Reading for Me

The Books I Have Read…..Just for Me

Jul 30

The View From My Reading Chair – July 30, 2021

by kennithfreeman

Summer is finally coming to an end for me. I am writing tonight from a hotel in Oklahoma City as I slowly make the return trip to Plainview. Since it was time to start heading back, that meant that I had to do some packing….and that never agrees with my back. So I did plenty of sitting in Pop’s recliner and split my time between reading and watching the Tokyo Olympics.

What am I reading now? My main read is Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. I’m less than 100 pages into the novel, but I am really enjoying it! The story centers around Arlene Fleet, a transplanted Alabamian now living in Chicago. When Arlene left her small home town, she swore that she would never return. Now, the past is rushing back at her with a vengeance and she fears that her role in the death of the star quarterback will be discovered. If you’ve followed my reading life for very long, you know that this is right up my alley!

With the drive came the need to start an audiobook as well. I decided to return to a favorite book and listen to the story this time. I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone! It’s really fun to listen to a gifted narrator – Jim Dale – tell a fascinating story. It’s also neat to realize how brilliantly the entire saga was conceived from the beginning. I’m enjoying listening to comments in the descriptions that I know will have significance later. I think I’ll finish Sorcerer’s Stone on tomorrow’s drive. I am also considering keeping audio books in my reading rotation since I don’t watch a lot of television while I am in my apartment.

update

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Jul 27

#17: The Personal Librarian (Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray)

by kennithfreeman

Once again, I feel compelled to yell from the rooftop – If you like historical fiction, READ THIS BOOK! If you are just looking for a compelling story, READ THIS BOOK! If you are interested in exploring the role race plays in America, READ THIS BOOK! Can I make it any clearer for you? READ THIS BOOK!!!!

The Personal Librarian is the factionalized account of Belle de Costa Greene, personal librarian of J.P. Morgan. Greene was singlehandedly responsible for pulling together one of the world’s greatest collections of important printings of early English works as well as an outstanding gathering of paintings by masters of the Italian Renaissance. Miss Greene was respected as an art expert in the early decades of the 20th Century in both America and Europe. What makes Belle de Costa Greene an even more interesting figure is that she accomplished all of this as an African-American woman who passed as white in order to succeed, fully knowing that if her secret were discovered, it would result in catastrophe for both herself and her family.

Beautifully written with an eye for historical accuracy, The Personal Librarian is an outstanding portrait of an era in American history that shares many parallels with the one we are currently living in at the beginning of the 21st Century. With lush descriptions of illuminated manuscripts, prized art collections, and the social gatherings of New York’s upper class, The Personal Librarian explores the Gilded Age with remarkable clarity while comparing that life with the plight of minorities existing just a few blocks away. A struggle that occurs just after the Supreme Court overturned the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Jim Crow laws were taking hold, and segregation was becoming the rule of the land. The novel is both endearing and heartbreaking at the same time. Read this novel and you will gain a new perspective that I think will forever change you. READ THIS NOVEL!

Book of the Month fiction historical

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Jul 25

#16: The People We Keep (Allison Larkin)

by kennithfreeman

I’ve been struggling with writing this post since I finished reading the novel on Wednesday of this week. You see, I can’t completely figure out what I feel about the experience. As the weekend is coming to a close, my self-imposed blog deadline is quickly approaching. So….this one may be an adventure for both of us because I’m not entirely sure where this post will go.

Let’s start by setting the scene of the novel. April is a teenage girl living in upstate New York in a very challenging situation. She dreams of being a musician. Her mother left when she was very young, causing April to always wonder what she could have done to make her stay. April’s father is a bit of deadbeat, leaving April to live alone in a trashy motor home while he begins a “new life” with his girlfriend and her young son.

When April has finally had enough, she hits the open road with plans to begin a new life. She has no destination. She has very little money, no real education, and no place to lay her head. April lands in Ithaca, New York where she becomes part of a rag-tag “family” made up of the people that populate a local coffee shop. Once challenges arise that threaten to expose some of April’s secrets, she once again hits the road with little plan or preparation.

This becomes the formula for the rest of the novel. April runs from a problem, ends up in a new city with the hopes of a “new life” until she learns that her immature expectations cannot exist in reality. When April finally experiences a life changing event that demands she grow up quickly, she learns — along with the reader — that our true family is our chosen family, “the people we keep.”

Now, I’ll try to explain where my mixed feelings about The People We Keep come in. Once I finished the novel, I had to admit that it turned out to be a very good read and raised issues that I found interesting to consider. So I recommend the book as a whole now that I have finished it. However, I found myself constantly frustrated during the reading experience. The plot became formulaic because of April’s constant running. Very often, it felt as though I was reading the same story over and over again, just in a different setting with a slightly different cast of characters. It was hard to find any redeeming qualities in April (and, as a result, in the novel) until the end of the book.

