My house is clean, top to bottom. Kids are in bed and lunches made for manana. All of my laundry is washed; yes, that says all. And while I’m runnin on empty, I am having a small organizational moment here. Gotta relish before it’s over, and it will be over. Probably tomorrow. But why not generate a post before I sleep? This is once-in-a-blue-moon efficiency people!
In December, I told my kids to focus on what they received from Christmas more than what they were given by people. In the opposite spirit of that advice, I am going to share with you a few books that I received that look downright awesome. Call me George Costanza: it’s opposite day.
Who isn’t fascinated by the Kennedy family? My book-lovin’ friend, Julie, gave me Rosemary on the heels of reading it herself. She used the word engaging to describe these pages, and important. The New York Times Book Review supplied this description: “A biography that chronicles her life with fresh details . . . By making Rosemary the central character, [Larson] has produced a valuable account of a mental health tragedy and an influential family’s belated efforts to make amends.” I’m always up for engaging and valuable.
My sis works at Barnes and Noble, so she has her ear to the stacks. She wrapped up The Lightkeepers in shiny silver with a red bow—it looked good under my tree. In the light of day, it’s looking just as promising. This novel, that follows a nature photographer to the Farallon Islands for her one-year residency, won the B&N Discover Great New Writers Award for Fiction in 2016. I love to see newbies succeed; thanks for the intro Sharee.
Don’t think for a minute that Santa didn’t visit his literary workshop. He (or should that say me?) put The Library Book right next to my stocking. A signed copy. When I read this goo-goo review, I knew St. Nick would have it stuffed in his sack: “Moving . . . A constant pleasure to read . . . Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book. Orlean, a longtime New Yorker writer, has been captivating us with human stories for decades, and her latest book is a wide-ranging, deeply personal, and terrifically engaging investigation of humanity’s bulwark against oblivion: the library. Every booklover in America is going to give or get this book.” It’s my very next read—that, my friends, is not the complete opposite of everything I want to do.