The Miracle and Wonder of Paul Simon

Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon by Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam, and Paul Simon

 

3 words: behind the scenes, intimate, revealing

 

The first time I listened to an entire audiobook in one day?

It was this one.

I just couldn’t stop. While the Dear Man was shoveling on a recent Sunday, I puttered around the house, listening to Paul Simon talk about his creative process. Then I took Paul Simon along on a run. And before you know it, five hours had swung on by, and I was sad — so sad — that the story was over. 

What’s so delightful about this audiobook is the glimpse into the creative process. I love that stuff.

Simon talks how they got that percussion sound in The Boxer, about how he write The Sound of Silence in his parents’ bathroom, and the way he and Art Garfunkel collaborated… until they didn’t. 

It’s the rich oral history of a decades-long creator. Malcolm Gladwell, who conducts the interviews, analyzes Simon’s creative style, and that’s fascinating, too. 

If you even slightly like Paul Simon’s music — or if you love learning about the creative process — this 5-hour experience is gold. 

 

(Tip: if your public library offers Hoopla, you can listen to Miracle & Wonder for free via Hoopla.)

Ann Patchett’s essays: so amazing

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These Precious Days by Ann Patchett

3 words: warm, lyrical, heartfelt

 

Ann Patchett is my favorite author, so of course I was going to read her essay collection. Not only do I adore Ann, I adore essays. And when you combine the two, you’ve basically got the world’s most perfect book. 

And I can confirm: These Precious Days may be the world’s most perfect book. 

(…after Run, which is officially my favorite novel of all time. In this new essay collection, Patchett shares the inspiration for Run, which completely expanded the size of my heart.)

 

From the very first essay, I was sharing details with my loved ones — telling them how Ann feels vulnerable when carrying around fictional characters inside her before they’re published. And so she wrote essays during this awful pandemic time. I’m so grateful she did. 

 

The second essay (I promise I won’t cover every single one) will stay with me for a long time, too. It’s about her three fathers — her biological father and her two stepfathers. The way she writes about the group photo she coordinated with all three of them made me smile, and her stories about each of them gave me that warm, sad, good feeling. 

 

And she writes about her work, and her mentors, and the way she’s devoted to making sure her book covers are exactly the way she wants (and why). She writes about her lack of sentimentality about her early work and her potential archives, and she writes about her bookstore. She writes about her love for dogs. 

 

But most poignantly, she writes about friendship. She’s written about this before – in Truth and Beauty – the memoir about her friendship with writer Lucy Grealy. And here she writes about other meaningful friendships – with her lifelong friend Talia, and with her new friend Sooki. 

 

Her friendship with Sooki — the topic of the title essay — is the one that devastated me. Ann writes about the way she picked up the ARC of Tom Hanks’ book Uncommon Type, read it, loved it, blurbed it, and then was invited to interview Tom Hanks. That’s where she met Sooki (who worked as Tom’s assistant) — and the two became close email friends. And then Sooki was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

 

That’s where it hit me in the gut. Pancreatic cancer killed my own sweet, dear, stealthy-strong, one-in-twenty-trillion mom, and it’s an evil demonic beast of a thing. At its mere mention, I go weak in the knees and also grow killer fangs; I feel like I’m going to pass out, but not before I do some fierce damage to try to defend someone against this murderous force. 

 

So Sooki had this awful diagnosis, and Ann sprung into action because she could. Her husband Karl is a doctor, and he connected Sooki with a clinical trial, and Sooki moved in with Ann and Karl during her treatments. Near strangers, but not strangers at all. It’s a remarkable thing how kindred spirits find one another and connect. 

 

Light in the midst of darkness — that’s what this book is about. Doing every doggone thing you can, even when it might not be enough to bring about the outcome you really want. Fighting the good fight, and doing with with the biggest, fiercest, most beautiful love. 

 

It broke my heart. Then it put it back together again. I can’t think about it without crying. If someone had told me, “There’s pancreatic cancer in this book,” I think (I know) I would’ve shied away. I’m glad I didn’t. 

 

Reading this book made me feel like the world is not such a horrible place, because there are such fine humans living here. 

 

Give this book a whirl if you like: sparkling essays, lyrical writing, insight into a writer’s life, stories of wonderful friendship, being a good human

Brandi Carlile’s story

Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile

3 words: candid, reflective, engaging

“All of these lines across my face 
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am…”

—Brandi Carlile, The Story

Brandi Carlile keeps surprising me with her awesomeness. 

