So Anyway by John Cleese

Though I am a John Cleese fan, I rarely watched Monty Python when it originally aired. (It was on at a bad time for me, as I recall.) Nonetheless, certain bits and bobs did make their way into my world, enough so that I occasionally find myself singing the lumberjack song, or chuckling about dead parrots. I was introduced to Fawlty Towers when it originally aired, and adored it-- so much so that we have the complete set (on VHS no less, and introduced our kids to it at a tender age.) What I liked about this book was some of the fill-in-the-gaps about John Cleese that occurred before, during, and around these productions (and A Fish Called Wanda). The beginning chapters about Cleese's boyhood and school days were particularly interesting to me. And while the latter part of the memoir has drawn criticism for running through various shows and projects, popping in bits of scripts here and there, I found it interesting, as I didn't know a lot of the British shows pre-Python, though the actors and personalities are known from other projects (David Frost, Peter Sellers, Marty Feldman etc.) Yes, there were times when I was less engaged than others, but there were enough delightful nuggets of information, and moments where Mr Cleese's ability as a writer of comedy caused me to laugh out loud, that I have come away happy. I hadn't realized how tightly kniy that group of writers and performers were or how far back they knew each other. 

Having introduced our grandkids to Dr Who and Firefly, I think it's time to add British comedy to the mix, starting with some John Cleese projects.

Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the publisher for sending a copy of this book my way.

Tags: 

biography-autobiography-or-memoir, blogging-for-books, funny, heard-interview-with-author, i-liked-the-pictures, made-me-laugh-out-loud-for-real, made-me-look-something-up, read-in-2015, read-for-review

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Sevin

For those of us who consider our favorite books family members, for those who make friends with the characters in the books they read, for whom a treasured excursion is to a book store or library, for those who love not only the story, but the feel of pages-- the call of the words on a page, this is a marvelous find. There's something about a well done curmudgeon that I adore, and AJ Fikry, with his gentle thaw while never quite losing his unique outlook on life, totally captivated me and my literary heart. The rest of the characters are wonderful, and evolve in a totally realistic, human way. Gabrielle Zevin, incorporated both books I love, and books for me to add to my reading list, which is always a plus. And, I got to enjoy all the literary references (who didn't see The Book Thief coming when that customer complained about the book Fikry sold her?), and puns (A good mandarin is hard to find? How perfect).  Plus, she's got six books under her pen that I can go back and explore, should I want to. I only wish that The Late Bloomer was a real book. Sounded like a good'un.
An interview I heard with the author on NPR is here.
Now, I'm off to update my reading wishlist.

Tags: books-about-books, heard-interview-with-author, i-heard-about-it-on-npr, i-liked-it, made-me-laugh-out-loud-for-real, made-me-look-something-up, made-me-think, read, read-in-2015, read-on-recommendation, , thank-you-charleston-county-library

The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley

There was a lot to like in this book: art, love, history, intertwined tales, Corsica for starters. (And I will give a slight spoiler alert at the end, so stop reading when you next see 3 stars like this: ***). Poor Kate has lost both her mother, a famous ballerina/choreographer, and her grandmother (actually her mother's adoptive mother) within a year. It's a blow to anyone. But shortly before her her grandmother died, she revealed a hint to the identify of Kate's actual grandmother, her mother's birthmother. Part of this hint includes a drawing from 1929 of a young woman, who bears a striking familial resemblance. Kate begins a quest for the woman, which first brings her to the artist, and to the island of Corsica. The narrative floats between Kate's story in 1986 and that of the artist and of the woman in the sketch, the illusive Alice/Celia from the 1920's through WWII. I found it a interesting tale. I appreciate it when a book expands my viewpoint and my knowledge. ***



(You were warned: Spoiler alert)
One of the things I liked best about this book was the end. In a fairy tale world Alice and Tom would have ended with them being reunited, but Foley didn't yield to the happily ever after that some might crave, and for this, I applaud her. Both Tom and Alice continued to love each other their entire lives, recognizing the other as their one great love. But though they each had loss and disappointment, and lived without the other, they each had full lives, filled with love (though maybe not a "great love'.) They had family, friends, careers, and memories. They did great things. They died knowing the other was alive. It was realistic. Their story continues to be a love story, even though it didn't have the traditional ending. That was fine by me. And I also applaud the almost afterthought of how the relationship with Kate and Oliver panned out. It was a product of this story, but not the focus of this story. Nice, in my opinion, that the author resisted temptations that could have reshaped the ending.

