Resolutions Update – Novel Recommendations Included

Having just read a flurry of books while on my flights to and from DFW, I decided to do a mid-year-ish report on my new years resolutions (one of which included to read lots of books).  Lest I forget what I have done on these so far, here, dear readers, is my Progress Report.

1. Daily Morning Yoga.  Doing pretty well with this one – 3-4 mornings a week!  It’s been great for my old creaking joints.

2. Trip to Visit Siblings. So far I’m totally sucking here – 0 for 0.  Student loans are a drag, man.  In August we get a “raise” when Jack switches from daycare to free public school – maybe I’ll be able to play catch up then.

3. Run Three Organized Races.  So far I’ve run the First Light Marathon relay (5 miles), the Azalea Trail 5k, and the Color Run 5k.  So this one’s done!

4.Take a Long Leisurely Bike Ride. Not yet.  My tires are flat and The Professor took the bike pump to the NOLA apartment, so we’ll have to remember to bring that back.

5. Increase Charitable Giving. I think it’s gone up just a titch.  We did increase paying our taxes by plenty-hundred dollars when the payroll tax holiday expired.  I like to think of that as charitable giving – it’s going towards services for the poor and sick, right?

6. Write Something 10+ pages long for pleasure.  I have actually started a piece or two.  But not gotten very far.  I was focused on writing publications for work lately, which is not so much “for pleasure” as it is “hideously boring for all but maybe seven people in the world.”

7. Read Ten Novels.  I’ve gotten through seven this year – not bad for a busy lawyer!  Here is what I’ve read so far, along with a brief review:

a. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain.  5/5 stars, loved it.  This is historical fiction, a beautiful story following Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage, to Hadley Richardson.  It is told from Hadley’s point of view, and takes place almost entirely in Paris in the twenties, during its golden years of concentrated talent.  Really, really good – ignore the snarky NY Times review, which was really, really bad.  I enjoyed this quite a lot.

b. Broken Harbor, by Tana French.  Tana French’s The Likeness is hands down the best mystery I’ve ever read – none of her other three can match it, but they’re all worth reading anyhow.  Broken Harbor is the latest, and it is a page-turner.  It doesn’t end in a totally satisfying way, but is a great read, like all of her mysteries (each first-person-narrated by a different character out of the Dublin Murder Squad).

c. Blue Nights, by Joan Didion.  Blue Nights is not a novel, it’s a memoir, but it captivated me.  You can read more about my reaction to it here.

d. Play it As It Lays, by Joan Didion.  Spare, merciless, a difficult read because it is so cruel.  My first Didion novel.  Wonderful, but vicious.

e. The Mercy of Thin Air, by Ronlyn Domingue.  I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 – decent, but not amazing.  Whenever I go to Faulkner House Books on Pirate Alley in the Quarter, I get a recommendation from whoever happens to be there.  The latest recommendation included The Paris Wife and this book, because the writer is from Louisiana and the work takes place in New Orleans in the 20s.  The book described a lot of familiar landmarks to me, and the passionate love story was moving.  But it jumps back and forth in time in a way that is too choppy and confusing, and the writing and the story were good, but not great.

f. Thud!, by Terry Pratchett.  Any Pratchett is a good Pratchett – fun, satirical, lots of slapstick.

g. The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett.  Again, a solid read.  Not my favorite Pratchett, but even mediocre Pratchett is more fun to read than just about anyone else.

8. Do 200 workouts.  I’m on #70.  So just a touch behind schedule, but still doing well!

How about you?  Read any good books lately?  I’ve got two more on my nightstand waiting for me to make time for them – Metal Man Walking, written by a friend of mine, and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, the Pirate Alley book-maiden’s last recommendation.  I also still have your recommendations – I love Ann Patchett, so State of Wonder is on my list (I have Taft and Bel Canto), as are The Language of Flowers and the trilogies by Garth Nix and Hilary Mantel.  If ya’ll are still looking for recommendations, I did like The Paris Wife, and of course Julia Glass remains my favorite novelist that I “found” in Pirate Alley.