It’s that time again: Banned Books Week. Here – in no particular order – are a score of the banned books I’ve read and written about on this blog over the past seven years. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway As is customary around this house at the end of each month, I checked to see if the book had ever been banned. It makes sense that the Italian fascist state wasn’t crazy about it. But parts of the…
Another September has come and gone – and with it, four more books. Book 1: Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre This is one wild tale – and it’s a true story: Still a year away from D-Day, the masterminds at Britain’s MI5 were determined to dream up a scheme to convince Hitler that the Allies had changed their plans regarding Italy. The team – including future Bondsman Ian Fleming – came up with a plan that was so detailed and…
Well, look at that – this month we have books from Ireland, England, the U.S., France, and Denmark! Book #1 Land by Maggie O’Farrell After reading Hamnet earlier this year, I knew Maggie O’Farrell’s work to be irresistible. Yes, Land is a novel, but it’s based on a mapmaker ancestor from her family tree. Generations of loss and love unfold over the chapters. And there’s a villain I’ll never forgive! While reading Land, I missed my red-haired mom so much….
It’s been nearly two centuries since Hans Christian Andersen wrote the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Do you remember the story? Two con men trick the vain emperor, who thinks only of himself and his fancy clothes, no matter what the cost. They “weave” him a magnificent set of new clothes at great expense. The clothes are magical, in that they’re invisible to anyone who is incompetent or stupid. The emperor can’t see a stitch of the clothes –…
July passed so quickly! Here are the four books I read: Book 1: 1776 by David McCullough In commemoration of our nation’s 250th birthday, I got a start on this weighty volume: There’s a lot more to the story of America’s independence than what I remember from school. The individual sacrifices are worthy of our remembrance. Book 2: Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey is back – this time under an assumed name – to look into…
We’ll try not to strain our voices shouting about June’s reads. Book 1: A Daughter’s a Daughter by Mary Westmacott This first book was a quick read. And disturbing, as it was about a mother and daughter who shared an ugly, life-changing jealousy. So why shout? … because the novel was written by Agatha Christie under the nom de plume* of Mary Westmacott. Even though I knew ahead of time there wouldn’t be a murder to solve, it was all…
When Dad retired in the late 1980s, he was determined to collect and read more books than his career had allowed. After sorting through ads for book clubs and societies, he decided Folio Society was a good match for him (and Mom). And so, six years ago, we inherited about 450 volumes, mostly classics. Since then, we’ve doubled the size of the collection. I try to read at least two Folios each month, but decided since May is the month…
This month’s reads had something in common: habits. From a nun’s attire to questionable grammar to a drunken bet, the stories made me appreciate all the more this habit of reading books. Book 1: Maigret Sets A Trap by Georges Simenon It’s rather amusing that the latest detective in my reading life is a Frenchman. Created by a Belgian. My favorite fictional detective, after all, is Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, a Belgian who is forever correcting the misunderstanding that he’s…
This year, March was filled with reading books from Ireland, about Ireland, and by Irish authors. However, when the 15th of the month came along, I was able to squeeze in a bit of Shakespeare. Book 1: No Tears in Ireland by Sylvia Couturié This is the memoir of an aristocratic French girl who spent the war years away from her parents, safe in Ireland. But it was not an idyllic life, as her nanny was a tough old bird,…
While digging around recently in our greeting-card drawer, I came across several colorful choices. I flipped them over to check the artist’s name and realized the cards must have been a long-ago gift from Mom and Dad, as the illustrator was their “neighbor” Jacques Pépin. They weren’t borrow-a-cup-of-sugar neighbors (although both parties would surely have been generous with their sucre); they lived about a mile apart. My parents were delighted to stop for a casual chat with Chef when they…