Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Reading

I was looking through issue 18 of Taproot, whose theme is Preserve.  The piece Recommended Reading: Preserve by Chelsea Slaven-Davis contains an eclectic group of books: Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas, The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, Full Moon Feast by Jessica Prentice, and Ah Ha to Zig Zag by Maira Kalman.

But it was Safekeeping by Abigail Thomas that caught my attention. I had read her memoir A Three Dog Life about the aftermath of a terrible car accident involving her husband and his eventual death, so I knew what a compelling writer and story teller she was, but I hadn't realized that she had written many other books. And Safekeeping, which is on its way to me, is about her beginnings: young motherhood, early divorce. I rooted around on the  Internet as you do, and googled and discovered this very lively 6-minute tour around her book shelves with her as guide.


I highly recommend Taproot, too. Always upbeat and makes me remember all our forays in western Massachusetts so long ago, esp. the West Brattleboro Farmers Market, ahead of its time, though I didn't realize when I frequented it.

Oh, and because of Taproot, I also have Ann Wigmore's The Sprouting book on the way. Plus I made preserved lemons. Yes, the other ones ended in the bin, but these, well, these will be different.

2 comments:

Kurt said...

"'But oh well,' as I say." Wish that was my attitude.

I went through a Lewis Thomas phase -- went crazy for all his books.

e said...

Interesting interview...Enjoying the book recs, too.