On New Books by Favorite Authors, such as "The Wren, The Wren," by Anne Enright

Like many readers, I am always excited when I see that one of my favorite authors has a new, or very recent, book out. I usually make a note, and as soon as possible, either put the title on my local library's waiting list, or buy the book. Of course I can't be absolutely sure that because the author is a favorite, I will like every book she or he has written. A quick glance at reviews generally gives me a good idea of whether I want to read the book or not; usually I do want to read it, and look forward to it with great anticipation. Lately I have been fortunate to note that a lovely outpouring of several books in this category have appeared: new books by authors I admire/enjoy, with whom I often have a long history. The most recent of these is "The Wren, The Wren," (Norton, 2023) by the wonderful Irish writer Anne Enright, whose novel "The Gathering" (2007) first drew me to her work. The current very woman-centered novel, "The Wren, The Wren," focuses on three generations of women, but the women, and the story, are always somewhat overshadowed by the family patriarch, a famous Irish poet who generally focuses on what is best for himself. The characters are vivid, their relationships perceptively portrayed; the author's psychological insights are sharp and clear; the writing is distinctive and compelling; and readers are reminded of the great gift this writer is to us.

A Personal Note: On the Profound Consolations of Books

First, as an introduction to the main topic of this post, I want to do something I have not done before on this blog: to re-post one of my earlier posts on this blog. Posted here on 12/26/16, it is still very meaningful to me: "I loved seeing Susan Chira’s short piece, “The Comforts of Jane,” in the Christmas Day 2016 issue of The New York Times Book Review. She writes there of how in a difficult, painful, and stress-filled time (“when the life of someone I loved was hanging in the balance”), she “turned to reading for solace,” and found the perfect book to (re)read was Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice.” She says that because she already knew the plot, she “could savor the language, satire and repartee, the cutting observations…Austen was irresistible.” She adds, “I wanted escape, but I needed moral resonance.” She goes on to describe all the reasons that this beloved novel was the perfect consolation and companion during the crisis she was living through. Fortunately her story ended well, as “life righted itself.” She, like most Austen devotees, including me, continues to re-read Austen’s novels, and always remembers “how grateful I remain for the comfort I found in her pages.” Regular readers of this blog know how central Austen’s novels have been to my own reading life, so you will understand how I definitely appreciated and connected to Chira’s story." Now I have had particular occasion to need consolations, after the illness and death of my beloved husband in late 2021. My greatest consolations have been good memories and the loving support of my family and friends. In addition, in the days-in-days-out of these harshly changed days, months, and years, one of the consolations I can most rely on is reading, especially novels and memoirs. They are almost a medicine, as well as a welcome distraction, a source of absorption, a pleasure, a support. In short, my longtime friends, books, are a reliable and ever-available source of consolation, one that I lean on more than ever, and one for which I am tremendously grateful.

The Power of Story; the Power of "Charlotte's Web"

I have written often about the power of narrative, of story, and how stories have always drawn me (as they do most human beings). I have also written here (12/22/22, for example) about the comfort of reading memoirs and novels during times of great loss. I thought about both of these ideas when recently, I am not sure why, the great children’s book, “Charlotte’s Web” (1952), written by E.B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams, came to mind. I remembered that when my mother read this book to me when I was about 5 or 6 years old, I would love it, but also would weep at the sad parts near the end, and then I would ask her to read it again, and again, and again. The sadness was part of the story, and painful as it was, the power of the story made me want to hear it again and again. And although sad, it is a lovely story, a story about love, nature, respect, and kindness. I can remember so clearly my feelings during those readings. As I said: the power of story. I am still absolutely and completely in thrall to that same power of story, these many decades and countless stories later. (P.S. Even if you are an adult, if you have never read “Charlotte’s Web,” please do! I am sure you will be moved by the words, the illustrations, the characters, the gentle humor, the pathos, and most of all, the story.)

