Blood Sugar

This is Sascha Rothchild's debut novel, although she is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter and a newspaper/magazine columnist. Her protagonist, Ruby Simon, is characterized as an anti-heroine or unreliable narrator by many reviewers. She is also one you may well end up rooting for --in spite of her occasional bad behavior. According to Ruby, she may be a murderer, but she is not a sociopath--that's up for debate. She loves animals and as an adult has become a successsful psychotherapist with a thriving practice. And the people she killed all deserved to die. But now she has been charged with a murder she didn't commit and all her past sins may come to light. She has lived in Miami Beach all her life and when she is brought in for questioning, word spreads quickly. Everyone believes she killed her husband, spurred on by rumors started by her manipulative mother-in-law. Her life begins to crumble and she becomes isolated and afraid because this detective is not going to let this go whether she is innocent or not. Fortunately, Ruby's former best friend, who is now a successful lawyer, owes her a very big favor and will do everything he can to keep Ruby from going to jail. This was well written and twisty mystery with an intriguing main character.

Kirkus called this "A compelling and entertaining psychological thriller." Publishers Weekly praises her "vivid prose" in this "mesmerizing thriller."

These Precious Days

Ann Patchett is a bestselling author and owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville. I have read a couple of her novels, Bel Canto and Dutch House, but I can't say I'm a huge fan based on those works. A friend loaned me this new (2021) book of essays and I started reading with lukewarm expectations. It is a very autobiographical collection of reflections on everything from knitting to a piece of family furniture, to what she learned from her three fathers, to a treasured friendship with a woman who was dying (the essay that gives its title to the book). As I read further, I became more engrossed and felt she offered me some inspiration for my own life. Two in particular, "My Year of No Shopping" and "How to Practice" helped me set my expectations for the New Year (2023). Reflecting on her role as a bookstore owner touched me as it would everyone who loves to read. She notes that "As every reader knows, the social contract between you and book you love is not complete until you can had that book to someone else and say, Here, you're going to love this." In her essay on How to Practice, she says that downsizing your belongings is a bit like writing vs. editing; you need to focus on one thing at a time, i.e., deciding what to get rid of before you tackle trying to figure out where it will go. Eventually as things were given away, she realized that "The point was no longer making sure that the right person got the right things. The point was that those things were gone" (p. 70).

Publishers Weekly says of the collection, "In this eloquent collection, novelist Patchett ... meditates poignantly--and often with wry humor--on 'what I needed, whom I loved, what I could let go, and how much energy the letting go would take.'" Booklist calls her writing "Mischievously funny and nimbly incisive..." The NYT praises her work, "Patchett’s heart, smarts and 40 years of craft create an economy that delivers her perfectly understated stories emotionally whole. Her writing style is most gloriously her own." And Kirkus says "An enviable life shared with candor, emotion, and knockout storytelling power. "

One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder

I've read several of Brian Doyle's novels, one of my favorite being Martin Marten. This is a posthumous collection of Brian Doyle's essays that I keep on my bedside table to dip into when I need emotional comfort or inspiration. I'll steal a description from the book jacket that calls Doyle's writing "a balm." There is no longer an author web page for Doyle but it's easy enough to find information about him in such works as The Oregon Encyclopedia. I had the pleasure of hearing Brian Doyle speak at the bookstore in Sisters (Oregon) some years back and was just enthralled. He was clearly an extremely observant, funny, and compassionate being who could move the audience from laughter --when telling stories about growing up in a big Irish family or his twin boys for example-- to tears --when he talked about people less fortunate who need our attention and caring. The book itself is dedicated "to the overlooked and misunderstood, to compassion and grace that conquer all division." He focuses our attention on everyday events and helps us see them in new ways that evoke such emotions as joy, wonder, outrage, sadness, ferocity... He loves to play with words in a way that makes me smile--"fistcuffery" being one of my favorites. Some of my favorite essays from this book are:

The Final Frontier --about humility

Testimonio--a diatribe about pompous, preening, narcissistic arrogance (and the importance of humor)

On Not "Beating" Cancer--but instead enduring, surviving, wielding humor if possible, fearing as appropriate, dancing

An Leabharlann--about the value of libraries

The Bullet--against guns, manufacturers, gun defenders

Everyone Thinks That Awful Comes by Itself, But It Doesn't--self-explanatory

God--on finding God all around us

His Listening--among the many fine qualities his dad had, his ability to truly listen was most cherished

Read it and make your own list. Kirkus describes his writing by saying, "Doyle’s spirituality defies categorization. He was raised Catholic and does occasionally draw from that tradition, but his catechism isn’t comprised of doctrine or theology. Rather, ... Doyle employs the ordinary to catch the reflection of a world that is 'still stuffed with astonishments beyond our wildest imagining, which is humbling, and lovely, and maybe the only way we are going to survive ourselves and let everything else alive survive us too.'” Their final recommendation is "This brilliant compendium of spiritual musings will resonate with people of any faith—or of none." The NYT was effusive in their praise, for example: "Doyle was a writer 'made of love and song and amusement.' Every living thing intrigued him and was worthy of his powerful capacity for study and his equally powerful capacity for celebration."