After A Month of Reading Rot in August, it seemed only natural to move on to “A Month of Misery” in September. Seven books this month, but don’t worry, not all were miserable. I’ll let you know this up front: got my jabs yesterday and so we’ll make this quick. (This is definitely the easiest time I’ve had following Covid and flu vaccines, but there is still a tad bit of … misery.) Book 1: The Sun Also Rises by…
Another month comes to a close, a month of Rot. By this I mean one book in particular was so disturbing, I had to keep putting it down during the month. Finished it a few days ago, thankfully, even though I knew what the ending would bring. Book 1: Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild I enjoyed this children’s novel as an adult, but would have loved it (and, apparently, the entire series) as a grade schooler. In short, three non-related…
Quite an array of topics this month. And a guest blogger: Grandson Cam writes his thoughts about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which he read aloud to me this summer, complete with an entertainingly dramatic voice for each character. Book 1: The Fire of Liberty This may well have been my favorite book this month. Esmond Wright compiled letters and other writings primarily from 1775 and 1776 to let the soldiers and townspersons tell the story of America’s Revolutionary War….
Do you have a favorite number? (I don’t …) Mom sure did. She loved the number four. And so when I saw this was TooMuchBrudders Blog Post Number 444, it was time to pause. Mom was born in April, the fourth month. She married Dad on the fourth of November, 1952. She had four children. For the heck of it, I looked up the number 444. According to Dictionary.com, it’s an “angel number,” with lots of positive attributes attached. Checking…
Mom dearly loved her aunt Ginny. The youngest of Grandpa Cassidy‘s siblings, Ginny lived her entire life on Lombard Street in New Haven. Virginia Anne Cassidy came into this world on December 11, 1915. This was a full 22 years after her oldest brother, John, was born. Grandpa was 15 years older than Ginny. After all these years, it’s only now coming to me that Mom must have been named for her. Virginia was Mom‘s middle name. This is the…
The month of May brought bees to our gardens and our bookshelves: Book 1: The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku This memoir doesn’t mess around, despite its title and subtitle (The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor). Eddie Jaku, survives the horrors of the Holocaust and manages to build a fulfilling life for himself and his family. Like a kindly grandpa, Jaku offers advice to his readers so that they, too, can live a beautiful life. Book 2:…
Interesting comparisons in this month’s reading. Admittedly this was not a planned exercise, though. From David Copperfield to Demon Copperhead, the latter is a fascinating update to the heartbreaking story of a poor little orphan boy’s life. After re-watching the movie Julie & Julia recently (son James and I had been discussing chopping onions and I recalled that great scene), I remembered Gary gave me the book years ago. However: we’ll start off the month with a book I wish…
Here we are at the end of another March, with most of the month’s books provided by Irish scribes. Out like a lamb? It’s definitely calmer today than last night’s tornado-watch storms. Made for a noisy evening, but one custom-made for reading. Here are the books I read in March: Book 1: Singing My Him Song by Malachy McCourt Even though he was born in New York, Malachy McCourt grew up in Limerick, Ireland so we’ll count him as one…
It feels like the world’s gone mad, doesn’t it? In a state of anxiety, I still turn to my mother. She’s been gone for more than five years, but she left us her grace, her prayers, her poems … state of grace Spring comeswith her curriculum of clouds we walk in wind this morningto the high gate in our home garden nowthe ten red tulips rise to rally loveappropriate both sun and cloudsthe stalking starthose cisterns of the sky ~…
It did my heart good to see that the Great Books program is still going strong. When we lived in Pittsfield, Mass., in the 1960s, Mom got involved with Great Books, attending evening group discussions about the volumes that had helped shape the Western World. According to the Great Books Foundation website: The Foundation’s stated objective is to provide the means of a genuine liberal education for all adults. By the end of the year (1949), an estimated 50,000 people…