Good morning, and welcome to another Thursday Potpourri. Today’s tidbits, obsessions, etc., begin with my update about my recent book purge.
Yesterday was the library collection drive, so I loaded my boxed books into the car, and off I went.
I also returned some library books that I’d read and reviewed recently, and almost borrowed more books, but changed my mind. My stacks are toppling and I need to FOCUS!
I am happy that I have whittled my Vine review books down to one remaining book: Blue Plate Special, by Kate Christensen. Looking forward to this memoir.
“To taste fully is to live fully.” For Kate Christensen, food and eating have always been powerful connectors to self and world—“a subterranean conduit to sensuality, memory, desire.” Her appetites run deep; in her own words, she spent much of her life as “a hungry, lonely, wild animal looking for happiness and stability.” Now, having found them at last, in this passionate feast of a memoir she reflects upon her journey of innocence lost and wisdom gained, mistakes made and lessons learned, and hearts broken and mended.
Doesn’t that sound delicious?
I’ve also been enjoying movies lately, and watched a couple listed On Demand: What Maisie Knew, with Julianne Moore,
and Lovelace, with Amanda Seyfried.
Today I’m reading a book on Sparky: The Obituary Writer, by Ann Hood. One of those stories that flips between the past and the present, and I’m caught up in each character’s story, even though I haven’t yet figured out if there’s a connection between them. Between 1919 and the 1960s…what a world of difference!
A sophisticated and suspenseful novel about the poignant lives of two women living in different eras.
On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between Claire and Vivien will change the life of one of them in unexpected and extraordinary ways. Part literary mystery and part love story, The Obituary Writer examines expectations of marriage and love, the roles of wives and mothers, and the emotions of grief, regret, and hope.
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I’m looking forward to guessing what that surprising connection between them will be!
What’s on your plate today?
POTPOURRI 
Seriously…you are totally putting me to shame!
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Oh, my, Patty…which part? The donations? Or the whittling of the review books?
Just so you know….I ordered two more Vine books today. What did you get? I’m getting Accused, by Lisa Scottoline; and The Supreme Macaroni Company by Trigiani.
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