Books: Try and Try Again

64°f/17°C, clear, cool, less humid.

I often struggle to get into a book, to get really drawn in to the characters and the story. It not the fault of the author, usually. I think it has more to do with how busy I am, my mind refusing to release reality long enough to sink into the fictional, or even nonfiction, world.

So here's some of what I have tried recently. 

Let's start at the bottom right. Judith Guest is an author I usually enjoy, and this story made me think of Jeanie and her cabin on the lake, because this story is set in a very similar place, a cabin on Lake Huron. It's not giving anything away to say the Dad in the story is dying of cancer. The family sets out on its annual trek to their cabin anyway, and the book traces how each is dealing with the father's impending death: denial, suppression, confusion,  anger and of course, the stress of the looming unknown. I admit, I had to give up on this one. While well-written, I found it a depressing read, perhaps because of the recent deaths of several friends.

The Perfect Paragon by M.C. Beaten was a light easy read, and a relief after Errands. A typical British murder mystery, complete with a church fete, Women's Institute, cups of tea, etc. While I figured out whodunit pretty early on, I did enjoy this story.  Not the best writing perhaps? But I would read another by Beaton, just for the light mental work involved.

Why did I even pick up Miss Julia Takes Over? I should have known better. I had tried another of Ann Ross's Miss Julia books, and didn't finish it either. What can I say? Stereotypes, badly written dialog, flat characters...just no. Not for me. I managed the first two chapters before giving up. 

I usually enjoy Alice Hoffman's books, but I was not enchanted with Here On Earth. Maybe it was the wrong time of year for her kind of story, a blend of folklore, mysticism,  and mystery. She has written several books based around Blackbird Pond, an old New England homestead with a background of strangeness. For me, this felt like a revisiting of similar themes in her other books I've read. So again, I put this one down mid-book, disappointed because I had looked forward to it. Ah well. 

Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White is an absolute romp. White was a former commentator on public radio, and I looked forward to her gravely voice telling crazy tales of life with her mother. The book is a series of essays, hilarious and yet achingly touching. I read it first some years ago, and it was worth the re-read. 

Last is my favorite from this batch, A Widow's Curse. Another story based in the American South, this one is set in the north Georgia Mountains. A former folklore professor has moved back to his homeplace, and tries to leave his academic life behind. But he is becoming bored with his rustic, lonely life, and grabs an opportunity offered by a stranger: discover the origins and importance of an unusual coin in the stranger's family collection. Well written and with many surprising twists and turns, the story includes snippets of Cherokee lore and history, and Appalachian superstitions (and occasional bouts of angst that I skipped over. Guy needs to get over himself). My only caveats about this book, besides the above-mentioned angst, is that there are quite a few "asyouknowBobs", a trope where the author tells a character something the character already knows, but the author wants the reader to know. Annoying. There are ways to impart such information without resorting to this trope.  Still, it was a good read, and I will certainly try another book by Phillip DePoy.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.