Hello friends, Happy August! We ended July with a whirlwind of activities which included another birthday celebration and a weekend in NYC for our daughter's baby shower. We tried to get back to a normal routine this week, but spent a couple of days at home midweek due to all the rain. Friday it cleared up long enough for a drive to Stonington, CT where we toured The Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House, ate lobster rolls by the water, and walked around Stonington Point. We got home just in time for another round of thunderstorms!
Recent reading//
Kin by Tayari Jones
Wow. This was my first Tayari Jones novel, but now I want to read her entire backlist. Initially I was reminded of The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett, but Jones quickly moved into a space all her own. Kin is a story about two motherless girls growing up together in rural Honeysuckle, Louisiana in the 1950s and 60s. By high school it's apparent that Vernice (Niecy) and Annie's life trajectories will be very different, yet their "cradle friend" bond remains unshakable. Jones tackles issues of family, race, class, civil rights, identity, sexuality, and more.
This was a read/listen combination for me. The story is told from Vernice and Annie's alternating points-of-view and the dual-narrator audio production was excellent. This is one of my favorite reads of the year so far!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
This short, epistolary YA classic was originally published in 1912. Judy Abbot has lived in an orphanage for as long as she can remember and at the end of her senior year, she is selected by an anonymous trustee to receive a full college scholarship. The only stipulation is that she write him a monthly letter detailing her college life. Daddy Long-Legs is her nickname for this unknown benefactor and the novel consists of her four years of correspondence. Judy shares details of her classes, friends, travel, and aspirations, plus some deep feelings. The story is certainly dated and, when held up to modern sensibilities, possesses a certain "ick factor". Yet it is also charming, sweet, and so evocative of a by-gone era.
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Current reading//
The Annotated Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, David Shapard
Pride and Prejudice has long been one of my favorite novels and I'm happy to be reading this annotated edition with a small group from the Modern Mrs. Darcy book club for Austen in August.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Are you getting tired of seeing this cover yet? I'm 65% in and the yearlong chapter-a-day slow read continues...
The week ahead//
I finally have an eye exam this week! Last spring (2025) I was getting a lot of headaches and an exam showed that my glasses were too strong. My eye had improved!? After dialing back the prescription a couple of notches, all was well. Now, just over a year later, I'm having trouble seeing and getting headaches again. We'll see what happens this time...
We're having dinner with a group of friends later in the week. And it looks like the NYC "kids" are planning to visit for one last long weekend before the baby arrives. My heart is full!
How was your week? What have you been reading?
The Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
Hi JoAnn, you have a lot going on and all of i fun...except the eye exam kerfuffle. Hope that gets straighteened out. Have you had cataract surgery? Once Doug and I had that our prescxriptions never changes.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Kin and it's on my holds but a long wait for it. Having trouble concentrating on reading lately but I was doing a comparision of two classics with teachers as the main subject. Liking To Sir, With Love more than Jean Brodie at this point.
It sounds like a wonderful week!
ReplyDeleteI confess that I haven't read any of those titles. Great post. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI totally get why your heart is full. So much family good news and good times.
ReplyDeleteKin sounds really good. I like books like this--will need to put it on the list.
Enjoy your P&P group read. Such a wonderful novel.
Good luck at the eye doctor. I'm fighting AMD and have started getting injections in my right eye. Hopefully, you will find that your sight is continuing to self-correct!
Austen in August sounds fun. I like your plan to watch The Other Bennet Sister right after reading Pride and Prejudice -- I'm sure I would have caught a few more interesting tidbits if I had done that.
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry you’re having headaches again and hope that it is something easily rectified JoAnn. It sounds like you’ve had a great week otherwise and hope that the upcoming week will be just as nice.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your eye exam. I know the feeling when things don't seem right. Hope you have a good week!
ReplyDeleteOh good for you for tackling War and Peace. I heard a funny line in the book I'm reading, The Astral Library, about ghosts hanging around the library trying to finish books they didn't quite finish before death. One ghost had been working on War and Peace for forty+ years. The librarian was urging him to give up already!
ReplyDeleteI had a time in my mid-40s where my distance eyesight improved a bunch. I hope your doctor figures out what's going on.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'm going to give Kin a try. Though a long wait list at the library! And give Pride and Prejudice a re-read. It's about time.
ReplyDeleteI'd seen Daddy-Long-Legs around but not realised it was epistolary! I might have to check that out.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a good week!
Oh, eyes. So important and so annoying. :) I'm reading an advance copy of Under Story by Chloe Benjamin, about half through, and so far am enjoying it a lot. It feels like it could be a companion to Richard Powers' The Overstory (not just because of the similar titles).
ReplyDeleteKeep going with War and Peace!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat update. We'd love some of that rain out West. It's as dry as dust. And I'm so pleased you liked Kin a lot. I did too! Great writing by Tayari Jones, yay. I reread Daddy-Long Legs too just a couple years ago and agree with your sentiments : my thoughts are here: https://www.thecuecard.com/books/fall-pickings/ Did you know there was a sequel to it? I never knew that. I will get to it sometime. It's exciting about your upcoming grandbaby ..... cant wait!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great ending to July. Not tired of seeing War and Peace I give you kudos for tackling it! Have a great week.
ReplyDelete