Welcome to the first summer installment of Carpe Libris. I mentioned a while back that I had developed a summer reading list/shelf. Alas, I seem to be adding more to the stacks so they're growing rather than dwindling but I'm hoping that a new routine that includes no Netflix-on-Demand on weekdays will allow me to see some progress in the next few weeks. (Sorry new episodes of Murdoch Mysteries, you're just going to have to wait.)So without further ado, here's what I have been reading lately-- books that were on my original list and a few that were added more recently.
Bowl of Light by Anne Yarbrough
Before I talk about this book, I have to confess two things:
#1. I have a deep seated prejudice against self-published books. I know, I know, I'm a book snob. It's nothing I haven't been accused of in the past. I realize the whole publishing culture is changing, yadda yadda yadda. And while I do love my Kindle for Android app and am all about being able to carry a gazillion books on my person at once (while often complaining I have nothing to read), I'm still not sold on self-publishing. To me, it's reminiscent of grocery store sushi. There's so much put out there for public consumption that's not just mediocre but really bad. Call me crazy, but I'm not only loathe to waste my money, I don't want to risk making myself nauseated.
Which brings me to . . .
#2. I know Anne Yarbrough and her husband, Greg. I have heard Anne preach, have read her blog, and from previous experience know she's a lovely writer so I was willing to make an exception for this book.
And bad California roll it wasn't. More like the most delicious toro I've ever had. I savored the essays in the book, doling them out in small bites so I could prolong the experience of reading it.
While Bowl of Light chronicles island life in Nova Scotia, it isn't just the story of one couple's efforts to fix up an old house and adjust to life in a rural community where there seem to be more sheep around than actual human neighbors. (Although the human neighbors include lobster men who seem to frequently drop by a few crustaceans for dinner-- worth the inconvenience of no electricity or running water for a year? Perhaps.) This humble collection is really an extended reflection on creation, in the sense of both noun and verb. An ode to a rhythm of life that some may deem "simpler," Anne writes idyllically about the island but it's not romanticized. There's plenty of grittiness and hard work described . . . but still not enough to discourage me from harboring my own fantasies about island living.
My harboring fantasies about a different landscape aren't limited to Nova Scotia. I am almost through reading this little gem that I stumbled upon, literally, in a used book store in Kensington. Modest Harmony: Seven Summers in a Scottish Glen by Sheila Gordon describes her family's adventure as an off-handed remark about desiring a summer cottage in the Scottish countryside turns into a reality. Published thirty years ago, it's really more a memoir of a place and lifestyle than a family, for the heart of the book is the glen-- its landscape, its history and its inhabitants. From the hard working, hard drinking, hard brawling neighboring farmhands to the lady of the manor who still dresses for dinner in a pink evening gown and jewels despite the fact that the only other inhabitant of her home is an oft praised but overworked housekeeper, Gordon observes a way of life that was fading at the time with sensitivity and appreciation. I hadn't realized the connection before now, but this book is reminiscent of Bowl of Light in that both authors seem compelled to learn and share the history and stories of the earlier inhabitants of their homes. At one point Gordon remarks that she doesn't like new houses because they lack "ghosts" and it's important for a home to have history.
A home that would have ghosts if it existed outside the author's imagination is the Bellewether house. The Bellewether Revivals by Benjamin Wood. This was a book that wasn't on my list but appeared on my Kindle the day it was released and I couldn't for the life of me remember why I pre-ordered it. I then read the description that likened it to Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited and I remembered clicking on the pre-order button in the midst of a late night Amazon plunder-- one of the mixed blessings of electronic books. I was immediately captured by the story which is one of those that begins with a a couple dead bodies and then goes back in time to see how the story evolved? devolved? to the point where someone (who we're not sure) is a murder and others the victims. Set in Oxford and focusing on a group of close knit friends, the main character being the relative newcomer to the group, this was definitely a page turner. I don't want to give away any more of the story but I will say that as I was up late reading it, I found myself wondering why, other than wanting to know had killed and who had been killed, I couldn't put the book down. If wanting the mystery solved was my only concern, I could have just flipped to the last chapter but I found I had to keep reading despite the fact that I didn't find any of the characters particularly sympathetic. The writing was commendable but not lyrical so I wasn't reading for the language. What I came to realize was that it was simply the case of Benjamin Wood having an interesting story to tell and doing that well. Although I'll also confess I didn't find the last part of the book quite on par with say the first three-quarters. It felt to me like the author realized where the story was heading and raced through the writing of the last part to get there, rather than teasing out the story in the same engaging way he had in earlier pages. But all in all, a good summer read. 
Speaking of Brideshead Revisited . . . I'm slowly working my way through Waugh's classic but somehow I feel I can only read it when I have a glass of something bubbly by my side so I'm limiting my consumption of both to the occasional Friday night so it's slow going. While I've seen most of the Masterpiece Theatre version and the more recent film adaptation, I've never actually read the book before so I'm enjoying this little bit of escapism. Reading it in conjunction with the final book I'll mention in this post has been particularly interesting.
So that's what I've been reading lately . . . what's on your summer reading list?
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