March 19, 2018: It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

It's Monday... and I'm reading again! I finished two books this week and started two more.

Today is also the last day of winter. Relatively cool temperatures moderated by midweek, and we had perfect beach weather for the weekend. The island is at full capacity now and will be through Easter when "high season" ends. It will gradually get quieter until schools let out, then summer season begins. We'll stay until Memorial Day.



Finished this week//

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

I loved reading this novel a second time but, once again, was frustrated by Isabel's decision at the end. This time, I focused on her motives... mulling over several which I won't go into here. James, notorious for ambiguity, is always open to interpretation. This is where John Banville comes in ...

Banville picks up Isabel's story in his new novel Mrs. Osmond. I'm hoping he takes us through her decision, making us privy to the thought process, and then imagining how her life plays out. My library hold should arrive soon.

I'm embarrassingly late finishing our February read-along and have learned that in the future, it might be best not to schedule reading events during winter guest season ;-)

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak 

This was a perfect post-Henry James recovery book! I enjoyed everything about this family quarantined at Christmastime novel - the characters, the setting, their secrets, the short chapters told from alternating viewpoints, and the resolution. Reading it on the beach certainly added to the experience.

Current reading//

Sunburn by Laura Lippman

I read the first 25 pages of Lippman's new psychological thriller yesterday afternoon and can already tell it will be a page turner. Can't wait to pick it up again later today!



Listening to//

Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

by Jennifer Wright, narrated by Gabra Zackman

This book was recommended by several of my most trusted audio sources. Books about medicine tend to appeal to me anyway, but I'm especially enjoying this author's voice and style... very Mary Roach-like.



Watching//
The National Parks series was sidelined in favor of March Madness (Go 'Cuse!) We'll try to watch a couple more episodes before the games continue on Thursday.

In the kitchen//
Ever since my mother mentioned gingerbread last week, I've been craving it. Yesterday I made Laurie Colwin’s Gingerbread. The recipe is from the New York Times (as is the photo), but I'm sure it appears in her books as well. My father-in-law asked for seconds... it was delicious!

The week ahead//
With no company on the horizon, this feels almost like a vacation week! We're back to our normal routine... I might even finish another another book.

How was your week? What are you reading?


This post will link to It's Monday, What Are You Reading? hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.
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Sanibel Saturday: March 10, 2018

It's March?? February certainly got away from me, and so far March is just as crazy. It was not a great month for reading, but we entertained lots of visitors, spent time with old friends, and enjoyed all the outdoor activities our island has to offer. After our daughters left early last month, my sister and brother-in-law came to visit. Next to arrive were my college roommate and her husband. While she was here, we drove up to the Tampa area to visit more old college pals. My brother and his girlfriend flew into Tampa yesterday to catch a couple of baseball spring training games, and they'll drive down here tomorrow. Twin B will be back at the end of the month for Easter and an early birthday celebration. Busy is an understatement, but I'm loving every minute!

Southwest Florida basked in record warmth throughout the month of February, while the northeast has been pounded by one storm after another. The first nor'easter (Riley?) dropped 29" of snow at our home in central NY, though Quinn barely grazed the area. I miss my family and friends - and Wegmans, of course - but am happy to be out of the snow belt!

Current reading//

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

Remember my February read-along with Bellezza, Audrey, and a few others? I'm still plodding along,  now around the 75% mark. This was supposed to be a read/listen combination for me but, with all our recent company, I  hardly remember my last solitary beach walk. I'm mostly reading on my kindle now, and find myself stumbling over James' long sentences at times. Too many distractions? Possibly.

Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak

This book has been on my wish list since before its release. The publisher's summary reminded me of This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, which I loved and still consider to be one of the funniest books ever.  I spied Hornak's novel on the library shelf the other day and the first 50 pages are entertaining. So much for reading from my shelves this winter...



Watching//

The National Parks: America's Best Idea

We started this six-part PBS series by Ken Burns last week as we contemplate another great western adventure... possibly in September or early October. Author Wallace Stegner referred to the nationals parks as "America's best idea" - what a great subtitle.


In the kitchen//

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie I mentioned in my last post was a big hit. Served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce, it is very rich, so cut small pieces! It also freezes well.

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken Tenders and Green Beans with Fresh Grape Tomatoes  

These are really glorified chicken tenders from the kids menu of your favorite restaurant, but so tasty! Serve with a little marinara sauce on the side for dipping. They're easy to prepare and cleanup is minimal.

