[Bookwoman] Can we come as we are???

[Barb]

It's wonderful to see y'all again! I've missed seeing what wonderful things
everybody's reading. Could we possibly hold an impromptu "Come as you are"
meeting? I don't care whether we've been reading challenging literature or
books that are pure fun, I've been a little too stuck in my own book groove
and need some cross-pollination. 
 
I, too, have taken a break from great literature and have just been reading
fun stuff. (Challenging full time job, 15 year old son who is testing every
limit known to man, etc.)  My favorite lately was, "Eating Heaven" by Jennie
Shortridge. It was a wonderful story about an overweight (though not by my
standards) care-taker who learns to take care of herself as well as the
people she loves. The book is full of compassion, humor and wisdom.
 
Ok, we'll take a huge leap from fine literature to tell you how much I
loved, "Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" by Merrill Markoe. Markoe was
the comic genius behind stupid pet tricks on the Letterman show and it's a
purely whimsical (and often sarcastic) look at what life would be like if
the dogs in your life could tell you what you're doing that they think is
stupid or ill-advised. I know for a fact that my dogs are thinking those
exact things. You have to approach it with humor, whimsy and a lot of
imagination.
 
Another one I loved was "Sleeping with Shubert" by Bonnie Marson. Woman with
little to no musical talent is "inhabited" by the spirit of Franz Shubert
and becomes a master of the piano--with all the complications that come with
it. Light reading and I think it's going to be made into a movie in the next
year, but it was entertaining. (And, once again, pretty funny.)
 
On the man front, I finally read "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb. I'm
always skeptical about men who write about female characters (the only one
who I thought did it well was E.M. Forster) but this was good. 

I also read, "American Bloomsbury" by Susan Cheever. I've always loved the
Transcendentalists, but I found the book rather shallow. Interesting
portrait of Margaret Fuller, though.
 
Pleeeeeease tell me what you've been reading! I need more!!
 
Barb in rainy Pullman, Washington