On My Faithful Reading of the Sports Section

Readers of this blog may be surprised that I am a faithful reader of the Sports Section of the San Francisco Chronicle, my local newspaper. Until about a dozen years ago, I had no interest in this section, and only a very mild interest in following sports, such as those at my alma mater and those at my daughter’s alma mater. It turned out that my fair-weather fan interest in the San Francisco Giants baseball team – in other words, only when they were winning in the early 2010s – and later and more dramatically in the Golden State Warriors – when they started winning in 2014 – was what made the difference. In particular, I have become an enthusiastic fan of The Warriors, the NBA professional basketball team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This was, initially, mostly the influence of my late husband, and we enjoyed watching games (on TV) together. I was hooked, and continue to watch quite faithfully. Of course it was exciting when they did so well, and won four championships in the past eight years. So although in the past I would pass the sports section to my husband, or if he was not there, sometimes just put it directly into the recycling pile (yes, I read the newspaper in old-fashioned print!), I now turn to it first (maybe after a quick glance at the headlines, which I return to later). I read about the Warriors in particular, but I find myself reading about other sports as well, even sports I dislike (American football!). I especially like the stories about the human interest side of sports, such as profiles of players, discussion of controversies, and columns on political and social aspects of sports. To tie this back to my general love of reading, especially novels, memoirs, and biographies: I see the same main thread of my interest in characters, plots, themes that sports stories share with fiction and memoir. They are all stories about people and life, and I never tire of those!

My on-and-off relationship with mystery novels

Readers who have read this blog for a while know that I have read many, many mystery novels in my life, but that over and over again, since childhood, I have gone through a cycle regarding them. I have loved them, then have gotten tired of them, then somehow started a new phase of reading them. Over and over. (See my posts of 1/27/10, 1/5/16, and 11/12/16 on this topic, for example.) As a refresher: I have gone from the Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys of childhood, through the great classic British novels (some classified as “cozies”) (e.g., by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Josephine Tey, and more recently, Elizabeth George), the stories of tough American women detectives (by, e.g., Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton), the historical mysteries (by Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd), and many more, including, fairly recently, Deborah Crombie, Louise Penny, and Donna Leon. I also sometimes re-read mysteries that I last read years or decades before (and therefore have conveniently forgotten the solutions to the mysteries). Often, unfortunately, I don’t find the same interest in those favorites of yore. For example, I re-read one or two novels of Josephine Tey and Dorothy Sayers, and did not feel the same about them any more. The exception was re-reading the always-wonderful P.D. James. In the past couple of months, I had one of my resurgences of reading mysteries, focusing on more Tana French novels, and on the Thursday Murder Club series, by Richard Osman. Those were enjoyable to read, but suddenly – I never know when or why this will happen – once again, I got tired of mysteries. By now I have accepted this ebb and flow of my interest in this genre, and the unpredictability of when it ebbs and when it flows. But I always return to mysteries eventually…

Reading for Comfort during Bereavement

I have written here before that books, among all their many other functions and joys, provide comfort. This past year, since the death of my beloved husband of decades, I have experienced this as never before. I mourn that he wasn’t allowed more time in life, and I grieve and miss him beyond measure. I have received great comfort from the memories of our time together, as well as from loving and supportive family members and friends. I have also received much comfort from one of the most continuous and sustaining elements in my life: reading. Books have been an ever-present, ever-loved part of my life since early childhood. Their companionship has been consistent and dependable, and they have not let me down during this difficult, sad time in my life. I have found myself reading more than ever this year. Sometimes I read about situations close to mine; sometimes I read for distraction; mainly I read to lose myself in the infinite joys and rewards of good books. All of these purposes lead to comfort, for which I am now particularly grateful.

"By the Book" Column in The New York Times Sunday Book Review

I always thoroughly peruse The New York Times (Sunday) Book Review, and jot down titles that are reviewed there that I want to read, or at least to further investigate. One feature of the NYTBR that is always fun to read, and sometimes surprising, even provocative, is the column “By the Book,” in which an author or other prominent person (scientist, politician, actor, etc.) is interviewed about what she/he reads. Questions usually include, for example, “What books are on your nightstand?”, “What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?”, “Which writers…working today do you admire most?” “How do you organize your books?”, and “Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t?” Naturally I tend to especially like reading the answers of authors that I like and whose work I have read. But I also enjoy pushing my own literary boundaries by reading the replies of authors whose work I have not read, or have read and not particularly liked. I also note the tone of the answers, which is sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes humorous, sometimes charming, sometimes self-deprecating, and sometimes critical and even a little cranky. No matter the tone or content, “By the Book” is consistently rewarding and entertaining.

