(I wrote this during my break at work yesterday, then forgot to e-mail it home or save it to my flash drive. So even though it’s now Friday evening, just pretend that I posted it on Thursday evening.)
In about the past week and a half, I’ve read two books that I completely enjoyed, that were wildly different from one another. First, I read one of my newest acquisitions (gasp!), The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. I finished that on Sunday morning, but didn’t quite feel up to writing a review, wanting instead to start reading something else as quickly as possible. I wanted it to be something GOOD, but also different from Hedgehog so I could keep that “mood” in my head a bit longer. I picked up a book that’s been on my shelves for at least five years, The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell. I started it on Sunday afternoon, and finished it on Tuesday evening – yes, in not much more than 48 hours, I read the whole thing! Truthfully, it’s not a long book, and it’s a fast read, but the fact that I was able to read it so quickly, that just makes me happy. 🙂
So here’s the thing: I’d like to blog about both of them, at least a short review with a few quotes, but at the moment, TIME is an issue for me. Our book group meets next week, and we’d planned to read a few short stories by Eudora Welty. I would have started reading those last night, however, the woman leading the discussion is now sick and in the hospital. A quick “Plan B” has formed: to read the novel written by a member of our group, and discuss that at our next meeting. The pros are that several members have the book and/or have already read it. The con for me is, while I did just buy it, I haven’t read it yet, and it’s over 400 pages long. The meeting is five days away. So, I think I can get a decent amount of it read, enough to participate intelligently at next Tuesday’s meeting, but beyond this short update, I probably won’t be writing any other blog posts for about another week. It’s hard to not write when I actually have posts in mind that I want to write. But hopefully, I’ll be back at it soon.
One positive thought on the topic of TIME: once the boys go back to school, I’ll be able to take the occasional day off and actually have the house to myself, now that Jeff is working again. This simple thought brings me so much quiet contentment and anticipation, I can’t even tell you! My books and my blog should be getting a bit more attention, if I can catch up enough at work to schedule a few days off in the next couple months.
I wanted to read Hedgehog, so I look forward to your review. (No rush, though! 😉 ) I also have had Partly-Cloudy Patriot for a few years now but have not yet read it entirely. Tried a few years ago, read a couple pages, but got caught up in other things (as usual…) I remember Sarah Vowell was funny when she was a regular guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, so I would like to know what you thought of her writing. Perhaps, if you liked it, you should also pick up Wordy Shipmates, also by Vowell. I heard it's really funny and focuses on the colonials of our beloved Massachusetts!
Oops! I just realized I have Assassination Vacation, not Partly Cloudy Patriot. I still look forward to your review, nevertheless. I always get Vowell's books mixed up!