This month it was my turn to pick the book for our book club, and somehow that always gives me a little angst. Pleasing a lot of different women is not an easy thing to do. It is so difficult that it almost gives me a little empathy for my husband. Almost. I must be difficult to please. Anyway, after considering my options I remembered a little book that I had enjoyed a couple years back.
Now since it had been awhile since I had read Anne Tyler's book Saint Maybe, I became a littl worried last week after talking with a book club member who wasn't crazy about it. "Oh, no!" I screamed inside. "I don't want to be known as the loser-book-picker." (Very different from the loser-butt-picker you may have heard about. But I digress.) The point that I am actually trying to make is how I can happily report that, after finishing it again this weekend, I am still crazy about this book, and I must share!
I think Ms. Tyler is a genius writer when it comes to depicting family life and relationships which is her usual subject matter. Her characters are well developed, always slightly flawed and and little quirky or off-beat but very real. She has a great ear for dialogue and a keen eye for the unspoken language in all human relationships. I think her depictions communicate the nobility of average, quiet lives, and she has a great sense of humor and irony to boot. Her characters stay with me, and I find myself thinking back to them time and again.
Ms. Tyler also wrote The Accidental Tourist which was made into a film in the 80's starring William Hurt and Gena Davis. Then in 1990, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Breathing Lessons, of which I am also a fan.
If you're looking for a good read, I highly suggest her work.
9 comments:
What no post for Thomas day? What's wrong with you...or me for that matter? I am such a dork -- John and I were actually looking for the Thomases in our ward...like they are going to head to Mesa or something. Your husband is disturbed but his charm is somehow mesmerizing!
Hi, Laurel! Thanks for stopping by earlier! I'm hip-deep in unfolded laundry -- definitely the stuff of yet another "art installation." :) I haven't read "Saint Maybe," but I'm going to swing by the library to find a copy... I love books that are like a slice of someone's life. Thanks for the tip!
Thanks! I always need another good book.
I totally feel you on the pressure to pick a good book. After 6 years, I have picked many. Not all have been great, but I probably only had one clunker and I just had to get over my "loser" feelings.
I just finished our book for this month and it was GREAT if you need a new book to read. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Maybe you already read it, but I couldn't put it down.
Rochelle,
I just read the Glass Castle a couple of months ago. Isn't it fantastic?! Unbelievable to me. A testiment to the human spirit, but I was left shaking my head about her parents. I can not understand them at all.
Do you have any other great book suggestions?
Esme--I'm doing laundry too! Isn't the life of a wife/mother glamorous?
I will have to pick it up. thanks!
Right now I'm reading a series about Josephine Bounepart. Very good. Everything I've read this last while, I've liked a lot. They are all on my side bar.
Have you read The Book Thief? Very good.
I'll have to check our your book recommendation. I have to put my two cents in for "The Time Traveller's Wife." It's one that I want to re-read very soon.
Hey, I forgot to bring your bracelet with me to work, but I PROMISE I'll get it in the mail to you tomorrow!
I am so up for a new book, you KNOW that! Almost done with Water for Elephants. A little edgy but good.
LOVED the glass castle!!!
It's me checking in... Probably a great book, but I don't have time in my dissertation life to digress.
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