Independent Bookstores Thriving Despite the Pandemic!

Many readers worried about how independent bookstores would survive during the pandemic. I am beyond thrilled to see that they have in fact survived, and even thrived. The American Booksellers Association recently (late May 2021) announced that membership actually increased during the past year. The ABA said that the survival and even success of bookshops during the pandemic was due partly to PPP (government) loans and grants, and partly to the rise of online sales. They also mentioned the role of bookshop.org, an online bookseller that partners with independent bookstores. Hurray for this good news!

Guest Post: A Shakespeare Reading Group, by Johnnie Johnson Hafernik

I am pleased that my longtime colleague and friend Johnnie Johnson Hafernik kindly agreed to my request that she write about the Shakespeare Reading Group that she co-founded and organizes. Thank you, Johnnie! Here is her post: Over five years ago a friend and I attended an informative and engaging long-weekend seminar near Yosemite entitled “Shakespeare and Opera.” I was attracted by the “opera” theme but left not only still passionate about opera but reminded of how much I enjoy Shakespeare. That weekend my friend and I decided to form a Shakespeare reading group. We easily convinced two other friends to join us as core members, with a few others who occasionally attended. Today, the group has grown to eight. Sadly, our most passionate and knowledgeable (about Shakespeare and much more) founding member, B., died last year. Early on, B. gave each of us Tina Packer’s "Women of Will: The Remarkable Evolution of Shakespeare’s Female Characters." The book has been invaluable for our discussions. We miss her. At each meeting, we decide by consensus which play to read for the following meeting. In preparation for meetings, our group has evolved from initially each of us choosing a passage to discuss from the selected play and a character we’d like to play to a more free-flowing and wide-ranging discussion. Each of us has our own way of preparing for our discussions, but we’ve found it especially helpful to listen to an audio version of the play and/or to watch one or more versions of the play, many available for streaming. Our go-to versions are the mid-1980s BBC productions of all the plays; adaptations of the play (e.g., "Throne of Blood," the Kurosawa film adaptation of "Macbeth"; operatic or musical versions such as "West Side Story"/"Romeo and Juliet"); podcasts and commentaries; and novels that are modern retellings of Shakespeare plays from The Hogarth Shakespeare Series (e.g., Margaret Atwood’s "Hagseed," a retelling of "The Tempest.") Our enthusiasm for our discussions and appreciation for Shakespeare have only increased over time. We leave each meeting energized, full of questions, and reminded of his greatness. Even plays some of us were initially not interested in reading capture our attention and spark discussion. Each play offers much to appreciate and explore: the beautiful language, the phrasing, the songs, the structure of the play, the humor, the vivid characters who often resemble well-known and not so well-known individuals, the questions and themes presented, and much more. Perhaps most important, we have found “today” in each play — situations, people, circumstances, motivations, questions of right and wrong. Stephen Marche in his book "How Shakespeare Changed Everything" (a book that B. highly recommended) draws attention to these themes, and to the complexities of life, when he writes that “Shakespeare is a messy writer with a complex view of morality whose conception of the universe is a bottomless, shifting ground” (p. 133). Marche goes on to argue that Shakespeare “recognizes the messiness of life as does no other writer, but it comes at a cost of an easy understanding of life’s ultimate purpose” (p. 135).

