October 5, 2023

Part One: September Summary

From the looks of my book calendar, I could be accused of not doing much else other than reading during September. I assure you that is not the case, but I don’t deny this was a good reading month.

We traveled the last week of September. Traveling sometimes means there is not as much time devoted to reading, but on the other hand, we watched no television during our hotel evenings. After early dinners, we retired to our room and read. Plus four of the books I read that last week were either quite short or fast reads. Three of them were books I purchased at Parnassus Books. (See Part Two.)

Here’s what I read while on our road trip:

• Raven Black by Ann Cleeves. This is the first book in the Shetland series. Perhaps you have watched the BBC series, Shetland. Cleeves also wrote the Vera series. Although I enjoyed this book, I probably won’t continue reading the series, but rather continue reading the Lane Winslow series by Iona Whishaw, which I mentioned in the September 21st post. (I read the first two titles in this series this month: A Killer in King’s Cove and Death in a Darkening Mist.)However, I do love books set in the Shetland Islands, and Cleeves knows how to tell a tale.
• What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated from the Japanese by Alison Watts. This book got me at the title. A sweet, gentle book in which each chapter features one character who is dissatisfied with his or her life–a man who has recently retired, a new mother whose job has been downsized, a young man who loves to draw but has never found the right job match, and others. They each are directed to the library in the neighborhood community center where the reference librarian instinctively seems to know what books –books that on the surface make no sense–will change their lives and give them confidence or a new perspective. No violence. No sex. No objectionable words. Instead, an uplifting and encouraging book.
• Barbara Isn’t Dying by Alina Brodsky, translated from the German by Tim Mohr. I chuckled as I read the first few pages, but although the sarcastic and ironic tone continues, it becomes more serious. Barbara, who clearly has run her home efficiently and without assistance from husband Walter says she is tired and retires to her bed, leaving a puzzled Walter in charge. He has no idea how to make coffee, let alone anything else, and grocery shopping is a whole new world, but he does his best and develops new skills. In the meantime their children take Barbara to their doctor, and the news, which is never shared and which Walter ignores, is not good. An exercise in classic denial. The book is well-written, insightful, and often tender.
• Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book got lots of attention when it was released in 2021 because Indian-American writer Lahiri wrote it in Italian, not her native language, and then she translated it into English. The book is a series of vignettes told in first person by a woman, an academic, who lives in Italy. However, no names or people or places are ever given. We know few facts about the the narrator, but we learn much about her inner life, and we receive the gift of her observations. Lovely writing in short chapters.
• Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. I finished reading–actually, re-reading–this book at the beginning of the vacation. It was neither short (461 pages) nor was it a fast read, but never mind, for Kingsolver’s books are a reminder of what it means to read such good writing, and her books are always engrossing and interesting and out-of the ordinary. Reading a Kingsolver book means immersing oneself in the best. There are two story lines in this book, but both are set in the same place–a crumbling, tumbledown mansion in New Jersey, and the stories relate and overlap. One story line is set in contemporary times: Willa is a writer/editor whose magazine position has ended and her husband Iano is a college professor who keeps moving in search of tenure. Money problems and family dysfunction dominate. The other story focuses on Thatcher Greenwood, a science teacher, and his family who live in the same house, although much earlier. Mary Beech, a botanist, who corresponds with Darwin, lives next door. She is based on a real historical figure, by the way. So much more could be said, but better to read Kingsolver’s book than my review. After reading and loving Demon Copperhead, I feel compelled to re-read her earlier books.

Before leaving on our road trip I read two nonfiction books. In the September 21 post I wrote about re-reading Things Seen and Unseen, A Year Lived in Faith by Nora Gallagher, and I decided to re-read the sequel Practicing Resurrection, A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment, and Moments of Grace. In this book she writes about her discernment process about becoming an Episcopalian priest. She examines writing as a call, as well, and there are lovely passages about sandhill cranes, spiritual direction, and marriage. A favorite line: “Perhaps God doesn’t know all the parts either, but cranes her neck toward us listening.” p. 163. Both of these books are leading me to re-read some favorites from my own extensive library of books about spirituality and theology.

