I haven't experienced many rainy days here in the South side. The middle of the night or afternoon thunderstorms that break the heat are more common so this morning's dreary summer weather is a Friday gift. The persianas* are down to guard the windows so it is dark and quiet with the smell of rain from the west that has somehow made it ten floors high. Visibility is only a couple miles so anything happening beyond a small arc, I just cannot see. These are the type of days that make me nostalgic.
When I was a kid, I sat by the dining room sliding glass window to watch the rain and read. In Nashville, I had lots of windows for viewing so just about anywhere was a great spot to read. Here, the couch near the balcony (with the persiana half-raised) is my best spot to watch the rain, listen to the tires move the water on the streets, and wonder what book I will move through next.
To finish 2017, my company was A Tangled Mercy: A Novel by Joy Jordan-Lake. In her "Author's Note", she highlights that this book really began with her dissertation research and while she writes that "she ought not even be a candidate to tell this story" (p. 441) , I'm glad she did. I was unaware of the 1822 Denmark Vesey attempted revolt. This story line along with the 2015 story of Kate are weaved through this work of fiction as she tries to "honor the memory of those in nineteenth- and twenty-first-century Charleston" (p. 442). She's originally from the East Tennessee mountains and lives just outside of Nashville, both points that resonated with me and her author's bio (read this morning) made me all the happier that I gave time to her book. It's discounted on Amazon this month if you're interested to add this one to your list.
2018 began with A Beautiful Work in Progress by Mirna Valerio. I agree with other reviewers in that at times, there is a lack of cohesiveness or jumpiness to the story as she moves through anecdotes, but her journey is pretty amazing. She's not your normal size ultra-runner; her heart is much bigger. I empathized with her start-at-the-back-of-the-pack race days and appreciated her story and at times her struggle to move toward longer and longer distances. A half-marathon was just about enough for me and I have no desire to run through hard, long mountain trails. But she does, and it's fun to share the trek with her.
I've also just finished Coming Clean, a memoir by Kimberly Rae Miller. Her childhood was a mess. She walks us through what it was like growing up in a family where her dad struggled with hoarding. We have all witnessed "collecting" to various degrees, but this insight into her home life was my first experience to a challenge of this magnitude. It was an extraordinary story.
I'll spare you my review of The Client by John Grisham and Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller for now. Both of these were "found" books and because they were in English, ended up in my hands. I moved through them pretty quickly between the two memoirs.
Secret Sisterhood is still a work in progress (like me) and I've just realized that the majority of my recent books were by women authors. I think I'll have another cup of coffee and find another.
*Persianas are in the top 20 of great home inventions. They're heavy wood blinds outside the windows that completely block out the sun (for amazing sleep and a cooler home) and keep the weather at bay. They're also a deterrent for the would-be robber.
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