The first surprise: discovery of her existence 

Old friends at Old Crow Medicine Show / Brandi Carlile concert -- So Good!

A friend and I went to see Old Crow Medicine Show at a wicked cool outdoor music venue, cuz we both like some fine Americana music. And Brandi Carlile opened for them. My friend, who’s way more musically knowledgeable than I’ll ever be, knew who she was, but I didn’t. But about 30 second into her first song, I was like, “OMG, that voice.” I love strong, husky, vulnerable voices, and wow does she ever have one. 

The second surprise: the book 

When I saw that Brandi Carlile had written a memoir, I placed a hold right away. I know she’s got some serious songwriting skills, and I couldn’t wait to read her prose. And I was interested to read her personal story, which turned out to be way more fascinating, stirring, and inspiring than I’d expected. 

For example, who knew she’d been a country music prodigy who performed with her family when she was a wee young one? And who knew she had a hardscrabble early life? And of her heartbreak at being rejected by her church because she’s gay? (That seriously broke my heart.)

Carlile’s strength of spirit and honesty are present on every page. She’s frank and bighearted, and she tells her story in a way that is beautiful. I love memoirs of the creative life — authors, artists, musicians — because their stories so often are tales of overcoming the odds to pursue a dream.

The third surprise: more of her music 

While reading her memoir, I kept YouTubing the songs she mentioned. And each chapter ends with the lyrics of a song or two, which of course a person wants to hear. So I dove into her music as never before, and now three of her songs play on my inner jukebox on regular shuffle. And any day I’ve got Brandi as my interior soundtrack is a strong and gentle and thoughtful one.

I’ll leave you with one…

Are you a fan of musician memoirs? Or other stories of the creative life? Recommendations, please!

Narrative nonfiction for book bingo

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Narrative nonfiction… the mere words create happiness.

This is my natural reading place, and I’ve delayed posting a list of five (only five!) narrative nonfiction books because paring down my list of favorites? Not so very easy.

If you ask me on a different day, you’re likely going to get a completely different list of books.

But these five are seriously solid choices for any nonfiction reader.

My fellow narrative nonfiction fanatics…
What titles would you put on your list of 5 sure-bet narrative nonfiction books?

(Can you tell I’m wanting to increase my TBR?)

The Cookbook Reading Extravaganza

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Anyone else reading cookbooks all the time for the sheer comfort of it? Same here.

I’ve never in my life been a cookbook reader, and suddenly, mid-pandemic, it’s like someone flipped a switch and suddenly I’m checking out every readerly cookbook I can get my hands on.

I hold Molly Yeh and Deb Perelman and Priya Krishna and Melissa Coleman fully responsible. Their cookbooks are beautiful and full of friendly and relatable stories, and I feel like they’re my kitchen friends (the kind of friend who’s way smarter than me about everything involving food and photography and writing and every other useful life skill — and I adore ’em anyway).

And since I’ve been in the kitchen a lot over the past year (we’ve been “traveling” by making recipes related to places we’ve actually visited in the past), it’s been a quiet little victory to expand my cooking horizons and really fall into the rhythm of cooking.

 

Now I wouldn’t say this new habit is a problem, but one of the challenges is when library holds on multiple cookbooks arrive on the same day. And cookbooks — the pretty ones filled with photos — are heavy monsters to carry. So there are days I feel like a pack mule just getting the library books home. (Such problems!)  And then I have a stack of cookbooks distracting me from other reading. (Again, not an actual problem)

 

And truly, some of the cookbooks are just for browsing… I’ll flip through and look at every recipe, mark a few that I’d like to try, and that’s that.

 

But other cookbooks are so much more than that. My most recent cookbook reading delight was Molly Yeh’s Molly on the Range, which describes her life as a Chinese American/Jewish food blogger (and Juilliard-trained percussionist), transplanted to the rural Midwest — to an actual farm, because of love. Her voice is original and funny, and her recipes are creative yet approachable. And she makes me really want to try to bake challah. She gives me faith that it might not be a total flop if I attempt it. (Stay tuned… I’m probably gonna flop. At least at first.)