My Increasing Allergy to Newspaper Ink

I have written here about my strong preference for print newspapers. I have subscribed to the San Francisco Chronicle for decades (and my family of origin subscribed to various newspapers during my childhood and teen years), and I love the ritual of finding it at our doorstep in the morning and reading it with my morning coffee. I also subscribe to the New York Times and the Washington Post online, and I skim those, but my most enjoyable newspaper habit is the in-print reading, separating out the sections, trading sections with my husband, and sometimes clipping articles for future reference. So it is unfortunate that over the past few years I have gradually been developing an increasing reaction to the ink used in printing the paper; it often makes me sneeze or sniffle. I don’t have any allergies otherwise, so it is a bit surprising to have this one. It only happens with newspaper print, not other printed matter, so I assume it is because of the fresh ink. My late father used to have “hay fever” (do people still use this term for allergies?) and this included being allergic to print papers as well as to various plants, grasses, and pollen. I remember that because of this allergy, he would hold the paper out quite far while reading, and now I find myself doing that as well. (OK, this is also partly because of my aging eyes!) But reading my morning print newspaper is too deeply ingrained, and too enjoyable, to give it up unless it becomes absolutely necessary. Of course there is also the very real danger that print newspapers are a dying breed, so maybe it will be a matter of a race to which happens first: newspapers stop print versions, or I can no longer tolerate the ink. I dread both, and will be very sad when either or both of these events happen.

Celebrating, once again, our wonderful independent bookstores!

I apologize in advance for coming back to a theme I have written about several times before: the importance of supporting independent bookstores. It is just that I feel so strongly about this, and that these stores are endangered by the pandemic. As I have written about a couple of times, most recently on 12/23/20 when I wrote about realizing how many memoirs I had ordered, I have been ordering books online from independent bookstores since the beginning of the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, I either went in person to those same stores, or borrowed books from the library (and donated -- and still donate -- regularly to the Friends of the Library in my town). So I am spending more money than ever on brand new books, but I believe it is more than worth it to give myself this gift during the stay-at-home months, as well as to contribute to the survival and health of these oh-so-important stores. In a recent San Francisco Chronicle article, “Indie Book Shops Have Nurtured Us. It’s Our Turn: We can save them all this winter if we just give them our business,” by Peter Hartlaub (12/20/20), local writers and readers speak of how important these local, well-loved institutions are in our communities. The author tells of writers who sign hundreds of their books especially for their favorite local bookstores, and who ask their readers to buy from independent bookstores; schools that have begun ordering from these independent bookstores; the many customers who attend Zoom readings and other events; and customers and neighbors who have been buying from the stores, and/or making donations. Several writers recall falling in love with books when they were taken regularly to certain bookstores as children. Some speak of the personal attention given, and the deep knowledge of the people who work there. One writer mentions that she often runs into other writers in her favorite local bookstore, intensifying the feeling of community. As the writer Stephen Pastis is quoted in the article: “If you’re not supporting the local bookstores, you will rue the day that bookstore closes. Those people care about the community. They’re another essential part of it.” The reporter reminds us that we can either order from our favorite local bookstores, “or adopt a new one using Indiebound.org, which has a bookstore finder on its home page.” An added pleasure of this article, for me, is that the bookstore featured in the piece, the famous Green Apple, is one I have been going to (or now occasionally ordering deliveries from) since I first arrived in San Francisco, lo these many years ago, and rented an apartment six blocks away from it. I, like many many others, would be devastated if this, or any other of our favorite bookstores, had to close for lack of support from the community of readers. So let’s all keep patronizing these beloved and essential institutions; long live our local independent bookstores!

RIP Florence Howe

I was very sad to hear that Florence Howe, one of the founders of the field of Women’s Studies, and the founder of the breakthrough publisher The Feminist Press, died earlier this month (September 12, 2020), at the age of 91. She was a great pioneer and, although not as famous as some other feminist icons, had a deep and wide influence on the lives, intellectual and otherwise, of many, many women, even many who have never heard of her. She taught at Goucher College and realized how little attention was given to women’s lives and women’s literature in colleges and beyond. She practically founded the field of Women’s Studies. She tried to persuade several publishers to publish more work by women, but they declined, saying that it would not sell. So she started her own press, The Feminist Press, in 1970. There she published work by authors out of print as well as by contemporary authors. These included Zora Neale Hurston, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Grace Paley, Paule Marshall, Ama Ata Aidoo, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, Tillie Olsen, Marilyn French, Alice Walker, and Barbara Ehrenreich, along with several anthologies. Note the diversity timewise as well as in race and ethnicity. The Press especially focused on marginalized voices. Gloria Steinem stated that the Feminist Press “created an opening for hundreds of women writers and thousands of readers.” I was and am one of those readers; I am old enough to remember when women writers were much less published, and when literature classes were bereft of works by women (except for the very few “classics”). Early on I found and read many of the Press’ books, often, and gratefully, “discovering” writers new to me through the Press. I also took one of the first Women's Studies classes offered by my university. (Note: Years later I taught several Women's Studies classes, especially Women's Literature classes.) I hope Florence Howe knew how many, many women (and some men too!) appreciated what she and The Feminist Press, along with the Women’s Studies field she helped to found, did for women and for all who care about equality and inclusion. Thank you, Florence Howe! You made a huge difference in the world!

