Rodrigo Márquez is the son of Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian author of One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. Rodrigo writes a letter to his late father in today’s NYTimes. He wonders what Gabriel would think about the current coronavirus given his plots around an insomnia pandemic and cholera. Perhaps that luck and fate determine whether one suffers and dies alone or surrounded by love. Ironically, Rodrigo’s film Four Good Days about addiction was screened at Sundance this past January where it is said the… Read more Love in the Time of Corona →
by Delia Owens. Kya, The Marsh Girl. Tate, The Feather Boy. An intimate Russo-esque story of the rural North Carolina coast. Kya is a soulful, lone, smart, stealthy, strong, cunning observer and survivor. Tate her protector. She learns behavior from the natural wonders surrounding her shack, the insects and birds who are her world. Owens’ writing is engrossing and gorgeous. Her depth of descriptions of both the marshland and people alike. Unforgettable characters. A comforting isolation in these disquietingly isolating times. Glad I finally got to it. One of the… Read more Where the Crawdads Sing →
by William Landay. You’ll also find this on my Favorites page. Read it long ago and it was a riveting account via criminal records of a family struggling with a troubled and dangerous son. A must read. Apple TV is now producing a series starring Michelle Dockery based on the book.
by Hilary Mantel. The last of Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall, the first was the best. I’d even suggest reading it again or for the first time before reading this last. Bring Up the Bodies is the second and a disappointment, not as tightly written or compelling as Wolf Hall. They both won Booker Prize, but I didn’t agree with the second. Anyway. This one is a sturdy dense long story. It captivates at times yet meanders at others, delving into the inner thoughts and complexities of the… Read more The Mirror & The Light →
Spent the day doing an inventory of all the books on my shelves. Made a list and alphabetized by author. It was a great distraction. See UWS Stacks page.
From the New York Times. The comments section has many more as well.
A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles. The perfect read for these days of sheltering in place. Although this gentleman had the run of a hotel in Moscow, he couldn’t leave it. The circumstances of today’s coronavirus seclusion. A lovely sweet and non-claustrophobic stay is filled with comings and goings, historical richness and tender relationships. It provides expanded horizons and hope from the inside out. Worth another look.
by Isabel Allende. Have read many of Allende’s novels. This one seemed closer to her own story. As it turns out, it was. Intimate raw scenes with familial context during the Spanish Civil War. A voyage from Europe to Chile on the Winnipeg spear-headed by poet Pablo Neruda well-drawn. The love stories less compelling. However, learned a lot more than I’d known about the politics and hardships of the Spanish Civil War and later Chile during Allende and Pinochet. For that historical value a very good read. Wish Neruda’s poems… Read more A Long Petal of the Sea →
Book - Treks 