 

And I actually bought a copy of Melissa Coleman’s The Minimalist Kitchen, which cleared my very high bar for cookbook purchases (more than 75% of the recipes are things I actually want to cook — and feel capable of cooking).

All those bookmarks!

 

So I’m asking everyone — I’m definitely asking you —

What are the readable cookbooks you love best?

The Warmth of Other Suns: perfect narrative nonfiction

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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

 

3 words: narrative, absorbing, poignant

You know when you read a book that you realize is going to unseat one of the books on your top 10 favorites list? Happened to me with this book.

Isabel Wilkerson is one of those remarkable writers who blends intimate, individual narratives with a broad look at a major event in American history. In other words, she’s a genius writer of narrative nonfiction. 

Her writing invites the reader to walk alongside the three people she follows, and I marveled at the detail she included. Once I read the Acknowledgments, I saw that she spent countless hours interviewing the three people whose stories she tells in depth, and she traveled with them back to their starting points in the South. They clearly developed a closeness and trust, and that comes through in the writing. 

The Great Migration took place during the first part of the 20th century, when millions of Black Americans moved from the South to the North, seeking a better life. In some cases, their stories are terrifying, as they fled the threat of lynching. This book blends uplift with heartbreak, hope with fear, and self-deliverance with a tempering of displacement. 

One of the things that makes this book so powerful is that the reader gets to learn on multiple levels — intellectually because the book is filled with fascinating facts about the Great Migration, emotionally because we as readers grow to care deeply about the people we’re reading about, and spiritually because this narrative is an important part of our American story and who we are as a nation — the good and the ugly. These unique stories tell the bigger story, and at the same time remain the experience of the single individuals who lived them. 

And throughout the book, the writing is lyrical and expressive and a pure pleasure to read. More than once, I read a sentence out loud for the sheer pleasure of the language.

Give this book a whirl if you like… learning about the Great Migration, nonfiction by Black authors, narrative nonfiction, lyrical writing, #ownvoices nonfiction, individual stories interwoven in a larger historical context

The Yellow House — a gorgeous memoir

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The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

3 words: lyrical, evocative, strong sense of place

 

You know when you’re reading a book and the writing’s so lush and beautiful and honest and creative, you just wish so hard you could write like that? The Yellow House is one of those books. Sarah M. Broom is one of those writers.*

It’s no surprise that this book won the National Book Award. Not only is the content is important, but the book is hard to put down. 

Broom writes of her childhood home–a shotgun house in New Orleans. A home that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which Broom terms “the Water.” 

And while her family’s home is at the heart of this book, really this is a coming of age story about family and race and inequality.

Broom is the “babiest” of twelve children, and her writing about her siblings makes a person appreciate the joy of being part of a large family. After her father’s much-too-early death, her mother raised them all herself, and that in itself is a marvel. 

The New Orleans where Broom grew up was not the Big Easy known by tourists, and she’s frank about the struggles her family experienced due to racism and financial hardship. 

The Yellow House is a memoir that’s powerful, expressive, and poignant. If you appreciate a unique and creative narrative voice, reading the work of Black authors, and experiencing a compelling reading experience, I encourage you to pick up a copy of The Yellow House. 

 

*You can experience Sarah M. Broom’s writing by visiting her website, especially the Q&A section

Well-Read Black Girl and the power of books

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Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves edited by Glory Edim

3 words: literary, #ownvoices, personal

Hello, readers. We’re here because we love the written word and because we know books have the power to change lives. And we understand the power of books as mirrors and windows — reflecting our own lives and giving us insight into the lives of others. 

Well-Read Black Girl is all about the importance of books as mirrors. And since it’s filled with essays written by Black women authors, it’s also about the role books can play in building a literary life. 

Here you’ll find essays by Jesmyn Ward, Tayari Jones, N. K. Jemisin, Stephanie Powell Watts, and many other Black authors who write about their love of reading and their experiences of finding in a book (often after a long wait) someone who reflected their own experience. 

Or for Tayari Jones, who writes, “As a baby, I teethed on board books featuring children explaining how much they loved eating vegetables and being black” (p. 23), it wasn’t so much about experiencing a lack of representation in the books she read as a young person. Instead, books provide a way to deeply explore questions about life as a Black woman. The way she writes about her experience of feeling challenged and exposed by ideas in a novel she re-read… it’s like an ode to the power of literature.

