Every dream fulfilled begins with a simple wish. - front cover, Mom's planner
Welcome back, friends. (Kotter flew the coop.)
I'll be straight with you - I have no idea if this quest through literature (and sometimes, that word may be used very loosely when describing some of these books) to understand my mother will prove fruitful, and I am even less certain of its entertainment value. If you're reading this, however, you found the idea a tiny bit interesting, so thank you for your patronage.
As mentioned in my last post, Mom wrote a bunch of quotes and titles all over her planner, as well as on a sheet of lined paper carefully folded into its overleaf. I like the idea of the quotes as openings to the posts; if they're linked to the books, even better. But if the quotes came from books, then BOOM SURPRISE POSTS FROM TITLES NOT ON THE OFFICIAL LIST!
I'll be straight with you - I have no idea if this quest through literature (and sometimes, that word may be used very loosely when describing some of these books) to understand my mother will prove fruitful, and I am even less certain of its entertainment value. If you're reading this, however, you found the idea a tiny bit interesting, so thank you for your patronage.
As mentioned in my last post, Mom wrote a bunch of quotes and titles all over her planner, as well as on a sheet of lined paper carefully folded into its overleaf. I like the idea of the quotes as openings to the posts; if they're linked to the books, even better. But if the quotes came from books, then BOOM SURPRISE POSTS FROM TITLES NOT ON THE OFFICIAL LIST!
Ahem. Sorry.
Without further ado, I give you THE LIST:
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place - Terry Tempest Williams
When Women Were Birds (Mom specifically wrote "My Mother's Journals" beside this - apparently it's an essay within the book) - Terry Tempest Williams
There but for the - Ali Smith
Rules of Civility - Amor Towles
Dominance - Will Lavender
One Day - David Nicholls
What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
A Small Hotel - Robert Olen Butler
The Borrower - Rebecca Makkai
Sister - Rosamund Lupton
Someday This Will Be Funny - Lynne Tillman
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine - Monica Wood
Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt
Shout Her Lovely Name - Natalie Serber
The Red House - Mark Haddon
Seating Arrangements - Maggie Shipstead
Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
Calling Invisible Women - Jeanne Ray
Both of Us: My Life With Farrah - Ryan O'Neal
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women - Nora Ephron
Fear of Flying - Erica Jong
The following group of titles had a big X written through it in the planner (and was written on the lined paper, too), but what the hell:
The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman
The Empty Glass - J.I. Baker
Tigers in Red Weather - Liza Klaussmann
The Secret Life of Objects - Dawn Raffel
Battleborn - Claire Vaye Watkins
Dare Me - Megan Abbott
In the top left margin of the loose page was "Maya Angelou poetry," which is a massive undertaking (and believe me, I could create an entirely different website on that alone as she is one of my favourite authors PERIOD), so I'll likely include a post about a few chosen poems.
I'm not sure how easy it will be to get all of these titles from the library - I'm open to downloadable versions but I prefer to read physical books - so that may determine the order of things. Whatever. We'll do it live. Next week, I'll choose one and off we go. (Did I mention that I go back to work full time next week? I'm going to optimistically aim to read a book a week and just pretend the mountain of untouched library books that continuously mocks me from my windowsill isn't really there.)
Have you read any of these? Were any of them good? Am I in over my head? Will the Blue Jays actually win the World Series this year? Leave a comment below.
-A
(P.S. If any of my London peoples have copies of these books and wouldn't mind parting with them for a bit, let me know!)
Without further ado, I give you THE LIST:
Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place - Terry Tempest Williams
When Women Were Birds (Mom specifically wrote "My Mother's Journals" beside this - apparently it's an essay within the book) - Terry Tempest Williams
There but for the - Ali Smith
Rules of Civility - Amor Towles
Dominance - Will Lavender
One Day - David Nicholls
What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty
A Small Hotel - Robert Olen Butler
The Borrower - Rebecca Makkai
Sister - Rosamund Lupton
Someday This Will Be Funny - Lynne Tillman
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine - Monica Wood
Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka Brunt
Shout Her Lovely Name - Natalie Serber
The Red House - Mark Haddon
Seating Arrangements - Maggie Shipstead
Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann
Calling Invisible Women - Jeanne Ray
Both of Us: My Life With Farrah - Ryan O'Neal
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women - Nora Ephron
Fear of Flying - Erica Jong
The following group of titles had a big X written through it in the planner (and was written on the lined paper, too), but what the hell:
The Light Between Oceans - M.L. Stedman
The Empty Glass - J.I. Baker
Tigers in Red Weather - Liza Klaussmann
The Secret Life of Objects - Dawn Raffel
Battleborn - Claire Vaye Watkins
Dare Me - Megan Abbott
In the top left margin of the loose page was "Maya Angelou poetry," which is a massive undertaking (and believe me, I could create an entirely different website on that alone as she is one of my favourite authors PERIOD), so I'll likely include a post about a few chosen poems.
I'm not sure how easy it will be to get all of these titles from the library - I'm open to downloadable versions but I prefer to read physical books - so that may determine the order of things. Whatever. We'll do it live. Next week, I'll choose one and off we go. (Did I mention that I go back to work full time next week? I'm going to optimistically aim to read a book a week and just pretend the mountain of untouched library books that continuously mocks me from my windowsill isn't really there.)
Have you read any of these? Were any of them good? Am I in over my head? Will the Blue Jays actually win the World Series this year? Leave a comment below.
-A
(P.S. If any of my London peoples have copies of these books and wouldn't mind parting with them for a bit, let me know!)