I'll be serving up these Blackened Shrimp Tacos from Budget Bytes again. The same seasoning blend could be used two make fish tacos, too. I might us a little less next time - we're not big on spicy.  I've already made the coleslaw three times!


Looking forward to//

- spending time with my brother
- kayaking and biking at the wildlife refuge
- finishing a book ;-)


That's about all the news here. What's happening in your corner of the world? Have you read any good books lately?




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Sanibel Sunday: February 11, 2018

Good morning, friends. I didn't post last weekend when our daughters were visiting, so this is a two week catch up. The weather has been just about perfect here. Southwest Florida is basking in record warmth... I'll take it over windchill any day!

We celebrated one daughter's birthday on Monday, went shopping and lunching with my SIL, made four (!) trips to the airport, and, for the first time this winter, relaxed  and read  on the beach!


Recent reading//

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

Nonfiction always has a greater impact on me when personal stories are included, and Timothy Egan did an excellent job piecing together multiple accounts of life on the plains during the Dust Bowl. I enjoyed this book and learned a lot. Especially surprising was the fact that east coast cities experienced some of the more severe "dusters" too. This book made me want to reread The Grapes of Wrath, and the mention of Red Cloud, Nebraska reminded me that it's been a while since I last read Willa Cather.

The Worst Hard Time was a read/listen combination for me. The audio version, narrated by Patrick Lawlor, was well-done, but I always checked the print version for photos and maps after my walks.

Finally, without getting political, this man-made natural disaster should serve is an important reminder that our government must consider the environmental impact of its policies.
My rating:

Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Wow... what a complex and emotional novel! It started slowly, but I loved how the story gradually unfolded. Chapters alternate between the present (featuring an aging man and his two daughters) and letters written to him by his wife who disappeared years ago, and is presumed drowned. The "truth" of their marriage is revealed piecemeal through the letters. Unique structure.
My rating:

Sisters by Lily Tuck

"First and second wives are like sisters."

-Christopher Nicholson (Winter)

Wife #2, our unnamed narrator, refers to Wife #1 as She. The short chapters (some just a sentence or two) read like vignettes, but reveal so much! I liked the spare writing... you can read this little book in one sitting. Thanks for the recommendation, Diane.
My rating:

Current reading//

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

"I don't wish to be a mere sheep in the flock; I wish to choose my fate and know something of human affairs beyond what other people think it compatible with propriety to tell me."

The read-along continues, but I didn't make much progress last week. At the 30% mark, I've settled into James' style and am enjoying the reread... but surprised at how much I've forgotten! We plan to discuss the book at the end of the month.

Instead of starting another novel in print, I'll focus on this one all week... at least until our next guests arrive over the weekend.



Beyond the books//

As they say on the island, "season" is here. The restaurants are always busy, there are lots of people on the beach, it requires more effort to navigate the bike paths, and don't even try to drive off island between 3 and 6! We've gotten used to it over the years, and plan accordingly.

My sister and brother-in-law arrive this weekend... lots of activities planned for their visit.

Have you discovered the new Instagram account dogs_infood? I'm slightly obsessed...

My FIL is coming for dinner today. We're having grilled salmon and I'm making this Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie for dessert.


How was your week? What are you reading?



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Sanibel Sunday: January 28, 2018

Hello, friends. Zelda and I were on the beach early this morning to watch the sun rise. We may have some rain later, but I'd say the day is off to a  beautiful start!


Finished last week//

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope

Two thirds - we're making progress! Audrey and I have been slowly reading Trollope's Palliser series, and this is book 4 of 6. It was much more exciting than Phineas Finn (book 2), thanks in part to a murder trial, but not quite as enjoyable as Can You Forgive Her? or  The Eustace Diamonds. At this point, my preference is for the ecclesiastical Barsetshire novels. Perhaps, given the current state of affairs in the US, I'm not appreciating politics in fiction as much as I might during normal times. We'll see where the next two novels take us.

I approached Phineas Redus as a read/listen combination, as usual - listening for an hour or so on my morning walk, then reading the ebook in the evening. Simon Vance has become the voice of classic British Literature for me.  The Prime Minister  is next... maybe sometime this spring/summer?

