what I was screening for, and has the obvious messages of don't text and drive, and love your family. But the underlying themes of jealousy and girl fighting and parents not understanding you and keeping secrets are a little cloying. It's not what I DON'T want my daughter to be reading, but not exactly what I want to encourage. The whiny, angsty thoughts of the main character may be relatable to tweenagers, but they worked their way into my thoughts.

Wonder
Middle Grade Fiction by RJ Palacio

How have I not read this before? There are too many books and not enough time and I'm playing a constant game of catch up. This book is everything they say--a well written, delightful, eye opening peek at the world from the point of view of a boy with a craniofacial abnormality. Even better, you also see things from the point of view of his sister and a few friends. I love this look at middle school relationships and feelings; this is not angsty, nor is the fighting made to seem normal. The caring adults in the kids' lives call them out on how to behave and some kids rise to the top in kindness and courage. It's both real and instructive. This is the book I want to seep into my consciousness and my children's. I will even use some of the words I heard to teach my own kids about kindness. And over all, it's just a really sweet read, and quick. You have time to read it before the movie comes out. Quick, go get it!

An Open Letter to May

Dear May,

I think I'm ready to call it quits. You've been fickle and needy from the start, with your rain one day and sunshine the next, never letting me know if I would need an umbrella or sunscreen at the t-ball game. Speaking of t-ball, and school programs, and field trips, and fundraisers, and all the other last ditch efforts to make this spring and school year memorable...I'm done with them, too. I can barely read the entries on my calendar and there's very little space left on the white board where I try to corral my to-do lists. I didn't even get to read very much. So I'm just calling it. We only have ten more days together anyway. It was never going to work long term. I'm going to just go ahead and skip to June, which means I get to read more. I'll be happier with June.


Sincerely, me


The Ship Beyond Time
Young Adult by Heidi Heilig

This sequel to The Girl From Everywhere did not disappoint in finishing the story that Heilig started. While the writing is that tiny bit of clunky that is acceptable in YA books, I was grateful also for the tiny bit of predictability as well. Heilig gives enough twists and turns, as there should be in a book about a ship that travels through time and to imaginary lands, to keep it interesting. I just find a happy ending comforting, especially after the first one was an unexpected cliff hanger. In this one, the main character, a girl named Nix, is caught between two potential true loves, as well as between helping her father and saving the world. Nix is a strong female lead, as compared to other characters in similar situations (ahem, Twilight). I think this is the last book in the series, but I would read more by Heilig, and my students like them as well. I needed this kind of book for May--one with suspense but not so much that I had to read it every second. I just couldn't. Dang it.

Yes, Please
Memoir by Amy Poehler

I must say I loooooved Tina Fey's Bossypants, in which her voice is practically audible through the words on the page (without actually being an audiobook, which makes me queasy to listen to). I don't think Amy P's voice translates quite so well, but it may be that I don't follow her as an actress as much. I picked this up from my NEW favorite place, the employee recommendation section at the library (thank you for the curating, librarians), and thought it would be similar to Tina's, which it is in style but not in substance. I suppose, again, it's good that it was an easy and not mesmerizing read, since May is such jerk right now. But I just didn't identify with the anecdotes or find the strong feminist leaning here as I did with Tina. (See how we're on first name basis now? That's me and Tina, after her book. Not me and Amy P.) I will, however, name drop like Amy P. does and say it was just all right for me, like Randy on American Idol.

I guess I'll start one of the other books that is overdue at the library, and hope that May will respect my wishes and leave me alone so I can read them in peace.

How do I know what I think until I write it?

"I don't know what I think until I write it down."

A recurring theme in my life lately has been this quote by Joan Didion. It came up at a training I attended as a teacher. I used it to explain something to one of my children. And most often, I remind myself of it as my jumble of thoughts chase each other and step on each others' toes and drown each other out in their clamor to be important in my mind. I need to write down my thoughts to know what they are. My to-do lists, my novel outlines, my lesson plans, my prayer lists, and here, Un-book Club friends, my thoughts about life and reading--they are best laid out on paper and screen. As I write, the web of thoughts I had about a book straightens out and comes back together in a way that makes more sense to me than it did while I was reading. Thank you for joining me as I make sense of my world, both inner and outer, real and imaginary.

Be Light Like a Bird 

Middle Grade Fiction by Monika Schroder

I found this delightful book via a my school's wonderful art teacher, who also taught with the writer at an international school. I am always eager to support other authors I know or might know or first time authors, in the hopes I will one day be one of them. Monika is not a first time author, and her experience with writing, and travel and young people and artists, is obvious here. This is truly a beautiful book. The cover and title suggest a motif that carries throughout, with a character named Wren who watches birds, but also studies human nature. Wren wrestles with her father's death and her mother's way of grieving and with the ever-difficult middle school friendships. What strikes me as a write is the precarious balance of dark and light that is present in the book's characters and themes. Perhaps that's why I so enjoyed reading this with my daughter and talking with her about it. We are at a precarious balance ourselves, as she enters adolescence and tries on new personas and ways of relating to me. It's also hard to find reading material that is challenging for her emotionally and intellectually, yet age-appropriate. This is a good balance.

