Happy Monday, faithful readers! I hope everyone had a great weekend.
After the 8+ hours in the Atlanta airport, I did finally make it home. Being stuck in an airport terminal is not something I particularly enjoy doing, but there is something interesting about how the would-be passengers get to know each other – like the lady going to a family reunion in Terry, MS, who interrogated me about having children…or another lady (who sounded Jamaican) going to visit her sister in the hospital…or the old man who bought his wife a chocolate milkshake since she couldn’t walk all the way to Starbucks. We even found ourselves rallying around a young man headed home for 2 days before he left for 15 months for basic training. It’s extraordinary how unlikely, uncomfortable situations bring strangers together.
But, being stuck in one place did give me the opportunity to finish I’m Down. I heard of this book by reading Jen Lancaster’s blog. I usually howl with laughter at anything she reads, so I trusted her implicitly with this recommendation. I have to say, it was not what I thought. Mishna Wolff is a white girl in a black neighborhood whose dad believes he is black, too. The stories she tells about her dysfunctional childhood – her home that is always being “remodeled,” her dad forcing her to play basketball or run track, her “smart” school attended by only rich kids – are as funny as they are sad. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking, “how can this child ever turn out to be normal?” I suppose “normal” is relative, especially when you turn your childhood into a memoir. I give it a B+.
Now I’m into The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, recommended to me by my impossibly witty and darling friend, Laura Merrill. This book is written epistolary-style, completely of letters between the main character and her friends. So far, so good. Review to come!
After the 8+ hours in the Atlanta airport, I did finally make it home. Being stuck in an airport terminal is not something I particularly enjoy doing, but there is something interesting about how the would-be passengers get to know each other – like the lady going to a family reunion in Terry, MS, who interrogated me about having children…or another lady (who sounded Jamaican) going to visit her sister in the hospital…or the old man who bought his wife a chocolate milkshake since she couldn’t walk all the way to Starbucks. We even found ourselves rallying around a young man headed home for 2 days before he left for 15 months for basic training. It’s extraordinary how unlikely, uncomfortable situations bring strangers together.
But, being stuck in one place did give me the opportunity to finish I’m Down. I heard of this book by reading Jen Lancaster’s blog. I usually howl with laughter at anything she reads, so I trusted her implicitly with this recommendation. I have to say, it was not what I thought. Mishna Wolff is a white girl in a black neighborhood whose dad believes he is black, too. The stories she tells about her dysfunctional childhood – her home that is always being “remodeled,” her dad forcing her to play basketball or run track, her “smart” school attended by only rich kids – are as funny as they are sad. The whole time I was reading this book, I kept thinking, “how can this child ever turn out to be normal?” I suppose “normal” is relative, especially when you turn your childhood into a memoir. I give it a B+.Now I’m into The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, recommended to me by my impossibly witty and darling friend, Laura Merrill. This book is written epistolary-style, completely of letters between the main character and her friends. So far, so good. Review to come!
PS - I'm now on twitter! I can't guarantee how long I'll do it or how often or interesting my tweets will be, but let's give it a shot, shall we?
4 comments:
tweet away my friend!
I'm kinda surprised you want to be friends with Katie.
(Sorry I deleted that post. I misspelled something).
just finished potato peel pie and it was wonderful!! having our book club discussion about it on tuesday.
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