The Canning Season

This has been the summer (and early fall) of the book in the Goldsmith household. A reading renaissance, even. If you were to come to our house--which no one ever does--you would see, on our coffee table, a stack two feed high of "in rotation" books of Callum and Maira. We keep them there since we usually read on the couch. Our living room is TRULY a living room....we play in there, we watch shows, we color, we read books. Callum ultimate favorite book(s) right now are Arthur stories...each week we go to the library to select a new one. He has almost read them all.

We have been so into our reading that we have even downgraded our Netflix subscription....we used to get three at a time (like Tim in college) but now we only get one--and even that ONE we never seem to watch (Inspector Linley has been on our coffee table for over a month)

I'd love to set up a GOOD READS account on line--my friend Brad told me about this (he has one) as a place to post QUICK reviews of books and keep track of what you have read. Maybe Brad can inspire me to actually start this.....

I have read so many books over the summer, but the one that stands out (not only for this summer, but also for my LIFE) is Polly Horvath's THE CANNING SEASON. Rarely does a book affect me this much. And the mystery of the effect it has on me is that I DONT KNOW why it affects me so much; it is one of those books that, although I finished it two months ago, I still think about as I fall asleep at night...or while I am on a long run....or while I read my current book and lament over the fact that it just ain't as good as THE CANNING SEASON. This is what great books do, right? They confuse us and baffle us and lead us on and intrigue us--like a shifty crush (male or female) and cause us to constantly reexamine what it is we love about the anyway (?) No? You should read it. It isnt that long. And it takes place in Maine. The story involves a girl named Ratchet whose mom is a an awful human being (or is she?) Ratchet is sent to live with her nearly one hundred year old GREAT aunts in the remote Maine woods/coast. I dont know if it is comedy, but it is sure funny. Little adventures ensue. The most amazing thing for me is that, after over two hundred pages (and the final page of the book) you know abso. lutely. NOTHING about the main character Ratchet. Yet you know everything. It is weird. It is an unusual book for sure--the premise of a young, quiet girl going to live with old, stuck-in-their-ways opinionated old spinsters. Lynne and I read it at the same time, and talked BRIEFLY about it....but I need to do more with this book. Our good friend Muriel read it, and I look forward to talking to her. It is a book I need to talk about. You should read it. It won the National Book Award, even.

Currently, I am reading (40 pages from done) THE LOST SYMBOL by Dan Brown. Awesome story (kind of). You could tell he just wanted to end this and didnt know how. Kind of. I dont know

Summer of the book.