My rating:

Set aside//

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne

It was not an easy decision to bail on my First Book of the Year. I chose to begin 2018 with the book I most regret not  reading in 2017. The writing was wonderful and the story was instantly engaging... until it wasn't. I hadn't fully invested in Cyril, so as the narrative shifted away from Catherine, his mother, I found my interest waning. After 200 + pages, I looked to twitter for advice and my blogging friends came through. Ultimately, I would have finished a book of 'normal' length, but wasn't able to justify reading another 400 pages of this chunkster. Most readers loved The Heart's Invisible Furies  and many named it their favorite book of 2017, so I wouldn't cross it off your list based on my experience.



Current reading//

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan

I tend to enjoy a good "man against the elements" story and this one is fascinating, in terms of both survivors' experiences and the history. The book was brought to my attention during Nonfiction November a couple of years ago. I picked up the ebook as a daily deal shortly afterward, then grabbed the audiobook (narrated by Patrick Lawlor) a couple months ago during an audible 2-for-1 sale. Hope to finish this week.


Up next//

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

I loved this book when I read it many years ago and was excited to hear about John Banville's new sequel - of course I would read it! As I began to think about James' novel, my recollection of plot details were fuzzy at best... should I reread it in order to really appreciate Mrs. Osmond?  My decision was made, then Bellezza posted this photo on Instagram. As other readers began commenting on her photo, a readalong was born.

As is my habit for long classics, this will be a read/listen combination. I've selected Juliet Stevenson's narration - there are so many! The audiobook is nearly 27 hours and I think the book must be over 600 pages. We plan to read at our own pace and discuss at the end of February. Would you like to join us?


Beyond the books//
It was nice all week, so I got in a beach walk or bike ride every day. Yesterday we hiked at the local wildlife refuge.

My FIL and SIL are joining us for dinner today. I'll be serving Roast Chicken Provençal, a family favorite from the NY Times.

The Post is still selling out daily at the small island cinema, so we haven't seen it yet. We could buy tickets a day in advance, but never seem to think about it that far ahead.

We're looking forward to Thursday when our daughters arrive for a long weekend.

How was your week? What are you reading?

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A Read-along Begins: What Maisie Knew

I

The child was provided for, but the new arrangement was inevitably confounding to a young intelligence intensely aware that something had happened which must matter a good deal and looking anxiously out for the effects of so great a cause. It was to be the fate of this patient little girl to see much more than she at first understood, but also even at first to understand much more than any little girl, however patient, had perhaps ever understood before. Only a drummer-boy in a ballad or a story could have been so in the thick of the fight. She was taken into the confidence of passions on which she fixed just the stare she might have had for images bounding across the wall in the slide of a magic-lantern. Her little world was phantasmagoric - strange shadows dancing on a sheet. It was as if the whole performance had been given for her - a mite of a half-scared infant in a great dim theatre. She was in short introduced to life with a liberality in which the selfishness of others found its account, and there was nothing to avert the sacrifice but the modesty of her youth.

What Maisie Knew
by Henry Hames

Oh, Henry! It's been a couple of years since I last read a Henry James novel (Washington Square in 2013), but the style and rhythm of his sentences is immediately recognizable. It will no doubt take me several pages, or maybe even a chapter, to get into the groove, but I'm looking forward to beginning this novel within the next couple of days.

I'll be reading along with Audrey, Frances, and a couple of others. We'll post our thought at the end of the month... you're welcome to join us.

Here's the goodreads summary:

After her parents’ bitter divorce, young Maisie Farange finds herself shuttled between her selfish mother and vain father, who value her only as a means for provoking each other. Maisie—solitary, observant, and wise beyond her years—is drawn into an increasingly entangled adult world of intrigue and sexual betrayal until she is finally compelled to choose her own future. Published in 1897 as Henry James was experimenting with narrative technique and fascinated by the idea of the child’s-eye view, What Maisie Knew is a subtle yet devastating portrayal of an innocent adrift in a corrupt society.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the opening paragraph (sometime two) of a book she decided to read based on the opening. Feel free to grab the banner and play along.

Washington Square by Henry James

Washington Square
by Henry James
originally published in 1880
Modern Library, 2002 edition
288 pages

Book description (from amazon):
Washington Square follows the coming-of-age of its plain-faced, kindhearted heroine, Catherine Sloper. Much to her father’s vexation, a handsome opportunist named Morris Townsend woos the long-suffering heiress, intent on claiming her fortune. When Catherine stubbornly refuses to call off her engagement, Dr. Sloper forces Catherine to choose between her inheritance and the only man she will ever truly love. Cynthia Ozick, in her Introduction to what she calls Henry James’s “most American fiction,” writes that “every line, every paragraph, every chapter [of Washington Square] is a fleet-footed light brigade, an engine of irony.” Precise and understated, this charming novel endures as a matchless study of New York in the mid-nineteenth century.

