Weather by Jenny Offill

Weather by Jenny Offill

Read by Cassandra Campbell

Published February 2020 by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Source: audiobook checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:

Lizzie Benson slid into her job as a librarian without a traditional degree. But this gives her a vantage point from which to practice her other calling: she is a fake shrink. For years she has tended to her God-haunted mother and her recovering addict brother. They have both stabilized for the moment, but Lizzie has little chance to spend her new free time with husband and son before her old mentor, Sylvia Liller, makes a proposal. Sylvia has become famous for her prescient podcast, Hell and High Water, and wants to hire Lizzie to answer the mail she receives: from left-wingers worried about climate change and right-wingers worried about the decline of western civilization.

As Lizzie dives into this polarized world, she begins to wonder what it means to keep tending your own garden once you've seen the flames beyond its walls. When her brother becomes a father and Sylvia a recluse, Lizzie is forced to address the limits of her own experience—but still she tries to save everyone, using everything she's learned about empathy and despair, conscience and collusion, from her years of wandering the library stacks . . . And all the while the voices of the city keep floating in—funny, disturbing, and increasingly mad.

My Thoughts:

Y'all (I don't know why I said that, I'm not Southern), this book got great reviews when it was published last year. The New York Times called it "brilliant" and named it one of the ten best books of the year and NPR called it a "tour de force." Cassandra Campbell is the reader and she's brilliant. It's a satire and I love satire. So it stands to reason that I loved this book, right? 

Hmmm, not so much. 

One reviewer on Barnes and Noble says this is "not exactly a novel." And maybe that was my problem; it wasn't what I thought it would be and I could never get my head around what it was. The other issue was that I was listening to it as a possible choice for my book club and, as I was listening, I was certain that it wouldn't work for my group. I wasn't sure I could get everyone to finish it, which made it hard for me to get through it. 

The story is told in fragments and I couldn't help but wonder if I would have actually enjoyed the book more if I had been reading it rather than trying to listen to it as I drove or cleaned. My attention would get pulled away and when I refocused, I frequently had no idea what was going on. 

There was a lot here that should have appealed to me. With the 2016 election as a background, it was no surprise to me that Lizzie began to feel like the world was coming to an end (imagine what Offill might have made of the novel if she'd written it a year later, with 2020 as a capstone!). A family member with addiction? Dealing with that should have been another selling point for me, as should have the balancing of marriage, parenthood, job, and anxieties. I'm left thinking that my reaction to this book was more a matter of wrong book at the wrong time, rather than a fault of the book itself. Don't take my word on this one. If the summary interested you, read some other reviews before you make up your mind. 

Life: It Goes On - June 27

Happy Sunday! The clouds have parted, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the heat has let up. It's going to be a lovely day after a week of rain, heat and humidity. Some time on the patio this evening will definitely be in order. 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: Jenny Lawson's Broken. People, that woman is so funny - one day I was literally driving down the road laughing so hard tears were rolling down my face. I may even have guffawed! 

Watched: Lots of College World Series, Olympic trials (swimming, track and field, men's and women's gymnastics), and cooking shows. You know how much I love the Olympics so you won't be surprised to find out that I'm, once again, contemplating taking some time off to watch the games so I wanted to be up on the American athletes to be watching for.

Read: I finished Peter Geye's latest, Northernmost. The other day I received some fun book mail from Spiegel and Grau so now I'm looking forward to starting Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven. 

Made: Goulash (because one rainy, chilly evening called for warm hearty food), strawberry shortcake (because it's summer!), and loose meat sandwiches. 

Enjoyed: Moving the desk I've been working on into her new home. I'm so pleased with the way it turned out! 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Now that the desk is in place, there is some rearranging to be done with other furniture in my family and living rooms. That sounds simple enough but moving a computer, touch up painting, and getting speakers put up will make it all more work. 

Thinking About: Ways to use my air fryer. My dad just bought one and I need to be able to help him find ways to use his but I've hardly used mine in five months. 

Feeling: Excited to have a four-day weekend coming up. My sister and brother-in-law are coming to my dad's so we'll spend time with them but I'll also have time to just relax. 

Looking forward to: Spending time with friends that get together once a year when some of the group come up for the College World Series. I missed seeing everyone last year!

Question of the week: Do you have big plans for the Fourth of July?

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Read by Caroline Lee

Published July 2016 by Flatiron Books

Source: audiobook checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:

Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It’s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families.

Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit busy, life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.

Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last-minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger-than-life personalities there will be a welcome respite.

Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone?

My Thoughts:

Finally! I have had this book on my Nook almost since it came out. I may even have a physical copy somewhere (one day I'll really and truly get my books organized!). This is the second time I've check the audiobook out. Some months ago I started the audiobook,  had to return it before I finished and figured I'd finish it on my Nook. But I didn't even pick up my Nook. It just wasn't calling to me, not the way Moriarty's other books have done. When I needed an audiobook, though, I decided to give it another chance. 

