Books Read 2020

Better late than never, I suppose ... I was updating the page with the "Currently Reading" and realized that I never posted the 2020 list. It is surprisingly short - most likely because of all the distractions of the year.

In any case, here it is:

Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

The Ambassador's Daughter: A Novel by Pam Jenoff Signed by the Author

Death Over a Diamond Stud: The assassination of the Orleans Parish District Attorney by Christophrt G. Pena

Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert ARC

After the Worst Thing Happens by Audrey Vernick ARC

Latitudes of Longing: a novel by Shubhangi Swarup ARC

Utopia by Thomas More [Yes, a second time]

A Room Away from the Wolves by Nova Ren Suma Signed by the Author, ARC

Wink: a novel (Surviving Middle School with One Eye Open) by Rob Harrell YA ARC

Leaving Lymon by Lesa Cline-Ransome YAARC

Blue Daisy by Helen Frost [J/YA] ARC

Dear Beast by Dori Hillstead Butler, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry [graphic novel, J/YA] ARC

The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg Signed by the Author

Utopia by Thomas More

Updike's Witches

I recently did something that I think I have never done before ... I read a couple books and then immediately watched the movie made from one of them. I no longer remember what inspired me to pull from the library stacks The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike. But this late fall, I was off and running/reading.

I have read Updike before. I read several of his books prior to introducing him at the Connecticut Library Association Annual Conference in 2000. After the Conference, I also read the book he was promoting at that time (Gertrude and Claudius) as well as an older collection (Bech is Back - which he most thoughtfully inscribed to me).

This time I did the following in this order:

1. Read The Witches of Eastwick
2. Read The Widows of Eastwick
3. Watched the movie: "The Witches of Eastwick"

The action in The Widows takes place 30 years after the activities of The Witches. The Widows is an interesting take on the aging process, in addition to the other themes which follow from one book to the other. The theme of aging and those changes is a one which Updike explores in other works (most notably to me, the Rabbit series).

I was disappointed and disturbed by the movie adaptation. In both of the books, the women characters (Sukie, Jane, and Alexandra) are portrayed as strong women with a bond with each other, and having developed/found their unique skills which are most powerful when they are together. Darryl as a character arrives in Eastwick after there has already been action from the women. In the movie, however, Darryl (played by Jack Nicholson) is portrayed as the force which develops and binds the women's powers.

In the Wikipedia entry on The Witches (the book) it notes:

Updike described his novel as "about female power, a power that patriarchal societies have denied." Many scholars viewed it as strongly pro-feminist, "an intelligent engagement with feminism, and a rare case of a male novelist writing from women's points of view." Some have expressed concern that the book may be misogynistic, as it seems to reinforce the patriarchal conceptions of women as witches and of women requiring a man for personal growth; others believe that the book may be more of a satire of such ideas.

The movie clearly takes a different tack, as a vehicle for Nicholson, and focuses on his presence as the driving force - and the ending of the movie is a dramatic difference from the book - having repurposed one of the plot lines.

It has been interesting.

I will also confess, that part of the attraction for me was the setting. Eastwick is a fictional town on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. It is a setting with which I am familiar. I could see the setting in my minds' eye ... could hear the voices (and accents) ... could almost smell the salt air, and the mustiness endemic to older, wooden-framed homes near the salt-water coast.

I recommend the books - both of them. The movie, not so much.

ALA Midwinter 2020 - Philadelphia

Here is my tentative schedule for ALA Midwinter. Note that it is still tentative!


I am flying in on Thursday (1/23) and leaving on the 28th. (Note: I have not figured out how to make "Agenda" the default view.") Clicking on any event will show details. And do note the time zone note on the bottom. Here, I am seeing things in the Central Time zone, not sure how true that is for others.

Books Read 2019

Here is the list of books I read in 2019.

Basket Case: A Novel by Carl Hiaasen [library book]

Major Taylor: The extraordinary career of a champion bicycle racer by Andrew Ritchie [library book]

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell ARC

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rosemary Wells

Little Altars Everywhere by Rosemary Wells signed

Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn't Grown Up.. and What to Do About It by Mark McConville, Ph.D. ARC

Seeing My Skin (A Story of Wrestling with Whiteness) by Peter Jarrett-Schell, Review ARC

Guardians of Being: Spiritual Teachings from Our Dogs and Cats words by Eckhart Tolle, art by Patrick McDonnell

Stray City: A Novel by Chelsey Johnson signed

Contemplative Vision: Photography as a Spiritual Practice by Dirk deVries

Mina's Guide to Minute Taking: Principles, Standards, & Practical Tools by Eli Mina

Deep West: A Literary Tour of Wyoming

The Nature of Life and Death: Every Body Leaves a Trace by Patricia Wiltshire ARC

If You Want To Make God Laugh: A Novel by Bianca Marais ARC

Redwood and Ponytail by K. A. Holt ARC

Astro-Nuts by Jon Scieszka and {the other} Steven Weinberg ARC

The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcarcel

Unwasted: My Lush Sobriety by Sacha Z. Scoblic

No Exit: a novel by Taylor Adams

Food Rules: an Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan

Jazz Scrapbook by Bill Russell and Some Highly Musical Friends

The House in Poplar Wood by K. E. Ormsbee YA - ARC

Five Days at Memorial by Sherry Fink

Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault by Cathy Guisewite ARC

Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman ARC

Seeing My Skin - a review

Jarrett-Schell, Peter, Seeing My Skin: (A Story of Wrestling with Whiteness) [New York]: Church Publishing, [August 17] 2019.

I picked this up as an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) at ALA this summer. In unusual fashion, I actually was reading it as the publication date arrived. It has made me stop and think about many of the things I think, say, and do.

The book opens with an incredibly powerful vignette of an actual event, and is the author's Facebook posting of that event. The rest of the book is divided by location and starts with a series of vignettes, followed by a “debriefing.”

The stories tell of his experiences of the racial divide and his reactions to what he has experienced. It starts with his growing up, and ends with incidents after the most recent presidential election. The debriefing section of each chapter is probably the most powerful.

The author is an Episcopal priest who met his wife in college. She is also an ordained Episcopal priest. He is white, she is black.

I think this a book which I want to sit and read again … that doesn’t often happen.

https://www.churchpublishing.org/seeingmyskin