January 25, 2024

We deserve some lightness, some humor. Right?

I finished reading each of the books I received for Christmas.

• The Comfort of Crows, A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
• Absolution by Alice McDermott
• The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
• A Song Over Miskwaa Rapids by Linda Legarde Grover
• The Wildest Sun, A Novel by Asha Lemmie

I read the last Maggie O’Farrell book, one of her first, I had on my shelves, My Lover’s Lover, and I even read one of the books I gave my husband, Murder Most Royal by S. J. Bennett. It was time to head to the library.

Anticipating the need to restock my shelves, I had requested a number of books and three of them were waiting for me.

• Olga Dies Dreaming by Yacht Gonzales
• Fault Lines by Emily Itami
• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evisto

Plus, I noticed that one of the books I planned to request, Apeirogan by Colum McCann was on the shelves of my preferred library. I would nab that one, too, but first a stop at the Lucky Day shelf. Does your library have one of those?

Lucky Day books are new releases often with lots of holds on them. You never know what will be on that shelf, and you may just get lucky. I did, for The English Experience by Julie Schumacher (2023) was on my TBR list. Hurrah! The only catch with Lucky Day Books is that they can’t be renewed and one can only check out two Lucky Day items at a time.

No problem.

Schumacher is a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota, and her novels are written with humor and warmth about life in academia. I thoroughly enjoyed two of her previous novels, Dear Committee Members (Winner of the Thurber Prize), 2014 and The Shakespeare Requirement, 2018.

This most recent book is set in England during a month-long study abroad program. Professor Fitger, who was strong-armed into leading the group at the last minute, accompanies eleven undergraduate students. One thinks he is actually going on a program in the Caribbean; another has never been away from her cat, and another disappears from the group immediately, heading to Paris. They all complain about Fitger’s requirement for weekly papers about their experiences, and we, the readers, can shake our heads at their meanderings and loose attempts to fulfill the homework. Fitger has his own problems to contend with, including his ex-wife who intends to move away, taking the dog they share. He is counting the days till he can return to his midwestern life.

A lovely change of pace book. Humorous, light-hearted, but also warm and insightful.

An Invitation

Has a book made you laugh outloud recently? I would love to know.