Stories of My Life (Books)

Lately, I have been reading the best books.

Usually, when the warm weather arrives, people default to choosing “light reads” which usually translates to something pithy and almost always something that they are slightly embarrassed to possess, but blame it on the weather – “You know, just something fluffy for the cottage.”

I have never understood this. Just because it is hot doesn’t mean I don’t want to dive into a 320 page account of the oyster (The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell) or read an in-depth study of someone (Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee) or somewhere (A Year in Japan). But everyone is different, so I continue to read what interests me and not what drives the best seller lists.

This month, I savoured Susan Orlean’s My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere, one of the best reads of my life. Susan is one of my writing heroes and this book is an excellent example of why – from cover to cover, Susan tells us about ordinary people or places but in an extraordinary fashion. I come away from her essays wanting to do nothing else but observe people, write and travel. A similar book, The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup is also incredibly inspiring and so well written, it should be an English textbook.

Another I-can’t-put-it-down-I-don’t-care-that-it’s-dinnertime book that I just finished is Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast Food World by Gina Mallet. And not only did I take pages of notes and discuss egg preparation methods with anyone who would listen (the first chapter is all about eggs), but somehow it made me a better breakfast cook. Soon after reading this book, my omelets were almost perfect. I have always loved to cook, but never been interested in baking or any breakfast fare and here I am, making good to great omelets. I swear Gina had something to do with this…

I have been reading Jay McInerney since I was 13 – 1984, that’s when Bright Lights, Big City came out! And since that time, there have been many misses and a couple of hits (Story of My Life, for one). So, it is with great interest that I picked up The Good Life. You never know what Jay is going to throw your way, which is why I enjoy at least giving it a whirl. It is the same with his contemporary Tama Janowitz (Slaves of New York), though I haven’t liked anything she has done as much since then, which either means I am stuck in the Eighties or she is. The Good Life has been great right from the beginning, but it is still early yet. I still don’t know where it’s going. I’ll let you know.

On tap I have a pile of books for review and then a couple of treasures that I am waiting to celebrate with after I’m done. I’ll tell you all about those then, but I can say this – I am so excited to have so many amazing books awaiting my attention!

In the meantime, don’t think that you have to read “light fare” just because it’s hot outside. Sometimes the best thing for a foggy mind on a hot day is something you have to really lose yourself in. That and a hot cuppa tea. It really does the trick.