This has been a whirlwind week. New Jersey to Connecticut to NYC to the Jersey shore and now two more days in my hometown before we go home. Making the most of the tri-state area.
I finished This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Essays aren’t always my thing, but I love Ann Patchett so much, I’ll read just about anything she writes. (I want to say she could write the phone book, but that doesn’t make sense on several levels.) Like all collections, some were better than others, but it’s all pretty great and worth a read. Surprisingly, my favorite was the one about the death of her dog. I’m more of a cat person myself, but one of the many reasons I don’t want a dog is that it’s just so devastating when they die. Even harder than hamster death. This essay just solidified my belief. She’s a great writer and seems like a fascinating person all around.
Single, Carefree, Mellow was a pretty perfect beach read. I loved the writing and I was laughing out loud at some of these stories. I’m really excited to read her novel, because my only criticism of this collection is that it feels more like bits by a novelist than true short stories. I just have a feeling I’m going to love this author, feels right up my alley.
Next up was White Fur. This one is really going to stick with me for a long time. I loved these characters and it was weirdly charming to watch Jamey be very reluctantly won over by Elise. Oh man, Elise is just such a character. It was kind of hilarious to me that this author has written children’s and YA before moving on to adult stuff, because these two are constantly boning. I’m assuming she didn’t get to put a ton of sex in her previous books and she relished the freedom here. I didn’t totally love the writing style, a little choppy for me, and the ending got a bit overdramatic for my taste, but I was totally hooked on this and I will remember it and I will go read Here Kitty Kitty and I’ll read whatever she writes after this.
I haven’t had much time to read today, but I did start Lucky Boy, and so far I love it. I can tell it’s going to be a great story that I can really sink my teeth into. The chapters alternate between two storylines, and they both seem to be equally compelling. I have a long plane flight coming up so I hope my kids occupy themselves enough for me to get really into this. Fingers crossed!
