Quarantine-while! A Few Good Reads - September

I only JUST realized that I can "borrow" ebooks online, via Hoopla or OverDrive (which can be read on Kindle readers) from my library without ever leaving the house!!!  Maybe you folks already knew that, but YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Pages I enjoyed in September... 

SEPTEMBER ~

• Becoming - Michelle Obama.  So excited to finally get to read this.  It did not disappoint!!!  Ms. Obama's ability to relate to others is incredible no matter if in person, a prepared speech, TV interview, or through the written page. Childhood experiences are vividly shared.  She is incredibly forthcoming about her relationships - with family, friends and that dude she married.  She keeps it real as a working mom.  Wife of a candidate.  Mother helping children learn and grow into independent individuals in a very public world.  I loved the story of her placing an over large hat on Sasha while tasked with keeping young children dressed for the brutal cold of the outdoor Chicago stage where their dad was to announce his candidacy during an interminable wait to be beckoned forth from a very warm room.  Emotions and frustrations shared on being married to an incredibly kind but driven man definitely hit home!  Given all that we have heard about the lack of attention paid to the PDB in the Presidency of he who shall not be named, deets on those and life in White House were VERY telling!  Such an impressive lady.  I can't wait to see what she does next.

• No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - followed rapidly by - Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls - Alexander McCall Smith.  I LOVE Mma Precious Ramotswe; the protagonist and newly minted detective!!  Through engaging story telling, you learn her past, meet neighbors and folks involved in her investigations.  Never having been to Botswana, I feel as though I've been given a peek into its life and geography.  The strong black female voice, a woman's heart, intuition, and observations are on point.  In fact, I was shocked and a bit startled when I realized the prolific British/Zimbabwean author is a now 72 year old white dude and expert on medical bioethics.  What????  Be that as it may, while not a heavy read, it is excellent. You feel for Mma Ramotswe.  Admire her common sense and compassion.  You laugh aloud.  She is of a different time and place but her powers of observation and understanding of human nature are reminiscent of another great detective - Miss Jane Marple. I am currently stymied in completing the series (of which there are 21!!!!) as no others are available as ebooks from my library - but I will get to the others one way or another!!! 

• Centennial - James Michener.  Having read all the books allotted from my library for the moment - amid today's tensions regarding climate, immigration, and culture - I pulled this fav off my shelves. This is probably my third read of Michener's sweeping epic centered on a small Colorado town, the river and people that give it life. Ingeniously telling the story of the west through the lives of the dinosaurs; the Arapahoe, Comanche, Pawnee and bison; the Irish, Japanese, German, French, Mexican settlers; who lived and died on these majestic plains and mountain ranges.  Despite the grand scope, their individual stories make up the whole.  Michener supplies unforgettable characters, sharing their lives, motives and desires - their courage, foibles, loves, and duplicity.  Atrocities committed against native Americans are laid bare in all its heart breaking horror.  Nature's beauty and unrelenting power across the wide prairie and rugged mountains is vivid.  Man's efforts to survive result at times in unwitting mistakes that abuse the land and its inhabitants, while others wantonly choose destruction in their desire for money and power.  First published in 1974, Michener's words remain eerily prescient.

• Come, Tell Me How You Live - Agatha Christie Mallowan.  My very favorite people share.  They tell me how they live, feel and think.  When I travel or read, I most want to know - How is it that you live in your world?  How do you manage your days?  What are your struggles?  What are your joys?  Come, tell me how you live. Social media, especially now when paired with requisite isolation from a global pandemic, is a double edged sword in this regard.  In many ways, it provides the perfect avenue for shared lives in a way that humankind has never before had access to, while simultaneously allowing others to hide in plain sight - sharing only a carefully curated and constructed polished version of their world with strangers as they leave those who know them best in the dark.  Ah well - a conundrum for another time.  Meanwhile, this book is absolutely the BEST embodiment of the original sentiment.  Feeling the need to have a moment with an old friend, I pulled this off my shelves to read again.  Dame Agatha was not only an amazing storyteller, but a woman fully able to immerse herself completely and joyfully in the moment.  In this small book, she shares her experiences at digs in Syria during the 1930's with her archeologist (second) husband.  Her rye observations of locals and staff on the tells will make you laugh out loud!  These vivid descriptions of a world so far away from mine made me wish to visit Aleppo, Homs, and Damascus long before they became words associated with recent battles in current wars.  Inshallah, the day will come when I can frequent their bazars and hear the call to prayer in that world.  Until then, I will visit lives and places across the globe through those who are willing to share. 

Reviewing this scribbled description of the reads I enjoyed in September, I realize they are really all of a piece.  Folks from different worlds, cultures, times, and positions - sharing their lives - warts and all.  REAL life.  Come.  Tell me how you live.  ~  les