Books of the Week

No one belongs here more than you.

I stayed up very late and subsequently fell asleep reading Miranda July's short story collection. Once I had cleared my head of the night's dreams, I turned on the bedside light and reimmersed myself in the book(in case you're interested in the dream, I was in France and a man in a light turquoise sweater was kissing everyone goodbye, so I hurried over for my farewell kiss. I didn't want to miss out, but the man acted strange and kissed my left cheek. Hmmm... snubbed by a blonde French man. Even my dreams are pathetic).

The characters, language, and content in July's collection are so original and offbeat that they read true and perfectly normal, as in, truth is stranger than fiction, (even though this is, in fact, fiction, as far as I know, anyway). It makes perfect sense that a former swim team member in a small, small town without a pool and hundreds of miles from any body of water, would feel compelled to teach a trio of octogenarians how to swim, in the dry rectangle of her kitchen's lineoleum; that a middle-aged woman would fixate on England's Prince Harry and devise implausibe ways to meet him, fall in love, convince him to move into her apartment, rather than focus on the here and now bleak reality of her love life. The book so far explicates our basic human need for each other, our quest to be loved just for ourselves by revealing our basest desires and selfishness. You'll wince more than once, but you'll also laugh. Out loud.

You can watch July's quirky author interview on youtube, (fyi:the real Miranda is the brunette).

Books to be read or to be thumbed through this week:

Love's Book of Answers - Carol Bolt
Don't get your hopes up and rush to your local bookstore, tears streaming down your face,offering a prayer of thanks and gratitude that your happiness is about to be delivered for only $16.00 plus tax, (or in my case, $6.95 because it was on sale). The book is more in the augury category than the self help kind. Basically, it's a lot like bibliomancy, sans Bible, as in ask a question, open the book to a page of you choice and receive you sentence fragment answer (Here's a fun link that allows you to do just that).

Fat Broke & Lonely No More - Victoria Moran
Okay, this is a seriously great title. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, February 1 is supposed to be a fortuitous day to begin a diet. My idea of going on a diet is: consume less and exercise more. Wish me luck!

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique-Bauby
The story of a man whose indomitable spirit refuses to allow a massive stroke at age forty-three to silence him, by communicating only by blinking his left eye.

Bird Signs: Guidance & Wisdom from Our Feathered Friends - G.G. Carbone
A book with an illustrated deck of cards - something akin to the tarot - which offers wisdom and insight. The first bird I drew from this deck of fifty-two cards was the Blubird/Happiness card that promises I will see happiness again. I woke this morning to a crow's caw, so according to the book, change is on the way.