Books; Baby; Boy

BOOKS
been reading like crazy over the last few months, in large part because I need to be taken out of my own life a little.  I have good friends, a job I love, people who support me, a wonderful family, but I find myself emotionally tapped out as the semester draws to a close and, to that end, I seek solace and solitude in books.

I've been reading for as long as I can remember, finding new worlds and new lives to prowl through, inhabit, wear.  When I learned to drive I didnt' know how to get anywhere in the town I grew up in because for years my nose had been too deeply buried in books to notice things like landmarks, directions,a nd street signs.

The run down of recent reads (the last 2-3 months) and my grading of them is as follows:

The Paris Wife, Paula McClain: A. Hemingway's 1st marriage ot Hadley Richardson.  Gorgeously written, captures rhythm and style and sadness of one of America's greatest writers while managing to have its own voice.

The Archivist, Martha Cooley: B+. The only reason this novel about an archivist specializing in the letters between Lucy Hale and T.S. E.iot isn't an A is the unnecessary middle third about the archivist's dead wife.  Boo.  His voice was so perfect, there was no need to introduce her story in that way.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern: B-. There were elements of this that I absolutely loved, particulary the second person sections related to engaging with and encountering the circus, but the multiple plot lines and twisting chronology wasn't always compelling, and the love story was given away from the very beginning. 

Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick: D.I hated this whiny man-boy protagonist from beginning to end.  I felt no empathy for him, no interest in his sad little parade towards mental health, and no desire to find out if he wound up okay or not.  Having been through a divorce and therapy myself, I found Quick's treatment of these issues to be superficial and monotone.

Reunion, Alan Lightman: B-.  This book was an A until the last 30 pages and then if fell apart.  Charles goes to his 30th high school reunion at a small men's liberal arts college, waxes philosophical about a girl he loved briefly as an undergrad, and has flashbacks to those days that are brilliant.  When the twist in that old relatopnship are revealed, however, they are neither beautifully written nor believable.  This had such possiblity, but the end of the novel made me want to burn the book.

The Group, Mary McCarthy: C.  I know why this book about 8 female friends from a prestigious women's college was controversial upon publication--frank sexual talk, backbiting, the truth aboutomen's competition with even their closes friends.  But, the scope was too grand the characters too interchangable for me to care.  I actually didn't finish this one.

An Invisible Sign of My Own, Aimee Bender: B. I love Bender's magical realism, and this story of a 19 year old woman thrown into a classroom as an emergency second grade math teacher is compelling, if not her best work.  The short story collection The Girl in the Flammable Skirt is better for my money.  But, this novel did make me want to know what happens next, and her relationships with her young students were dear and honest.

BABY
My sister-in-law is having my second niece today :)  Teryn and Brandon already have the ever fabulous Eva Olive who brought so much light and joy into my laugh it is staggering to imagine, and today baby number two arrives.  Eva has decided her new little sister shall be christened Twilight Sparkle or Sparkle Lipstick.  I am certain none of these names will appear on the birth certificate, but in the interim of knowing the official name: welcome to the world, Twilight Sparkle Lipstick :)

BOY
Well, man, really.  I have a good one. A great one, actually.  I have a lot of baggage from my marriage.  My ex is a good man who didn't know how to talk to me, how to give me the attention and affection I needed, how to love me as I need to be loved.  That doesn't make him a bad guy by any stretch, it just means we couldn't manage forever together.

But, the man I am with now, gives me every reason to believe that love can be the sustaining foundation beneath a person's feet that allows her to feel stronger, need less, and know more.  I am grateful every day, even for the roughest patches between us, because who we are once the storm passes is always so damn beautiful.