Best British Mysteries IV, edited by Maxim Jakubowki, includes some outstanding stories.
I never heard of John Harvey, author of “home,” but his story riveted me. Beautiful images reminding me of poetry.
Lee Childs’ “The Greatest Trick of All” has an ingenious plot.
Greg Mortenson’s “Three Cups of Tea”
Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea reinforces the idea that one man CAN make a difference.
This best seller and book club favorite tells the story of a mountain climber who founds an organization that builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. But the book loses steam after the first school is completed.
I can’t imagine myself doing something like this. I can’t even imagine feeling passionate enough to attempt it. I envy his passion.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love”
I’m approaching Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love with scepticism because of all the hype.
But I love the first line: “I wish Giovanni would kiss me.” Such a plain sentence, but so full of longing.
Later she says, “It was my most sincere belief that when I left my husband we could settle our practical affairs in a few hours with a calculator, some common sense and a lot of goodwill toward the person we’d once loved.” I would never expect this of Iggy. His motto: “Don’t get mad, get even.” And when he starts a campaign to accomplish something, there’s no stopping him.
On p. 95, she writes, “The Bhagavad Gita. . . says that it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.” Right now I’m doing the former rather than the latter. That’s good. I just wish I could focus better on my work. I could accomplish so much more. Plus, I wouldn’t feel so guilty when I don’t work. I just can’t concentrate. Could I have an adult version of ADD? Luckily I am fairly productive during the moments when I do work.
What are three or four novels you really enjoy?
A friend just asked me that question.
I’m momentarily drawing a blank. But I’d love to learn your answers to this question.
Iggy named a couple of Tom Clancy novels.
When I was in high school, I loved the classics. Like Henry James. But I don’t read very much serious stuff these days.
… I finally came up with some titles:
I recently read Susan Orlean’s "Buttons" in The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup.
What makes it stand out:
Quotation tips from “A Writer’s Coach”
Zinsser’s “Writing About Your Life,” Part 2
Here’s a quote from pp. 101-102 of this William Zinsser book, which argues for my exploring my squirrel obsession.
“If you’re writing about some special interest of yours… let us know at the outset how the fever first struck you and how it continues to rule your life. We are all odd ducks in our hobbies and our obsessions, and human oddity is not interesting. What’s interesting is not necessarily the hobby itself. If you were to write a purely factual book about ‘fishing’ we would soon be nodding off; that’s what encyclopedias are for. Your subject is the transaction between yourself and fishing — as a sport, as a pastime, as therapy, as buddy experience, as a solitary experience, as a nature experience, as a spiritual experience, as a food-gathering experience, or whatever drew you to it. Trust your obsession to be your best calling card. Tell us about it.”
William Zinsser’s “Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past”
p. 7 “Don’t rummage around in your past for ‘important’ events — events you think are important enough to justify asking the rest of us to read about them. Write about small, self-contained events that are still vivid in your memory. If you remember them it’s because they contain a larger truth that your readers will recognize in their own lives. Think small and you’ll wind up finding the big themes in your family saga.
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“Little girl, would you like to come over to play?”
Those matronly words were the way I tried to start the first friendship of my life. It’s hard to believe that my parents let me cross the street by myself at age four. I must be imagining that. My mother must have watched anxiously from the other side of the road.
I don’t remember what Rebecca or Starr said. Probably she had to go ask her mom. Maybe we didn’t play that day, but we did play eventually.
Maybe my mom did send me off by myself. After all, she did lock my brother and me outdoors when she wanted to take a nap.
“Almost French” by Sarah Turnbull
Sarah Turnbull, Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris, p. 163“Although I understand the French better now, the reality is in France I’m still an outsider. There seem to be so many contradictions, so many social codes for different situations that make life interesting but also leave you feeling a bit vulnerable. Living in Paris requires constant effort: effort to make myself understood, effort to understand and to be alert for those cultural intricacies that can turn even going to the post office into a social adventure.”
I’m reading Turnbull’s tale of life in Paris with her French boyfriend (later her husband) as background for my trip to Paris next spring. I’ve been surprised by the many parallels of her experience to mine in Tokyo.
The second sentence of her quote applied to my life in Japan. Perhaps it’s universal for people living in a foreign culture.
Hannah Holmes’ Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn
Hannah Holmes, Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn, p. 40.“The bees are so intent on harvesting nectar that I can pat them as they work. I can ruffle the yellow fur on a bumble’s thorax. I can stroke the black corduroy of her abdomen.”
Can you imagine stroking a bee? That passage grabbed me.
I’m reading this book because the squirrel on its front cover caught Iggy’s eye as he browsed in a bookstore.
Luckily for my fantasy of publishing a squirrel book, squirrels are not the focus of her book. She does feed and discuss them, including a useful reference to my bible of squirrel behavior, North American Tree Squirrels. The concordance to Suburban Safari shows that squirrels are a significant focus of the book. However, by page 95, she has not made friends with the squirrels. In fact, they greet her approach by bolting for the trees. Hah-hah, I laughed to myself.
Hannah does, however, make friends with a chipmunk whom she nicknames Cheeky. Cheeky comes into her house to get sunflower seeds from her. That part of the relationship is nice. Holmes doesn’t seem to mind the dime-sized watery spots or dry pellets that Cheeky leaves as souvenirs.