Hello, reader…
Exciting news – we received a poem in our poetry mailbox! It’s a haiku authored by Blink Hexem.
Here it is…
Light gathers in spring,
Sunlit shafts pierce the forest,
Moss grows on old bone.
Isn’t it lovely?
Here are the books shared during our February gathering…
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
This is a kind of classic murder mystery like you might have in the 20s and 30s – but set in some future time aboard a ship traveling from the Moon to Mars. The protagonist is a wealthy industrialist woman — recently married and on her honeymoon — when a murder happens, implicating her husband.
Sierra is still making her way through this one and commented that so far it’s a bit hit and miss. Somehow she’s not connecting with the protagonist…and it is like the author has set up all these links about her but hasn’t really connected them. She found the accused husband more interesting but the story isn’t told from his viewpoint.
Also – the story maybe has the best descriptions of a small white terrier service dog. 🙂
The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan
Veyot read about this on a book blog, which described it as a coffee table book. It’s pretty, has lots of photos, and is very skimmable. Though she didn’t know many of the singers discussed, she liked the style of writing. Dylan often digressed to something else about each song or singer…and talked about rhyming schemes.
Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
FireWoman read both this one and another Cather book – both were seemingly well-researched historical fiction using easy flowing narrative with personable characters.
The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall
An unauthorized parody of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, written from a slave’s perspective.
Folk Tales of Japan: 28 Folk Tales with Cultural Commentary by Kyota Ko
FireWoman read this collection by an author she follows on LinkedIn, where he offers Japanese culture and history notes daily. His tellings are contemporary and the history of the times is very in depth.
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Zoe said she’d shelve this one under magical realism. It’s about a young woman who goes to live on an island mostly unfamiliar to her, where her mother left her a condo. In this very small condo complex are an interesting cast of characters, each haunted – mostly lovingly – by someone from their past. The stories behind these hauntings are the main focus of this book and the big themes are processing grief and letting go. And also, celebrating ones uniqueness.
Zoe thought it was a little cheesy and predictable but an otherwise enjoyable read.
Old Age: A Beginner’s Guide by Michael Kinsley
A kind of memoir/collection of essays about aging and living with Parkinson’s. Zoe found parts of it interesting but also skimmed some parts.
A short list of these books may be found here.
Our next gathering will be on Sunday, March 12th at 1pm SLT. Hope to see you then!
The Reading Room 