"The Museum of Whatnot" by Kevin Wilson
I stumbled on this gem at Fifty-Two Stories this morning. Janey is the curator and only employee of the Carl Jensen Museum of Whatnot.
The MOW is the only museum in the world dedicated solely to the acquisition and preservation of the everyday made unique. Things that are ordinarily junk but not junk because someone, somewhere, made it more than that by their collecting, hoarding, and preserving it.
Some of the museum's exhibits are creepy, like the toenail clippings, and some are sad, like a boy's collection of letters cut from magazines. Janey spends her days taking care of theses collections, of other people's stuff, things they cared about for whatever reason, but has no things of her own, things she feels attached to, things she wants. Her belongings come and go, she doesn't hold onto anything, or anyone for that matter.
Her life is changed by a regular visitor to the museum,...
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
I enjoyed the way this book was constructed. It's a collection of stories about the residents of Crosby, Maine, dealing with their secrets and disappointments, their strengths, their passions, their despairs. The title character, Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher, appears in all the stories, although sometimes in only a minor way. Everyone in town knows her and she knows everyone else. Olive is the resident we come to understand the most. At times she can be mean and overly blunt, but she can also be patient, honest and caring. We see her grow through the stories, but at the same time, she is who she is.
Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the...
"I always remember she said one day, 'Don't be scared of your hunger. If you're scared of your hunger, you'll just be one more ninny like everyone else.'" (pg. 195, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout)
In this teaser, a young woman is talking about something her former teacher, Mrs. Kitteridge, said, something that really struck a chord for her. Is there any advice a teacher gave you that has really stuck with you over the years?
Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Play along. The rules are easy and I only cheated a little. Grab your current read, open to a random page, and give us two teaser sentences. Remember, no spoilers.
I borrowed my copy from the library and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate....
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
I love the Queen. In this delightful novella, the Queen of England discovers a love of reading. It begins when her corgis lead her to the mobile library. Once she enters to apologize for the barking, she can't leave without borrowing a book, and there the joy in reading begins.
Reading takes over every spare second of the Queen's life. She would rather read than attend opening, reads in her carriage, in her gardens, everywhere she can. Unfortunately her advisers, from her personal secretary to the Prime Minister, are not pleased, but the Queen does not let that deter her.
What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned and the days weren't long enough for the reading she wanted to do.
I actually listened the audio version of this, narrated by the author. Somehow looking back, it seems odd to have listened to a book that...
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
(Suggested reading level: Grades 3-5)
To be honest, I don't know if I read this as a child or not. I don't remember it, but that doesn't really mean anything one way or the other. My memory truly is terrible. So when I sat down to read this with Amber (10), I knew the basic plot, but that's about it.
Harriet is an eleven year old girl whose ambition is to be a writer, but in the meantime she's a spy. She has a spy route staked out and she regularly writes down everything, good and bad, about the people around her, neighbors and friends. She keeps all her information in her precious notebook. She is encouraged by her nanny, Ole Golly.
Ole Golly says there is as many ways to live as there are people on the earth and I shouldn't go round with blinders but should see every way I can. (pg. 32)
Of course when Harriet...
"After the Race" by James Joyce
I have never read anything by Joyce that I remember. It seems unlikely that I didn't read at least an excerpt from something when I was in college, but if I did it didn't stick with me.
"After the Race" is from Dubliners, first published in 1914. The story begins with a car race through Dublin and tells the story of Jimmy Doyle, a young Irishman who is riding with a Frenchman, Segouin, the rich owner of the car who is starting motor business. Jimmy is the son of a wealthy merchant, well-educated and well-provided for. He is aware of how much work it was for his father to attain his success and considers his investment with Segouin to be serious, although it did meet with his father's approval.
Jimmy and his father want to associate with the higher social classes and Jimmy, after the race, joins the Frenchman and several friends for dinner. It's a delight,...