Hello decent people. I find myself on vacation. Holiday. Time off. August. The escape. Whichever you prefer to call it, I find myself there. I wouldn't say I deserve it, insomuch as anyone in these cushioned times can deserve a suspension from responsibility. But here I am with my parents, my sister, my dog and a good book (Blindness by Saramago that Ayana gave me to read over Two Years Ago). We are in, as we are every summer since I was 12, an older than stone wooden green house that sits as directly upon the St. Lawrence river as she is able. If she were to lean her aged self just a hair forward we and she and our good books would tumble into the water. Such is the proximity.
I don't return to Nick, the farm, our animals, or our garden until Monday which will make my time away from them so long that it nearly qualifies as abandonment.
As I find myself reveling in vacation I ask for your help in only one brutishly selfish way. That is for you to recommend to me a good book or two. Preferably one that has nothing at all to do with farming. I am nearly finished with Blindness and have a collection of Nora Ephron's essays to devour and then I am stranded. And because I have enjoyed this johnnycomelately foray into reading I may even deign to bring these books back to the farm and Make Room for such an indulgence in my daily life.
I'm reading The Last American Man and looooving it. Mainly because I love rugged mountain men..
ReplyDeleteHannah Coulter, by Wendell Berry. A beautiful novel.
ReplyDeleteKate, I read "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern, and it is my absolute favorite book I've read in YEARS--I recommend it to everyone! It's a beautiful novel about a circus and two magicians.
ReplyDeleteI also would recommend anything by Malcolm Gladwell. It isn't fiction, but anything he's written is FASCINATING.
Hope that helps, enjoy your vacation!
The Tiger's Wife or Shantaram. Both are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteyou're in for such a treat if you haven't read Patti Smith's 'Just Kids" yet. SO GOOD!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Gone Girl in a "taking a mental break" way. Something to read with abandon just for the fun of it.
ReplyDeleteFall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Set in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in the early 20th century. Great read.
ReplyDeletethe maytrees, by annie dillard. even her novels read like the loveliest poetry.
ReplyDeleteI just finished Time is a River by Mary Alice Monroe. It has earned a spot on my favorite books list. It's set in the NC mountains and has a little mystery, romance & adventure.
ReplyDeleteThe Unsettling of America by Wendell Berry (about agriculture so maybe another time) or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
ReplyDeleteThe life of Pi
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 but at 900 pages not sure you can finish it by Monday!
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoy "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey. Very poetic in a wild kind of way.
ReplyDeleteThe Last American Man is good too. My mom grew up with him and they are good friends, oddly enough.
Hi Kate!
ReplyDeleteI love "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"
and a classic, "East of Eden", if you have not read it.
Enjoy your time off!
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, or The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher! The Once and Future King by T.H. White is also terrific
ReplyDeleteLight in August. It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - despite what people may say about the film the book is one of my all time faves, it reads like a long and beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteor, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
wishing you a wonderfully relaxing vacation!
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - despite what people may say about the film the book is one of my all time faves, it reads like a long and beautiful poem.
ReplyDeleteor, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
wishing you a wonderfully relaxing vacation!
'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. A story told by Death about a little girl in Nazi Germany, The Book Thief herself.
ReplyDeleteextremely loud & incredibly close [jonathan safran foer]
ReplyDeletethe maytrees [annie dillard]
a tree grows in brooklyn [betty smith]
A moveable feast, Hemingway. My fav book of all time. And on that note; The Alice B Toklas cookbook. It is a real cookbook but also a stories about France in that era and her life with Gertrude Stein.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/The-Alice-B-Toklas-Cookbook/dp/1558217541
Dancer by Colum McCann - did not think I would like it but loved shortly after starting. it's a fiction/bio of Rudolph Nureyev-- so much in this book to keep you glued, a complex and compelling main character, a little russian history, a little history of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in NYC/gay culture, a little history of ballet...all written by a wonderful writer (booker prize winner for The worlds spins madly on, also good, but short stories connected by a thread. I like novels better).
ReplyDeleteAlso read this summer Michael Ondaatje's in the skin of a lion-- meh, and the Cellist of Sarjavo, which I did like very well-and a fast read.
my all time faves-- A Prayer for Owen Meaning, The Shipping News and Larry's Party.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Jitterbug Perfume are 2 of the most amazing reads I've ever had the pleasure of laying my hands on.
ReplyDeleteThe Unbearable Lightness of Being and Jitterbug Perfume are 2 of the most amazing reads I've ever had the pleasure of laying my hands on.
ReplyDeletefirst book that comes to mind... blood, bones & butter by gabrielle hamilton. sooo freakin' good. : )
ReplyDeleteLet's see here...maybe this list will help. I find people are sort of biased when it comes to their own particular bookish interests, so I won't reach too far into my metaphorical book satchel.