Even on its second chance, it felt like I was having to force myself to listen to it. I didn't care much for either Clementine or Erika and I wasn't buying into their friendship. But this is one of those books that makes it almost impossible for me to give up on a book. Throughout the book, Moriary moves back and forth between the peeks into the women's pasts, the present and The Day of The Picnic. When we finally got to what happened the day of the picnic, everything changed for me. The fallout from what happened and the gradual revealing of the truth of what happened pulled me into Clementine's and Erika's stories. 

Moriarty's strength is in telling stories that combine humor with the minutiae of life while tackling heavy themes. Here she explores marriage, parenting, friendship as well as hoarding, anxiety, infertility, addiction, secrets, troubled pasts, and lies. As always, Moriarty shines when examining marriages - the three couples here all have different marriages but each marriage contains the everyday things that irritate each partner, life complications and secrets. 

Unfortunately, even as much as I ended up enjoying the book, the relationship between Clementine and Erika was not as strong as strong as Moriarty usually is at friendships and that kept me from liking this book as much as I did The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies. I do think this would make, as all of Moriarty's books would, a good choice for a book club. 

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Read by Steve West and Emma Bering with Cassandra Campbell

Published June 2015 by Crown Publishing Group

Source: audiobook checked out from my local library

Publisher's Summary:

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. 

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

My Thoughts:

“Books are more than doctors, of course. Some novels are loving, lifelong companions; some give you a clip around the ear; others are friends who wrap you in warm towels when you've got those autumn blues. And some...well, some are pink candy floss that tingles in your brain for three seconds and leaves a blissful voice. Like a short, torrid love affair.”

My bookclub read this one as our book about books; it's probably not something I would have picked up of my own accord. It's not the book I thought it was going to be and I'm thinking it's better for not having been that book but I'm still trying to decide if it's pink candy floss or something that will stay with me longer. There are some wonderful gems of writing here and some really wonderful characters. On the other hand, as one reviewer remarked George seems always to have used two words where one would do and there are a lot of places where you just have to suspend logic if you want to enjoy the book. And I did want to enjoy the book. I so wanted for Perdu to find peace and for Max (a young author who hitched a ride with Perdu) to find his muse. I enjoyed the many ways that George presented sensuality and passion from dance to food to books. There is a scene of tango dancing that's absolutely marvelous and the writing about food made my mouth water. The landscape comes alive and I certainly found myself thinking that a leisurely boat trip down the Seine might well be the perfect vacation. 

There are some diary pieces in the book that really pulled me out of the story and I felt could have been left out entirely without the book missing a beat. There are some cliches, a scene with a deer that felt really out of place even though George used it to move the characters to a new place. And there were, perhaps, a few too many quirky characters. On the other hand, it's one of those books that tackles tough subjects but mostly with a light touch and plenty of humor, the kind of book that's perfect for my mood right now. 

As a bookclub choice, I recommend The Little Paris Bookshop, even if very little time is spent in Paris and the bookshop is certainly not the focus of the book. I'm glad that I chose to listen to this book; Steve West, in particular, does a terrific job. 

Happy Sunday! Happy Father's Day! We're headed off to have dinner with my dad shortly. My siblings and I are blessed to have a daddy who always believed in them and a father who always had their back. My children are equally blessed. I have spent my life surrounded by good men, good fathers. 

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: I finally finished Liane Moriarty's Truly Madly Guilty and I'm sorry to say that I was underwhelmed by it, even though it had some really great elements. Next up is Jenny Lawson's latest, Broken. She always makes me laugh and I'm so looking forward to it.

Watched: Mini-him brought over the Virtual Reality goggles (are they called goggles?) and The Big Guy and I took turns taking tours of cities, watching music videos and playing video games. I'm so impressed with what can be done with video images these days.

Read: I'm trying to make my way through Peter Geye's latest, Northernmost, but it is, as his books tend to be, so dark and maybe not the right book for me right now. 

Made: I'm taking lasagna and homemade peach pie in for dinner today. That's about the totality of my cooking for the week!

We ate dinner at the lodge of one of our state parks.

Enjoyed: Last night we got in a car with our friends and headed off for dinner and cocktails. As we headed out it occurred to me that it was the first time we've been in a car together in a year and a half. It was so nice to have that bit of normality returned. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: The desk is coming into the house today (hardware will get put on later today) and then it will be a matter of switching out desks and getting everything reorganized to make one desk work for both BG's work and as our family hub. 

Thinking About: My next project (shhh, don't tell BG!). I cannot find a slipcover I like for my sofa; making my own may just be up next. But I may need to tackle something much smaller and easier before I'm up for that just now!

Feeling: As I think about Father's Day, I'm thinking about my kids and I'm feeling happy that they are all in such good places right now. 

Looking forward to: Cooler temps this week which means dinners on the patio again. 

Question of the week: It seems like it's been ridiculously hot throughout the country this week. How have you been keeping yourself cool?