Happy Birthday to my Friend and Fellow Reader B.!

I treasure friends with whom I can talk about books. One of my very good friends, “B.,” is also one of my very best fellow devotees to books and reading. I have mentioned her in this blog a couple of times over the years. Besides, or rather as an important part of, being very good friends for years and years (and years!), we have shared so much in the world of books. We have talked about what we have read and are reading, we have given each other books, we have exchanged articles and clippings, we have recommended books to each other, and we have shared book news. I have learned so much from her, as she is deeply educated and grounded in the world of English literature. As she has been slightly downsizing the contents of her apartment in recent years, she has given me some beautiful and meaningful books from her collection, books which I will always treasure for themselves and because they are from her. Most of all, we have shared the joy and delight of the world of books. We both get excited about Jane Austen! George Eliot! Virginia Woolf! Barbara Pym! And so many, many more writers and books. Thank you, B., for all those conversations and all the ways we share our love of books and reading. I am writing today because I want to pay tribute to this very special friend on her very special “big” birthday. Happy, happy birthday, dear friend, with much appreciation and love!

Books as the Language of Grandma’s Love

During this stay-at-home era of the pandemic, one of the most painful losses has been not seeing our beloved grandson E., almost two and a half years old, except on Facetime and in pictures and videos sent by our daughter. They live just a few miles away, and we used to see him (in “the olden days” of about two months ago…it seems much longer…) about two times a week. But because of the state and local orders, and because my husband and I are “seniors” and have health conditions that make us vulnerable, we have not had in-person visits. I particularly miss reading to him. One thing that has been helpful to me during this time is sending him cards, kids’ musical instruments, and – especially – books! I do research about kids’ books, combined with memories of what I read to my daughter when she was small, then order the books online from one of my favorite independent bookstores and have them delivered to E.’s house. My daughter is great about telling me which ones they have read to him so far, and which ones he especially likes. She recently texted me that he said, when books arrived for him, “new books from Grandma!” You can imagine how this adoring grandmother’s heart fluttered on hearing these words! This experience reminds me of how giving and receiving books can be a form of sharing, an expression of love, and a bond among family members and friends. P.S. For the first time in the ten years I have been writing this blog, I had the urge to append a heart emoji to a post…not my usual style (except very occasionally in a text or on Facebook), but the topic is so close to my heart! OK, I resisted that urge. But I came “this close”!

Pandemic Awareness Suffuses My Reading

These days of “shelter-in-place,” I am reading more than ever, partly to distract myself from the pandemic. But I find it intrudes itself even as I read novels and memoirs published well before the coronavirus crisis. For example, there is an occasional reference to a virus, an illness, a health crisis, a hospital stay, and I feel a chill. Even when books don’t directly mention anything to do with illness, I instinctively -- at least for a millisecond -- recoil from scenes in these books in which people sit or stand too close together, at restaurants or parties, or in parks or classrooms or theaters. I find myself wanting to call out to caution the characters: “Don’t do that!” "Stay home!" "Remember to “social-distance!" Or “Don’t sip from the same glass!” Or "Did you wash your hands?" Or “Don’t open that package or letter without wiping it down with alcohol, and/or leaving it unopened for a day or two first!” These reading experiences remind me that even if we are fortunate enough to be in relatively safe situations, as my husband and I are (working from home, able to stay in a comfortable home, getting groceries and other supplies delivered, etc.), we are all vulnerable (we, for example, are now -- like it or not -- defined as “seniors” and thus more vulnerable), we are all on high alert, sensing danger everywhere. We all feel the profound weight of the uncertainty, pain, and loss that surround us.