The Girl from Everywhere
Young Adult Fiction by Heidi Heilig

Apparently if you want to write a bestseller these days, you call it "The Girl" something. It used to be "The So and So's Wife." Now it's girls. I don't know if that's moving backward in feminism or not, but at least this one is about an actual girl. Nix is 15 and she lives on her father's magical time travelling ship. His mission, though, is to find a map that will take them to the year her mother died so he can stop it from happening, which may stop Nix from being born. She's a bit torn. This is a fun fantasy, historical fiction blend with a healthy dose of romance. I read late into the night and immediately requested the sequel. It was frustrating, though, to end on as much of a cliff hanger as this does. I have noticed that many of the young adult or middle grade series do this and I now as I write, I wonder if this is a new phenomenon. My Nancy Drew books never had this problem. I also did not know that this was going to be a series or have a sequel, so I feel a little cheated when there isn't a more satisfying ending. I guess that's what I get for reading young adult fiction. I should act my age, or get used to it.

The Japanese Lover

Fiction by Isabel Allende

Speaking of acting my age, this is probably the definition of it. Reading Allende always makes me feel smart and is so satisfying. I've also loved that her last few books peek into a different time and place than her usual Chilean magical realism. This is set in San Francisco in a retirement home as a young assistant sets out to uncover the past of one of the residents, at the request of the resident's grandson who is writing her memoir. It spans the century and the globe, focusing on World War II, the Japanese internment, and its aftermath. This book made me long to visit San Francisco, to keep working on my own writing, and to read something other than about World War II! Honestly, the war seems to have been the focus of most of the historical fiction books I have ever read. I have on order The Nightingale, after it has been recommended by so many people, even though I don't really like other books by its author. The book The Zookeeper's Wife (see? wife titles!) is being made into a movie and it's about WWII). And these are just top of the heap examples. It does make great books, but it's also just so common.

Book club friends, what do you find spinning in your brain as you read? How do you make sense of it? Notes in the margins, Post-it notes on the back, texts to your friends reading the same book? Whatever it is, get it out there!

Yes, I read the end first

I got yelled at again for reading the ends of books first. Maybe "yelled" isn't accurate. She stared at me in disbelief, dead eyed and open mouthed like a fish, and then said something along the lines of, "Well, I'm not questioning your ENTIRE existence as a reader, but..."

So I explained, calmly and rationally as I always do when my little habit shocks and dismays people (although most of them don't usually call into question my right to own a library card). I read the end first because I care. And it's not actually FIRST. I read about a quarter of the way through, and then before I become too attached to the characters, I have to know if they're going to make it. Does anyone die? Is a heart going to be broken? Lost limbs, lost children, lost minds? I need to know so MY heart doesn't get broken, at least too badly, if I should happen to love the characters and want to hang out in their kitchens and go on their family vacations. So I just SKIM the ending. See? It's not so bad and for a good reason. I'm not a cheater.

She wasn't convinced. She wanted to know how I could keep reading, if I know the end of the story. She still didn't get it. It's not about what happens at the end of the story. It's about who it happens to. As long as the characters go there, I'll go too.

You're probably still not convinced.  Let me offer you an example, or actually two.

 

 

If you haven't read or heard of Inspector Gamache, start here. These are the third and fourth in a series of murder mysteries, but wait. They're not like other murder mysteries and even though I'm using them to prove a point, I DON'T READ THE END FIRST. After reading just a few of these beautiful and rare books, I discovered I don't need to read the end first. Not because I don't love the characters, but because the author takes such exquisite care of her characters that I don't need to worry about them. Nothing bad will happen to them. Or if it does, it will all be okay anyway. Even though these are MURDER mysteries and bad things do happen, the main cast are delivered to the end of the story tenderly by the Inspector and each other. They are often even better for their experiences, more aware of themselves and their neighbors, of the workings of the universe and of God. They become tolerant of differences, celebrate life, forgive mistakes, make poetry and art and croissants and babies. I love them, as you can see, but I don't worry about them. The murderer will be caught and they'll get to eat their final decadent dinner. It's the exception that proves the rule.

 

I've heard there are ten more in the series. If Louise Penny ever proves me wrong and kills a main character, please send French food to help me in my grieving. Meanwhile, I'll be like Inspector Gamache and trust. Just trust.

Be a Minute Stealer

Today I was a minute stealer. I heard that phrase used this fall at a school district training about teaching kids to love reading, and I thought, "Yes." That's me. When I'm reading a truly excellent book, I will read in whatever snatches of time I can find. I bring good books with me to doctor's waiting rooms, to kids' swimming lessons, anywhere I think I might get a few minutes in. If I don't bring it along, I'll find myself wishing I could be reading in any spare minutes I have. That's when I know I'm really enjoying my book. So today I found myself thinking about my current book between batches of cookies. I stayed near the kitchen, so I would hear the timer on the oven, and crept away to read during Christmas baking. Yes, it was that good.

