Thanks to the Midwest “deep freeze,” I was homebound today and therefore able to finish two books. I’ve mentioned before how I’m a “multi-booker” so I had been reading both simultaneously.
The first book is an acclaimed memoir, and the second is relevant to the 2019 Academy Awards.
The first book I finished today was I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death by Maggie Farrell.
This is a collection of short stories. The first one, detailing how she outsmarts a man set on attacking her on a hiking trail, is especially jaw dropping. The other stories are from various points in her life, from when she was young (having encephalitis at age 8), nearly drowning a couple of times, another couple of violent attacks, and various other health scares and near accidents. This woman has been unlucky, but she is also adventurous and has possibly put herself in more situations than the average person.
I really liked the book because the stories are captivating, and I could see myself in some of her stories (not the level of adventure but the type of person she is).
The second book I finished today was If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin.
The movie adapted from this book (1974) is up for a couple of Academy Awards although not best picture. It is a love story about a woman and a family rallying behind a wrongly imprisoned man. It is set in Harlem, so I had to research the title and found out it is a reference to a W.C. Handy song, the Beale Street Blues. I liked this book too; I will be curious to see how they did the movie. It was upsetting yet loving. It reminded me of one of my favorite books of last year.
With these two finished, I’m ready to start my spring reading and will be posting lists soon.
I hope if you are also stuck inside this week you are keeping warm and getting some good reading done.
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