Changes in My Reading Life during this Pandemic

Among all the huge changes in our lives during this coronavirus crisis, there are some smaller but still important, to me, ways in which the virus has changed my reading life. First, I want to clearly acknowledge that these are small and insignificant in the larger picture. But here on my book blog, speaking to others who love to read, I want to share these changes. First, as I briefly mentioned in my 3/19/20 post, since libraries and bookstores are closed, if I want to read new books (beyond the ones already in my home), I need to order them. I have been ordering books from local independent bookstores (who are still “open” online), and this process makes me so happy. First, I feel good about supporting these wonderful bookstores, especially now when their businesses have been hit so badly. Second, it is such a treat, such a lift to my spirits, when these books are delivered to my door. These beautiful new novels (mostly 2020 books) are now forming a lovely stack on my “to read” shelf. Second, my husband and I are longtime subscribers to and readers of our local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, and reading the paper with our morning coffee is a cherished ritual. But now we wonder if the physical newspaper, delivered to our door every morning, could be a carrier of the virus. We are wary. Should we spray it with alcohol? Leave it to sit for a while before opening it up? So far we have done each of these, at various times, inconsistently. We could decide to just read the paper online (as I already do with the New York Times and the Washington Post). But we love the physical newspaper on newsprint, and don’t want to give it up. We also want to support the press in general and the Chronicle in particular with our subscription dollars (which of course are more than the online price, but worth it…). A third change is that I am – more than ever – uninterested in reading anything even vaguely dystopian. It is not a favorite genre for me anyway, but occasionally I have liked (besides the classics such as “1984”) a novel such as Emily St. John Mandel’s excellent “Station Eleven” (about which I posted on 3/15/16, noting that the reason I liked it was that besides its description of life after a pandemic (!), it did what all good novels should do: focus on characters and relationships. Today, in a book of short stories, I encountered a semi-dystopian story, and felt an almost-physical revulsion; it is a little too close to home these days. Fourth, my reading of novels and other books has been strangely influenced by the current restrictions, in that when I read about a party, or friends meeting each other on the street and shaking hands or hugging, or kids playing on swings and slides in a park, or other actions that violate social distancing or rules of scrupulous virus-era cleanliness, my first instinct now is to say “NO, NO, don’t do that! That’s dangerous!” Of course these books were written in pre-virus times, back in the old days of a few months or a couple of years ago or earlier. But my immediate reaction of worry and fear is instinctive, not logical.

Reading in the Time of Coronavirus

I hope you are all doing well despite these unsettling times during the coronavirus crisis. I wish you all good health. I also note that one source of strength, comfort, and inspiration during difficult times is reading. I am now working from home and “sheltering in place” per our local directives, and libraries and bookstores are closed, but I always have books at home, and I just ordered quite a few books online from two of my favorite local independent bookstores: Green Apple and Books, Inc. This is of course for my own benefit, but I also want to support independent bookstores, now more than ever. So I will continue reading, probably even more now that I can’t leave home (except for essential tasks), and I will continue posting on this blog. I hope you will continue reading as well, perhaps ordering a book or two from your local independent bookstores, and will receive the sustenance that reading can bring even in times of crisis.