ReplyDeleteFor a bit of light, almost guilty reading - "Outlander" by Gabaldon.
For a bit of a well written escape I'd reach for "The Graveyard Book" by Gaiman or "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Niffenegger.
For a little rural, woodsy fiction - "Prodigal Summer" by Kingsolver.
Enjoy your vacation!
a town like alice! birdsong (but you've probably already read that...) xxx
ReplyDeleteOh my! I just had my first foray up to the St. Lawrence, a similar lurching house, full of dust motes and moose antlers and late afternoon sun. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThe World According to Garp or the Cider House Rules or
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy or
Travels with Charley
or (if I guess correctly and you had a little love affair with Laura Ingalls growing up) The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
Come back here soon, this place is one of the few things satiating my need for roots these days.
I love it when people ask this question because I also get to find new reads by reading all the comments!
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed Night Circus, The Tiger's Wife and Shantaram. Other recent favourites include:
- The Light Between Oceans
- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
- The Cookbook Collector
Happy reading whatever you choose.
Seating arrangements!
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood and I cannot.put.it.down! I love Atwood novels though.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorite novels is Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. There is a small amount of farming in it, but it's really an ode to the natural world. I try to read it every summer!
I just finished Wild, by Cheryl Strayed and have started on Blood, Bones & Butter, by Gabrielle Hamilton - both wonderful reads! And any John Steinbeck is a go-to for me, especially Cannery Row and Junius Maltby is great short story (at the end of The Red Pony). Enjoy your relaxing!
ReplyDeleteA Crack in Forever and Time Traveler's Wife, my two favorite love stories.
ReplyDeleteSome great recommendations here! Hannah Coulter is a profoundly beautiful book, I think, one of my all time favorites. Quiet and a little melancholy but very affirming as well. The Maytrees was a quirky qucik read that I also loved, very poetic. Michael Ondaatje's books are also very poetic, and I've always loved the way his characters have some really specific technical expertise that gets described and explained in great detail, like the guy who defuses bombs in the English Patient, or the forensic anthropologist in the heartbreaking Anil's Ghost. I loved Running in the Family, his memoir of growing up in Sri Lanka.
ReplyDeleteI just listened to Nora Ephron on CD, both I Remember Nothing and I Feel Bad About My Neck. That essay Consider the Alternative... wow. Love her.
If you haven't read the book of The Princess Bride, so so good, and of course a totally fun read. Ever better than the movie, I swear.
Oh! Blood Bones & Butter was great too, and maybe perfectly different AND similar to life on a small farm.
ReplyDeletei just finished "the wilder life" by wendy mcclure. if you were ever at all into the laura ingalls wilder books, you;ll love it. it's all about the search for a simple life, might resonate with you, too!
ReplyDeleteHunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda. Lovely, lyrical story about some French misfits and the first book ever to make me wish I could read the original French!
ReplyDeleteAnd ditto on the Blood, Bones and Butter. Excellent.
Chere Kate, I think you might love "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri, or maybe her "Interpreter of Maladies" and "Uncollected Earth" collection of short stories. All were wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAnything by Barbara Kingsolver! Prodigal Summer, which is my favorite, includes farming, but she had many other wonderful ones (Animal Dreams, Poisonwood Bible, The Lacuna) That do not, and I would heartily recommend all of them!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the vacation!
Lately I have enjoyed:
ReplyDeleteJust Kids by Patti Smith, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (this was my favorite, it's a historical fiction about Ernest Hemingway's first wife).
I'm reading 'The Bone People' by Kerri Hulme at the moment and it's incredible. It can be a little hard-hitting at times, but in general it's kind of magical and certainly a great escape. Happy holidays!
ReplyDelete'My Name is Asher Lev' by Chaim Potok or 'Pilgrim at Tinker Creek' by Annie Dillard :)
ReplyDeleteAnother for your long list: Scarred Hearts by Max Blecher. About as far from farming as it gets
ReplyDeleteThe Help, The Red Tent, The Glass Castle, Secret Daughter.
ReplyDeleteI Am Forbidden by Anouk Marcovits
ReplyDeleteThe Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
Any of The Peculiar Crimes Units mysteries by Christopher Fowler
Any of the food writings of Laurie Colwin and M.F.K Fisher
Wild by Cheryl Strayed and The Chronology of Water by Lydia Yuknavich were the best books I've read this year.
ReplyDelete"The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. It's a fictional story about the daughter of an antique bookseller getting an invitation from the most popular modern day fiction author to write her biography. The author is dying and has never given her true biography before.
ReplyDelete“Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand the same person who wrote Seabiscuit. It is non-fiction about a pilot during WW2 whose plane crashes in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and after a couple of days, he and other survivors make it to an island and are then captured by the Japanese. Haven’t read it yet, but come with HIGH recommendations.
i too am in need of a vacation , working as an intern has made me feel so tiring .
ReplyDeletehave fun !
:)