Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)
My current updated list:
1. Loose Ends: Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett.
Done. [Beautifully written memoir of Patchett's friendship with Lucy Grealy. Liked the writing; didn't like Grealy.]
2. What You Read: Mopsa the Fairy by Jean Ingelow.
Done. [Episodic and sometimes confusing, but lovely details.]
3. What Your Great-Grandparents Read: The Sketch Book by Washington Irving.
Done. [Could also be Bits & Pieces, a mixed bag, some soporific, some delightful.]
4. You Really Shouldn't Have: Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler.
Done. [How I got it was more dramatic than the book. Book is now out of the house.]
5. No Cliff Notes This Time: Othello by William Shakespeare.
Done. [A classic take on jealousy, gullibility and trust.]
6. Bits & Pieces (or No Hablo): Forty Poems by Juan Ramon Jimenez translated by Robert Bly.
Done.
7. I've Met Them: Playing with Fire by Tess Gerritsen.
Done.
8. Holy Moly: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.
Done. [emotionally satisfying]
9. Support the Home Team: Of Marriageable Age by Sharon Maas [AKA aruna]
Done. [Complicated, but worth the read.]
10. Fired from the Canon: The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
Done.[A fun read, but not true to the canon.]
11. Better Known For...: The Toughest Show on Earth by Joseph Volpe.
Done. [Frank, fearless, funny and inspirational.]
12. Enter Stage Right: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by JK Rowling.
Done. [Fantastic!
]
Extra-curricular:
1. Becoming Finola by Suzanne Strempek Shea
Done. [Fun, but not well edited.]
2. The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde.
Done [Fast & fun]
3. De Potter's Grand Tour by Joanna Scott.
Done [Glad I read it, but not the best or even second best book I've read this year.]
4. Safe Passage by Ida Cook.
Done [Best book of the year! The true story of two opera-loving sisters who used their passion as a cover for rescuing Jews pre WWII]
Just updating my extra-curricular list. I highly recommend Safe Passage, but understand that the author is old-school, which means a slowish beginning. Have no fear, it gets lots more interesting. If you ever want to write a scene in the shelters of London during the Blitz, please be sure to read this book.
Blessings,
Siri Kirpal
