2016: Two Weeks in Books

Last year bid me farewell by sending me into this one with a raging head cold. I can finally breathe through my nose again, and it no longer feels like I've swallowed a cheese grater. Hurrah.

Happy New Year from the southern wilds of West Virginia and the Coolest Small Town in America (2011)! Here we are at the start of another ring around the sun and already I've over-committed my reading, but so far, it's going all right.

Last year, I posted this list of twenty-four books I planned to read, and I only got through four of them. My reading veered in other directions to forty-eight books not on that list. Oh, well.

I'm not going to write a list this year. I'm going to go where the reading leads me. I did set a Reading Challenge goal on goodreads, and I've read one book toward that goal so far and started three others. In case you're curious, here they are.

The Book I've Read

Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. explores the world of American heiress Huguette Clark, daughter of copper magnate and politician W.A. Clark. Toward the end of her life, Ms. Clark lived in a hospital despite her good health and exquisite homes. Dedman and Newell discuss the family history, Ms. Clark's eccentricities, and the legal battle over her fortune after her death in 2011. Engaging, detailed, and offering a literal glimpse into Ms. Clark's life through family photographs, Empty Mansions takes the reader on a strange journey and is well worth the read.

The Books I'm Reading

I'll confess. I'm reading Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road because of Our Shared Shelf, Emma Watson's feminist reading group on goodreads. Ninety-six pages in, I'm hooked. Ms. Steinem weaves her own story together with that of the feminist movement as she's experienced it, as well as with the stories of those people who have had some impact, great or small, on her journey thus far.

I happened upon this copy of Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? by Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg in a pile of free things and wasn't sure I'd get around to reading it. Halfway through, the book has traveled from rural Appalachia to New York City to southern Texas. From family harmony to near-disastrous discord, the story of The Carter Family, unknown to most of their listeners in the first half of the twentieth century, endures through their music, which lives on in their own recordings and in covers by dozens of musicians since.

Essays of E.B. White has been sitting on my bookshelf for over a year probably. I picked it up on the last day of a library book sale because I've always liked Charlotte's Web so I thought I'd like his essays just as well. They meander through various aspects of living. I cried over "Death of a Pig" and laughed over other parts. It's slow going, not through any fault of its own but because I've been distracted by other reading.

My other major reading commitment is a Bible in a Year program with my church. We're in Genesis and Matthew now, with a reading from Psalms and Proverbs every day. I'm a day behind and had better catch up so I don't fall a month behind, which is what happened in December.

So there we are. Goodreads tells me I'm a book behind on my reading goal so I'd best get back to it. What are you reading this year? This weekend?

I can't make any promises about regularity of posting or to post anything of great interest. I could write about work, but that would either sound like an ad campaign for upcoming productions or a general lament about the never-ending nature of fundraising, neither of which would be particularly thrilling (though we do have an exciting season lined up, including the world premiere of a new musical and the return of an Emmy Award-winning actor).

In any case, I hope your year did not begin with a raging head cold but that it will involve a variety of interesting reading.

"Currently" Reading

my living room library

My Goodreads account notes that I am "currently reading" ten books, some of which have been on that list well over a year, some longer. Some of them have been on that list long enough that I have read three dozen other books in the meantime.

Here are the books my account thinks I am reading:

from On Writing

On Writing by Stephen King. I am actually reading this book. I have read several pages today and will probably finish it this evening. I recommend this book to anyone who writes or wants to write or wants to get better at writing. King tells his own journey into writing and shares insight into his own writing process. Fascinating stuff.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Also reading this. (These early titles are the most recently updated in my list so they are, of course, what I am truly into.) Ferrante delves into the sometimes confusing and haunting events of childhood and follows her characters into adolescence. I've just started the adolescence section. Took a break to read Stephen King.

Selected Stories by Alice Munro. I think I've read three or four pages of this. I took it with me on a long plane trip a couple of weeks ago, with every intention of finishing it. My other books that trip was Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale. I read that instead and have not yet returned to Munro. Earlier this year, I read Munro's Dear Life, also a collection of short stories. Her work moves me. I get lost in the language.

Barefoot Church by Brandon Hatmaker. I picked this up because I've really enjoyed Brandon's wife's work. (Jen Hatmaker has written 7 and Interrupted, among others, I'm sure, but those are the two I've owned. I'm partway through Interrupted, but don't tell Goodreads...) Can't recall why I set this one aside. It sits atop a stack of books on my dresser, most of which I have begun and not finished and none of the rest of which are recorded in this list.

with Hannah, who played Tammy

Tammy Wynette: Tragic Country Queen by Jimmy McDonough. Last summer, a whole year ago now, I performed in a production of Stand By Your Man: The Tammy Wynette Story as young Tammy and a whole host of other characters, including at least two of her daughters. I added this to the collection (along with two other Tammy Wynette biographies) as "research." As you might have guessed, I haven't finished any of them. The show closed September 20, 2014. My motivation is all but gone.

The Mill for Grinding Old People Young by Glenn Patterson. In 2012, I visited a college friend in Ireland and bought three books. (The others were Girl Reading by Katie Ward and The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown, both of which I enjoyed immensely and highly recommend.) I started this so long ago that I don't remember much of it. When I return to the story, I will probably begin again.

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. My first experience with this author's work compelled me to become a vegetarian (Eating Animals). This book had the unfortunate luck to fall into my lap in the midst of a busy work season. I read about a third of it and returned it to the library. If it's still there, I'll take it home with me this evening.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Ah, dear Don Q. Another bit of "research." I didn't even record my progress, but I think I made it more than a hundred pages. Maybe not. The bookmark remains in place, but to summarize: Don Q sets out to do something hare-brained. Sancho tells him that's a bad idea. Don Q does it anyway and is surprised when it ends badly. Rinse and repeat. The musical adaptation by Dale Wasserman & co. is magnificent. I don't know that I'll ever finish the book.

The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. A friend recommended this title to me some time ago, and I read some of it. It's outside my usual reading interest, but I trust this friend's reading habits so I gave it a try.  I remember that it reads much like a novelization of a film, which makes sense considering del Toro's background. In any case, I might go back to it. Perhaps not. I remain undecided.

The End of Poverty by Jeffrey D. Sachs. A meaty economics study with tons of real-world accounts to balance the academic side of things. I'll finish this at some point, but I was sidetracked by fiction.

to read...

Lest the sad state of my "currently" reading list lead you to believe I have not been reading at all, I assure you that I have. Goodreads reports that I have read 35 books this year. Reviewing this list reminds me that I was rather enjoying some of these and might want to revisit them, even if it means starting over at the beginning.

What are you reading?

Reading in 2015: A Brief History of Time

In yet another deviation from the reading list, the second new-to-me book of 2015 was Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. (Have you seen The Theory of Everything yet? No? You should. Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones turn in striking and moving performances as Stephen and Jane Hawking.)

I don't have a lot to see about A Brief History of Time because I'm fairly certain I didn't understand most of it beyond a general comprehension of the words on the page. Still, I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch Doctor Who again without contemplating the feasibility of time travel. However, Hawking writes in an accessible style, and although I found the science intimidating, I still enjoyed the book on the whole and might take another crack at it next year.

Up next: Not sure. Maybe The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.