What else haven’t I mentioned?

• The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. See the September 14 post.
• Three more books in the Simon Serailler mystery series by Susan Hill: The Comforts of Home (#9), The Benefits of Hindsight (#10), and A Change of Circumstance (#11). The next one in the series, #12, will be released this month.
• Flatlands by Sue Hubbard. This book was one of my “wild cards” from a trip to a mystery bookstore in Madison, WI, but it isn’t a mystery. Rather it is a tale of unlikely friendship between a young girl who is an evacuee from London and an artist and conscientious objector during WWII. The landscape of the wild wetlands of the English fens is almost another character.
• Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley. Another excellent “wild card” book. Two married couples are the main characters and when one of the husbands dies, the dynamics change. I appreciated the careful “not too much” writing–deep and yet not navel gazing.

Part Two: Parnassus Books, Nashville, TN, owned by Ann Patchett

Most people go to Nashville for the music, but not me. Parnassus Books, owned by brilliant bestselling author, Ann Patchett was on my Bookstore Bucket List, and it didn’t disappoint.

Fortified by a delicious lunch at True Food and armed with a list of titles on my TBR list, I took a deep breath and opened the door. My husband who also loves to read, but is more casual, I would say, about what he reads, assured me I could take all the time I wanted.

My strategy was to first check the shelves for all the books on my list and then to take another deep breath and open myself to other possibilities–books I call my Wild Cards. Bruce periodically checked in with me, asking if he had read this book or that or if we owned it. I often replied that I had read the book in question, but couldn’t remember if we still owned it or if we had passed it on to a Little Free Library. That’s one reason I keep a list of what I want to read– remembering all the titles in my reading life is impossible!

One of the pleasures of browsing in a bookstore is encountering so many good books from my reading past. A kind of life review. As I moved slowly along the fiction shelves, I kept saying to myself, “Oh, I loved that book” or “What a good book that is” or “I want to re-read that book.

In my mind a good bookstore is one that doesn’t only have the latest and greatest or maybe latest, but not so greatest, but also is intentional about stocking good books from the past, earlier books written by a current author. Parnassus passed that test.

Another mark of a good bookstore is knowledgeable and engaged staff. Another star for Parnassus Books. As I browsed I could hear conversations between staff and customers. Not only did the staff KNOW books, but when a customer asked about a book unfamiliar to them, they were eager to know more. When it came time for me to purchase my pile, the bookseller clearly was selling books and not socks or computer paper or laundry detergent. She looked at each book, sometimes commenting on a title, and as I handed her my credit card, she said, “You’ve got a great pile here.” She seemed totally sincere.

I always feel a sense of camaraderie in a good bookstore–chatting with other customers seems possible, and, in fact, often happens. In this case, two young women were wondering about reading Emily St James Mandel’s book, Sea of Tranquility, which I read this summer. I interjected myself into the conversation, asking if they had read Station Eleven. They didn’t seem bothered by this old lady reader eavesdropping, and I noticed they bought the most recent Mandel book. Somehow I don’t think I would have asserted myself in that way if I had been in Barnes and Noble.

The only way Parnassus Books failed me is that they were out of their bookmarks. Darn! Oh, and I have a wish list for bookstores in general: better religion and spirituality sections. More and more I have to order a title I am interested in sight unseen. Lately, I have been looking for You Are Here: Keywords for Life’s Explorers by David Stenidl-Rast and The Eloquence of Silence by Thomas Moore, but no such luck yet.

Acquired Books

From My TBR List: (All Fiction);

• The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths
• Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Barbara Isn’t Dying by Alina Bronsky
• What You Are Looking for Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama
• Maureen by Rachel Joyce

Wild Card Selections:

• The English Teacher by Lily King
• The Golden Hour by Beatriz Williams
• Andy Catlett by Wendell Berry
• Fox and I, An Uncommon Friendship by Catherine Raven (memoir)

Oh, and I bought two Ann Patchett books bags. How could I resist! What a good day!

An Invitation

What defines in your mind a good bookstore? I would love to know.