Right There On My Bookshelf!
Literally! The books were on my bookshelf and I couldn’t find them. I put them there on purpose so they wouldn’t get thrown out with the debris of Christmas Morning After… and forgot all about them. Embarrassing. Especially when they are books from your kids!
But… found them I did and have been binge-reading ever since. First, Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. The first Willa Cather book I’ve read. I will read more! It put me so much in mind of my friend the late Corina Santistevan of Taos. She is the only person I know who was made a State Treasure by her Governor. Her family came to Taos from Spain in the 16th Century. She was an educator and a historian and the strongest, most gentle wise woman I’ve ever known. I wonder if she knew Willa Cather.
And today I finished reading Jojo Moyes’ The Giver of Stars. It’s the second book I’ve read about the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky. I notice that there are sites online comparing this book with The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson. How foolish. Each is fabulous and each should be read. But to compare them? Why?
One more Christmas book awaits — The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Set in 1939 Nazi Germany. Reviews describe this as a young-adult novel with Death as the story-teller. It’s long — 552 pages not counting the notes. It’ll take me a while…
You are going to love the rest of the Willa Gather books. What about Kim Stafford ? There are many great writers in the “western” writers cannon. Wallace Stegnar.
Read all three quite some time ago. Agree there is no reason to try and compare.
Hi Gale — My lament is always the same: “So much to do; so little time!” I am usually torn between writing and reading — time for one, but not the other. This “Sheltering Time”has provided mre opportunities for both but… I need to add another ten or twelve hours to each of my days! lol
Thanks for the awesome reviews. The Giver of Stars comes up often on my list but time now between gardens and reading is a tussle. Not to mention my adhd spinning me in circles???barb
Really??? ADHD? I didn’t know that — or are you funning me? Time and lack thereof — especially between reading and writing — is always my great lament. Lately, I’ve been waking about 3 a.m. and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, I read. I don’t really notice any sleep deprivation yet… They say you need less as you age, so we will see.
Where are you in the great Covid vaccine race?
S.