Since the authors of these essays are people devoted to the written word, the writing is by turns lovely, powerful, frank and lyrical–often all within the same essay. I was tempted to read one right after the other, but I tried to pause between essays to hold the thoughts for a while. 

If you, too, are on a journey to read more #ownvoices books, this book is a wonderful source of recommendations. Throughout the book, you’ll find lists of books on topics like “Well-Read Black Girl Recommends: Science Fiction and Fantasy Books by Black Women.” And at the end, there’s a list of all the books mentioned in the entire book. 

Your TBR will thank you for reading this book. (I lost count of how many books I added.) 

Glory Edim, the creator of this book, is the founder of the Well-Read Black Girl book club, https://www.wellreadblackgirl.com/  a book club dedicated to Black women writers. Her website and Instagram are great sources for reading ideas. 

Give this book a whirl if you like… #ownvoices narratives, essays about the power of finding oneself in books, the love of reading, books as mirrors, Black women and literature, books that contain lists of other recommended books

What #ownvoices books are you reading these days? 

Little acts of stoicism

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A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine

3 words: joyful, quietly enthusiastic, encouraging

Reading this book during the onset of a global pandemic turned out to be a really good idea. As things were getting scarier and stranger by the hour, I was bolstered by the calm, quiet, gently encouraging tone of this book, which offers guidance on how Stoicism can offer a sense of peace. 

I needed to find a way to experience peace. 

And I have to say thank you to Bybee of Blue-Hearted Bookworm, whose review of this book made me sit up and take notice when she posted a few years ago. Sometimes people and their words reach us at just the right time. Thanks, Bybee dear. 

William A. Irvine is a kind guide through the ideas of Stoicism, and for me, the book really got going once he started describing the actual practices of Stoic living. 

For example, imagine the loss of everyone and everything you love, because this will increase your appreciation for them. 

Clearly, that sounds dreadful (especially when the world’s so frightening), but he describes how this approach can actually lead to our living the way we really want to live — in loving appreciation of the gifts we’ve been given. 

And another… determine which aspects of life you have some control over, and focus your efforts in those areas — and let go of the areas where we have no control. This reminds me of Viktor Frankl’s words: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

Irvine distinguishes between our setting a goal of winning a game vs. setting a goal of playing our best. The first goal is outside our control, while the latter is something we can actually achieve if we put our mind to it. 

And there’s much more… 

So I’ve determined to begin practicing Stoicism in small ways, and then perhaps in larger ways. And this means I’ll be re-reading this book, because the first reading of this kind of life-changing book can inspire me, but it’s the second and third readings where I’m actually able to grasp the ideas and put them into practice. 

 

Anyone else like that? A single reading just isn’t enough, if I think there’s potentially life-changing stuff at hand.

 

What strategies and mindsets are getting you through this difficult time?

 

Give this book a whirl if you like… developing a philosophy for living, envisioning the worst so you can appreciate what you you have, diminishing anxiety, finding peace

New nonfiction on my TBR

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The glory of Nonfiction November is learning about all the great nonfiction books a person somehow missed and really must read. This is a terrible, wonderful thing. So many books! So our final post of the month is about the expansion of our already burgeoning TBR lists. 

New to My TBR, hosted by Rennie from What’s Nonfiction: It’s been a month full of amazing nonfiction books! Which ones have made it onto your TBR? Be sure to link back to the original blogger who posted about that book!

Here are the books I’ve added to my TBR this month, with thanks to the wonderful book bloggers who wrote such glorious and enticing reviews.

Shoot for the Moon by James Donovan 
Recommended by JulzReads

Failure Is Not an Option by Gene Kranz  
Recommended by Never Enough Novels

Design Your Next Chapter by Debbie Travis 
Recommended by Beverley A. Baird

Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl 
Recommended by The Book Stop

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Recommended by booksaremyfavouriteandbest

The Wisdom of the Enneagram 
Recommended by Lisa Notes

Home Sweet Maison by Danielle Postel-Vinay
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson 
Recommended by Susan of Blue-Hearted Bookworm

Houseworks by Cynthia Ewer 
Recommended by Amy 

At Home with Books by Estelle Ellis
Recommended by Head Subhead

 

My fellow nonfiction fans… what books did Nonfiction November add to the top of your TBR?