Tags: first-novel-or-book, made-me-look-something-up, read, rounded-up-in-star-rating, taught-me-something

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

It's lovely to pick up a book with great expectation, and, within the first few pages, sigh with contentment. It was lovely to be immersed in several of my favorite things: books, friendship, love, and the French country-side. As none of those things ever flow 100% smoothly, it's only natural that my level of contentment varied at points in the book.

It's been a few days since I finished The Little Paris Bookshop and when I sat down to write my impressions, the first thing that came to mind was one of the characters talking about how best to arrange your bookshelves: not by color or title, but by subject, so that Hemingway's Old Man and the... was with other books about the sea. That notion delighted me and imagined putting my own bookshelf together so that novels and nonfiction nestled together by subject. I quite liked the thought that Chocolat could nestle next to Julia Child.

There are other delightful moments in this book. And some completely mournful, with a French soul. Overall, though, the moments blend together into a well-told tale of love, longing, forgiving, and ultimately, moving on in life.Jean Perdu sells books from La Pharmacie Litteraire (The Literary Apothecary), his barge on the Siene. He begins a journey on the river to help resolve something that has kept his life from moving forward for the past twenty years. The journey, like the novel, is languid at times, tumultuous at others. One of my favorite quotes is “Books are like people, and people are like books, I’ll tell you how I go about it. I ask myself: Is he or she the main character in his or her life? What is her motive? Or is she a secondary character in her own tale? Is she in the process of editing herself out of her story because her husband, her career, her children or her job are consuming her entire text?”. Along with my imaginary rearrangement of my bookshelf, I say now try to place people as characters in the book of their life.

And the idea of secret tango milongas? Makes me want to learn to dance the tango and go travelling again.

Tags: bookcrossing, books-about-books, foodie, made-me-look-something-up, read, read-in-2015, read-on-recommendation, rounded-up-in-star-rating, taught-me-something

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? By Roz Chast

I don't think I could have read this book earlier than this year. It would have been far too painful, living with, and then losing, my own mother, who was of the same generation as Roz Chast's parents in this wonderful graphic-memoir. Chast's brilliant cartoons in the New Yorker have long been favorites. In her memoir, she turns her sharp eye to what so many of us are in the midst of now: our parents' journey through elder years to the end. It's not an easy subject, but Chast is both brutally honest, and piercingly true to the pitfalls (many), insights (some), and the humor (readily available) that comes in this part of life. Though my parents came from similar backgrounds as hers, the evolution of character was completely different. My father died shockingly young, so I was spared his aging foibles. My mother, a completely guileless, and completely giving woman, died in her upper 80's. (When I say guileless, I do mean it. My brother once commented that the word "Gullible" was not in the dictionary, and she believed him.) She was, perhaps, the antithesis of Chast's mother. But the worries, fears, concerns, hopes that Chast depicts in her memoir/graphics really hit home. Been there. Done that. I miss the crap out of my mother.

I read banned books: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

This book is on my TBR stack. It contains Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are, the latter of which was originally a book on the reading list of West Ashley High School for this summer, but then pulled because of parent protest. What happened next is very cool, much cooler than banned books. Book lovers of the internet rose to the occasion and have supplied literally hundreds (yes, hundreds. Over 830 at the last count, I think) of copies for teens to read. Read about the adventure here. I have picked up this copy to give to my granddaughter, who fits the age of the target audience. And I will read it, too, though there are elements of the story that seem not to my taste. But hey, I believe in freedom to read, and freedom to choose when to stop reading.