Now Let's Read Some Books

This is the sixth year I have gone to BookExpo. I enjoy it more each year as I get to know more people. I enjoy the programs I attend,  I am excited to meet authors I admire and love two days of discussing books. But most of all I love the books. Each one looks more exciting than the next and I dream of coming home and reading all through the summer. But once I get home many of the books I am most excited about go unread. Not this year!

This year I made a promise to myself to really read and read a lot. My first goal is to read eight books in June, and so far I am keeping it. I am just about finished with The Dry, one of the best mystery novels I've read in a long time, and I've also started Love and Other Consolation Prizes, by Jamie Ford.
  

If you're a fan of Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and many of us are, I can highly recommend Love and Other Consolation Prizes. I'm about a third of the way through this highly readable book -- scheduled to be published in September -- and it is sweet, tender and thoughtful, and yes, I've cried already. I know the characters, especially the main character, Ernest Young, will stay with me for a long, long time.  

 



The other book I've started reading is very different from Love and Other Consolation Prizes.  The Salt Line takes place in an America of the future. The country has been ravaged and the only safe places to live are within the salt line, burnt earth that separates the livable from the dangerous. This novel, also due to be published in September is difficult reading. It's a dystopian novel for adults, beautifully written, but also painful in sections. I don't get past a chapter before I stop reading and take a rest from the brutality of the story. Why do I keep reading? It is compelling and I am drawn back to find out what happens to the characters as they go beyond the salt line.

My goal is to read eight books this month and a book a week -- yes, every week! -- for the next year. I'll be reporting in here to keep me accountable. At the end of this month I'll be doing a book giveaway. In order to enter you will need to have read one book in June. The more books read, the more entries. Let's read some books!

We've had an actual heat wave for the last few days, though thankfully the temperatures have returned to more seasonal weather and today was just about balmy. I'm planning a museum visit tomorrow and I hope to see Wonder Woman on Friday, so there's some fun ahead.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care.     


 

Hello, Bette

When I was in high school one of the great treats of my life was taking the New Haven Railroad  from Hartford to New York City for Wednesday matinee day with my mother. We didn't do it very often because of the expense, and our lunch in New York was usually at the automat -- no Sardi's for these theater goers -- but what a treat it was. One of the plays we saw was "Hello, Dolly, with Ginger Rogers in the title role. Over fifty years later people still ask me if I saw Carol Channing in her signature role and I say happily, "No, I saw my dancing idol, Ginger Rogers." It's still a very happy memory.
 

Last fall I saw that there would be revival of the play with Bette Midler opening in the spring. I ordered tickets months ahead and kept busy with life. But May came around and I saw a beautiful and touching production with Bette Midler, now my perfect Dolly. When I saw Hello Dolly at sixteen, I couldn't fathom what life might be like for an older woman making her way in the world alone, as Dolly Levi does in the play. Now I totally understand it and had so much appreciation for the character, the role and Bette Midler. It's a beautiful production and if you're a fan of musicals or theater or fun, well worth seeing.

I played Stagedoor Buttercup after the show. Alas, Bette Midler didn't come out for autographs the night I saw it, I did get David Hyde Pierce's autograph on my program, which made my evening of theater complete.

I'm completing two pieces of unfinished business with this post. The first is my A to Z blogging. I omitted H and while I will be doing a post about Alexander Hamilton, I am counting this post as "H." The second piece of business is announcing the winner of the Mile A Day in May Challenge.  The winner is Jeannette at Longwell Crew. Jeannette, I have a novel and a book tote bag for you. Congratulations and thanks to all the walkers for keeping me company.

I'm reading and reading these days and did my first post on  Coffee Light and Mysteries Noir in a long time. I shared my thoughts on Jane Harper's terrific mystery, "Dry." I hope you will stop by and visit.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care!