I Have a Bone to Pick with Andre Aciman

Andre Aciman, the author of the novels “Call Me by Your Name” (2007) and “Find Me” (2019), among other books, believes that Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway” is “an overrated novel that I don’t find particularly gripping or interesting. I’m not even sure it’s well written” (New York Times Book Review “By the Book” interview, November 3, 2019). REALLY??? Of course everyone has the right to her or his own preferences in literature. But to go as far as to say this brilliant, breakthrough novel is overrated and not necessarily well written? I strongly suspect that this is at least partly a gendered opinion, based on the facts that the main character is a woman, that the novel takes place in one seemingly ordinary day(the much-maligned "domestic fiction," which is usually written by women, but when written by men, is much more laudatorily received) and that much of the novel takes place in the mind and memory of that woman. The added fact that the main event of Mrs. Dalloway’s day is a party may also be partly the object of Aciman’s disdain. Woolf’s prose is known for its experimental-but-still-true-to-realism quality. And although the main character is from a time past, and from an upper-class life, these facts in no way undermine the essential consciousness and preoccupations and inevitable realities of her life, and of the lives of many women (and, for that matter, some men). I understand that Aciman has written novels that, among other things, speak to and about the lives of gay men, and this is a good thing. But it does not excuse his almost contemptuous dismissal of one of the great novels of the twentieth century and indeed, of all time. Perhaps it adds context to note that in the same interview, Aciman also expressed disdain for “Anna Karenina,” stating that Tolstoy’s writing is “[e]pic, panoramic and gushy, but ultimately simple” and that the novel “did not change me.” One could take this as evidence of Aciman’s equal-opportunity scorning of great writers. However, note that in the NYT interview he only favorably mentions (with the exception of Djuna Barnes’ novel “Nightwood") male writers, including Dostoyevsky, Pascal, Racine, John le Carre, Joyce, Eliot, and Gogol. I had recently been considering reading Aciman’s new novel, “Find Me,” but after his diss of “Mrs. Dalloway,” I don’t think I will. (That’ll show him, right?)

A Very Special Independent Bookstore in St. Helena

(NOTE: Apologies to those of my Facebook friends who also read this blog; you may have already read a version of this story a couple of days ago on FB. This is the first time I have “cross-posted”!) During a very recent short outing to St. Helena, in the Napa Valley, I stumbled across a wonderful small independent bookstore, Main Street Books. It sells new and used books, and despite its small -- actually tiny -- size, has an extensive and very well curated selection. I was browsing, and the person working there (I think she is the owner) was very helpful in answering questions and finding books for me. Her depth of knowledge about books in general, and about the specific books in her store (she seemed to know practically every book, and where it was shelved), was obvious and impressive. We had a great conversation about books, women authors, reading habits, and other book-related topics. And when I was about to pay for the two books I chose, she said that she wanted to give me one of them, because she loved the author (Nina Bawden), had had the book a long time without anyone choosing it, and was glad it had finally found someone interested in reading it. This experience reminded me, yet again, of how important and special independent bookstores are. Apparently, from what I read online about the bookstore after I got home, it is a longtime and well-loved St. Helena institution; I hope it will be there giving readers pleasure for many, many more years!

My Very First Kindle

The Kindle e-reader was first sold in 2007. Stephanie Vandrick bought her first Kindle in 2019. Yes, 12 years after the Kindle’s arrival, and way after most of my family and friends did so, I finally did what I had resisted doing for a long time. At first I resisted adamantly, on the grounds that I want to hold and read books only in their original paper form. Then gradually I resisted less adamantly, for two reasons. First, I began to be slightly persuaded by my daughter and others who spoke of how convenient e-readers were, especially for travel. And second, I knew that it was probably inevitable that at some point I would give in and buy one, and I didn’t want to be too embarrassed by having to eat my words. The event that convinced me to get the Kindle, finally, was that I was invited almost a year ago by my editor, at a press I have published with in the past, to contribute a book to a new and innovative series that will be available only as e-books. This series will be inexpensive and accessible to more academics and students around the world in our field of English language education. While writing the book (still in process), I suddenly realized (I can be slow to put two and two together sometimes!) that in order to read my own book and others in the series, it would be quite helpful to have an e-reader myself! It turns out that I could download e-books on my laptop as well, but I decided that this was the time to finally take the plunge and buy a Kindle. After a quick survey of friends about which type I should buy, I purchased one. I can’t say I am totally taken by it; I am still very much wedded to the traditional hard copy. But after reading a few books on the Kindle, I somewhat begrudgingly understand its value. I can’t imagine, though, that it will ever become even close to my primary mode of reading. But I won’t say this too strongly, because what I have learned is to “never say never.”