The Boston Girl

Fiction by Anita  Diamant

Written in the style of a memoir, a grandma telling her granddaughter about her life, the voice in this book is so believable that I forgot she wasn't real. Addie Baum grows up Jewish in Boston in the 1920s. Her story encompasses the whole experience of the age, from war to war, early feminism to child labor, Prohibition to racism. Addie comes from the extreme poverty of immigration, and through curiosity and education and friendship with women who encourage her, she and her family lead full and healthy American lives.

Many of the elements of this story are reminiscent of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Angela's Ashes. What appeals to me even more in this book than those is the friendships of the women and the strong tones of feminism that underscore the events of the story. I suppose that's the benefit of being both fiction and set 100 years ago. A real Addie Baum may not have had up close experience with so many of the events of her time. But maybe she would. And that's another thing I love, the conversation between Addie and her granddaughter that is subtly embedded. My best stories come from my grandma, too.

 

A Sudden Light
Fiction by Garth Stein

Sadly, this book did not necessitate minute-stealing for me. I was super looking forward to reading it because I loved his The Art of Racing in the Rain . I gave it a good long try because of that previous book, but in the end I skimmed. I think there are a few reasons it didn't resonate with me. First, it was not what I expected. It seemed to have all the elements I love: family secrets, generational angst, cool old house, learning about the history of an area, in this case Seattle. But mostly, it's a ghost story. Racing in the Rain had some fantastical elements (dog narrator, check), but this one is a straight up ghost story. It just didn't do it for me. Also, it reminded me of the "The Fall of the House of Usher." I was reading that classic Poe story with my students at the time I read this book and it just kind of felt like I was at school. I read to escape (hence reading in the doctor's waiting room) so again, no thanks. Maybe with a different set of expectations or at a different time, I would have like this book, but not now.

Christmas is in four days. Baking is done. Wrapping and stocking stuffers are all I have left to do, and then after Christmas I still have a glorious week of vacation from school. I plan to be an hour stealer during these coming days.

For your Christmas shopping list

We decorated for Christmas yesterday. It's our first Christmas in this house and as the familiar decorations came out of the boxes, we looked around for new places to put our dearly loved Santas and Baby Jesuses and ugly kid art. Thanks to more space in the new house, I have more bookshelves and windowsills and wall space for our collections. I noticed, though, that most of my bookshelves are not actually taken up with...books. Not nearly as much as you might assume, anyway, given the ravenous readers that we all are. In fact, the kids probably have more books in total than the adults do, and most of what we own is from college. You know, the time in your life when you are REQUIRED to buy books. Most of the books I read now come from the public library and our own personal lending library, the network of friends and family that passes books around. We all constantly have books in our passenger seats and purses to give to someone. It's a great set up and one I for which I am thankful. I'm also aware that someone, somewhere, had to buy those books, so here are some suggestions for the book lovers that you're looking to buy for this Christmas. Fill up those shelves and pass them on.

A Country Road, A Tree

Historical Fiction by Jo Baker

I give book talks to my students at school, and since I haven't read any young adult or middle grade fiction lately, I've been delving into my childhood favorites to read to them. Someone asked what I've been reading lately, though (teacher's pet :) and I told them about this book. I explained it as a historical fiction about an real life author (Samuel Beckett) who is from Ireland but lives in France during World War II and becomes a spy for the Resistance. Most of those things when right over their mannequin-challenge filled heads, but a few perked up at those topics. Truly, there are many topics in here to catch many people's interests, which is why I think it would be a good Christmas gift. I may buy it for my father-in-law. (Don't tell.) It starts slow, and I have to admit that I don't like Beckett's work, but I like the person I grew to know in this book. I like that I can see connections between his war experiences and his writing, in a deeper and more psychological way than straight autobiography. And mostly, I like that he saw a problem in the world and decided he couldn't not do something about it, even though it wasn't really his problem. That is so relevant, right now, to all of us.

Still Life and A Fatal Grace
Books 1 and 2 of the Inspector Gamache series
Mystery by Louise Penny

These books were recommended to me by three different people in the same month, and then hand delivered by one of them. You don't turn down such a gift, even when it isn't EXACTLY what you've been wanting. Mystery isn't usually my favorite. I would venture to say that these are more than mystery novels. The crime may be the plot driver but it is second to the depth of the characters and the subtle themes of humanity and life. The French Canadian detective is a master of studying humans, and in the village of Three Pines he meets the best array of fascinating, loving, disturbed characters you could ask for. That's another thing I teach my students: discover what kind of reader you are, whether you love characters or action or theme or facts, and you'll always have a good book to read. Lucky for us, this series has 14 books, so I'll always have a good book to read...for the next two months.

This is just what I've been reading lately and is a little limited in scope, so check out past posts for other must-reads. The two best book by my newest favorite author, a writer of deep and rich historical fiction, is here and a bunch of sweet fluff is here. Good luck shopping!