My thoughts:
After seeing The Heiress  on Broadway (starring Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame!), I felt compelled to read the novel behind the play. I'm not sure how long the book has been on my shelf, but the measure is in years rather than months.

My love of the show certainly influenced my reaction to the book, and it often felt like I was watching the play again as I read. As far as Henry James novels go, this seems to be among the most readable. He is famous for long, convoluted sentences, especially in later works, but there was very little of that here. Washington Square is relatively straight-forward and easy to follow.

A description of Catherine:

"She was a healthy, well-grown child, without a trace of her mother's beauty. She was not ugly; she had simply a plain, dull, gentle countenance. The most that had ever been said for her was that she had a "nice" face; and, though she was an heiress, no one had ever thought of regarding her as a belle. Her father's opinion of her moral purity was abundantly justified; she was excellently, imperturbably good; affectionate, docile, obedient, and much addicted to speaking the truth. In her younger years she was a good deal of a romp, and though it is an awkward confession to make about one's heroine, I must add that she was something of a glutton. She never, that I know of, stole raisins out of the pantry, but she devoted her pocket money to the purchase of creme cakes..."  p. 12

and on her character awakening:

"Catherine meanwhile had made a discovery of a very different sort; it had become vivid to her that there was a great excitement in trying to be a good daughter. She had an entirely new feeling, which may be described as a state of expectant suspense about her own actions. She watched herself as she would have watched another person, and wondered what she would do. It was as if this other person who was both herself and not herself, had suddenly sprung into being, inspiring her with a natural curiosity as to the performance of untested functions." p. 104

My rating:

Bottom line:
 Overall, a very readable and enjoyable Henry James novel, but The Portrait of a Lady is still my favorite. The play, however, is highly recommended!

Washington Square is available as a free kindle download.

"An English New Year" by Henry James

"It will hardly be pretended this year that the English Christmas has been a merry one, or that the New Year has the promise of being particularly happy. The winter is proving very cold and vicious - as if Nature herself were loath to be left out  of the general conspiracy against the comfort and self-complacency of man."

More of a letter or essay, Henry James wrote "An English New Year" during the economically unstable 1870's. He was 35 years old, living in England, and the piece was published in The Nation on January 12, 1879. It later appeared in his Collected Travel Writings: Great Britain and America.

James talks of the general gloom prevalent throughout the country. As London is mired in fog and snow (described in in prose reminiscent of  Dickens), he hopes to recover his 'nervous balance' with a brief escape to the country.

"Of all the great things that the English have invented and made part of the credit of the national character, the most perfect, the most characteristic, the one they have mastered most completely in all its details, so that it has become a compendious illustration of their social genius and their manners, is the well-appointed, well-administered, well-filled country-house."

James is invited to accompany the lady of the house on a charitable holiday visit to a workhouse where she is to distribute toys to the children. The dispatch ends abruptly as he is reminded of Oliver Twist.

"An English New Year" is this week's Library of America Story of the Week and includes drawings by Joseph Pennell. You may read it here.

Short Story Monday is hosted by John Mutford at The Book Mine Set.

A Literary Friendship: Henry and Edith

From today's Writer's Almanac:

It was on this day in 1900 that Henry James wrote his first letter to the budding novelist Edith Wharton, beginning a long friendship. Wharton was an admirer of James's work, and she sent him one of the first short stories she ever wrote. He wrote back to say that he liked the story but that she shouldn't write about Europe if she didn't live there. He said, "Be tethered in native pastures, even if it reduces [you] to a back-yard in New York." His advice inspired her to write about the New York society she'd grown up in, and the result was The House of Mirth (1905), which became her first big success.


They remained friends for the rest of James's life, but while Wharton became more successful, James's novels sold less and less well. When he learned that she'd used the proceeds from a recent book to buy herself a new car, he joked that he hoped his next book would provide enough money for him to buy a new wheelbarrow. But he always appreciated her friendship, and once wrote to her, "Your letters come into my damp desert here even as the odour of promiscuous spices ...might be wafted to some compromised oasis from a caravan of the Arabian nights."