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Bleak House by Charles Dickens
An end to Bleak House

An end to Bleak House

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Confession: If you’ve followed these blog posts through the years, you may remember that 14 months ago I started reading Charles Dickens’ Bleak House following the author’s original monthly-installment schedule from 1852-3. His novels didn’t get released as a complete volume until after his readers had endured many months of three- or four-chapter installments trickling to them in magazine form. As much as the concept of following the original schedule, and stretching out Bleak House over 20 months appealed to…

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The Moon's a Balloon
Books lacking impulse control

Books lacking impulse control

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About halfway through April’s books, it struck me that nearly all the main characters had the same problem: they lacked impulse control. Book 1: The Moon’s a Balloon by David Niven This memoir is an absolute trip. David Niven found success in spite of himself. Over and over again, his unfiltered mouth got him in trouble. From boarding school to the military. From the stage to screen. Story after story revealed Niven’s severe lack of impulse control. All the same,…

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Malachy McCourt, one of my favorite Irish authors
A month of Irish authors

A month of Irish authors

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These Irish eyes spent the month of March reading books by Irish authors. Book 1: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt This is a memoir I very much wanted to reread, but since the great sadness descended on the family with first Mom’s death and then Dad’s, it has seemed wise to hold off until I felt sturdier emotionally. The story about that story is here in an earlier post. As with seemingly all rereads, there were many plot points I…

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shamrocks
A book’s gift

A book’s gift

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Books make wonderful presents. Books for birthdays. More books for Christmas. Mother’s Day. Father’s Day. Farmer Gary and I take it to the extreme, with books for Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter … you get the picture. Around our house, most books are one-and-done. Upon completion, the volume goes back on the shelf or, occasionally, into the donation basket. But once in a while, there’s something about a book that is almost haunting. A single reading is not enough….

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Frederick Douglass narrative
Ban racism and bigotry, not books

Ban racism and bigotry, not books

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February was not meant to be my month to read books subjected to a ban, whether in school, prison, or overall. But here we are. Book 1: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Thanks to my cousin Suzanne for recommending this wonderful novel. Set in Germany and France during World War II, it presents some of the impossible challenges faced by children of war-torn Europe. Male protagonist Werner is a child genius who just happened to be…

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1948 publication of Candide, back cover
The Folio scheme

The Folio scheme

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There is something about the English language that is so delightful, yet infuriating. In particular, I mean the sometimes opposite definitions we Americans place on a British word. (One example, which I won’t detail completely, involved me complimenting a TV producer’s fanny pack. Well, she and the executive producer were fresh off the plane from England. They enjoyed a fine giggle at my stunned expense.) Here’s another example: Scheme. Scheme is a perfectly fine word in England, and presumably the…

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Silas Marner
Life-changing books

Life-changing books

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Although I rarely try to theme each month’s book choices, in January it seems each told the story of transformative life changes, whether in war, living on the land, or in the aftermath of death. Book 1: One Man’s Meat by E. B. White Before E. B. White wrote Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little, he wrote a series of columns for Harper’s Magazine. These chatty essays described his new life on a farm in Maine. Up until that point in…

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Paul Horgan books
‘Latecoming’

‘Latecoming’

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It’s such a great feeling to think of Mom so enjoying a new (to her) author that she just had to pause her reading to write a poem in tribute to him. Paul Horgan was a Pulitzer Prize-winning author (twice; both times for history) who leaped from genre to genre. From poetry and drama to novels and historical fiction, from biographies to children’s literature. Often his work centered around southwest America. I read one of his books last month, from…

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The Farmer and the Newspaper
Newspaper Day

Newspaper Day

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Farmer Gary loves to read the newspaper. Always has. In fact, he’s declared Wednesday to be Newspaper Day each week, as that’s the day most of the weekly papers arrive in the mail. Each Wednesday, Gary dashes out to check the mailbox, then takes over our breakfast bar with his stack and works his way through the periodicals. Sadly, many of the dailies and almost-dailies he grew up reading are no longer … well, appealing. … but there are still…

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Cameron reads 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
The final books of 2023

The final books of 2023

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As the year 2023 comes to a close in a few hours, my goal of reading at least four books per month has been reached. In fact, the total this year came to 58 books. And in case you’re wondering, I’m right on schedule with the book-by-installment reading of Bleak House. Here’s the rundown: Book 1: When the Snow Is Blue by Marguerite Dorian Must begin with a sincere thank you to grandson Cameron, who read this children’s book along…

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