So….all of that to say I don’t regret reading the book at all and think that anyone who manages to make it to the end will find a charming story. But I also think that there are other novels that were a much more enjoyable and entertaining reading experience. So don’t rush to your local bookstore to pick up this book. If you find yourself with a copy easily assessable, give it a look and see if it grabs your interest.

Uncategorized

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Jul 18

The View From My Reading Chair – July 18

by kennithfreeman

This week has been a bit of an up and down experience as a reader. Some days I have been voracious and simply could not put down the book. Other days, I had to force myself to hold on long enough to meet my personal goal of 30 minutes of reading each day. I know that what is happening in other areas of my life impacts my reading; I recognize it, but I don’t necessarily have to like when things happen over which I have no control.

Enough about that. What am I reading at the moment? This week, I’ve been working through The People We Keep by Allison Larkin. The novel is one of the July selections I picked up through my subscription to the Book of the Month. The People We Keep explores the concept of the family we choose versus the family into which we are born. April is a 16-year-old living in rural New York. Her mother left when she was a child. Her father has moved in with his new girlfriend and her young son, leaving April to fend for herself alone in a motorless motor home.

Thankfully, April is not entirely alone. She has found a surrogate mother in Margo, the owner of the local cafe. Matty is her teenage boyfriend and the one she thinks she will marry as soon as he graduates, especially now that April has dropped out of school. When April has a massive fight with her father and soon-to-be stepmother, she decides that enough is enough. She sets out with the few things she can shove into the car that she has stolen and the songs that are the soundtrack of her life and leaves “home”. Her adventure takes her to Ithaca with the hopes of settling down and making a new life for herself. Things look good for April until a secret causes her world to fall apart, so she hits the road again and runs.

The People We Keep is not just a story about April’s running from place to place. Instead, it is a story about the people that come into April’s life and become her chosen family. Along the way her chosen family is built; this non-traditional family is populated with graduate students and professors, humble bar and restaurant owners, and fellow musicians. She experiences pain and loss as she trusts some undesirables. The novel is truly a coming-of-age story.

Currently, I am just over halfway through the novel. I am not entirely sure where things will end up for April. I hope that she makes her way back to Ithaca to face the fears that caused her to run. Either way, I’ll continue to read this week to find out how April’s story concludes. Then I’ll begin working my way through the next book waiting to be read.

Reading Chair update

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Jul 15

#15: A Soprano on Her Hand (Eloise Ristad)

by kennithfreeman

It’s taken a few days to actually get around to writing this review of a book that had long been on my TBR, but I never found the time to pull the trigger. Now that I have read the book, I understand what the fuss has always been about and why it is treasured and lauded by so many musicians. It’s definitely a book that I anticipate revisiting again in the future.

A Soprano on Her Hand is not necessarily intended to be read from cover to cover. It is better described as a collection of essays reflecting on issues that are common to performers of all kinds — performance anxiety, unwanted tension, dialogues with inner judges, forgetting the joy of playing. Ristad writes in a humorous manner balanced with musical authority that is very assessable by all readers. In many ways, the book reminds me of The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green.

I’m glad I read the book. I’ll have to revisit and meditate on many of the ideas presented here in the months ahead. For now, I’m looking forward to getting back to my regular reading of fiction.

music non-fiction

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Jul 3

The View From My Reading Chair – July 3

by kennithfreeman

This week, my reading life took a different turn. I found myself needing to think a bit more academically since a due date was leering that required submission of syllabi for upcoming courses. Since I was thinking about music more than I have for the past few months, it seemed appropriate to do some reading in the field. My intention was to slowly read through the music book while I focused my attention on a new novel. My interest took a different approach and I have been reading A Soprano on Her Head by Eloise Ristad monogamously this week.

I became aware of A Soprano on Her Head in graduate school in a pedagogy course devoted to group piano instruction. I have long intended to read the book, but never took the plunge. When I found a copy in a secondhand bookstore earlier this year, I purchased the book and knew that I would read it soon. I expected to find something very similar to the more familiar The Inner Game of Music. While there are certainly similarities, I find Ristad’s work much more witty and applicable as a performer and teacher. I would have liked to have read more this week, but I found myself pausing frequently as I read to consider concepts and reflect on the implications Ristad’s words could have on my own playing as well as that of my students. It has also influenced an upcoming lecture that I am preparing for piano teachers.

I am just nearing the mid-point of the book. I hope to finish my reading of A Soprano on Her Head this week before moving to a contemporary novel that should be arriving in the mail in the coming days.

update

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