Pat Taub
While I’m not a fan of cold weather and snowstorms, winter is my favorite reading season.
I read all year long, but I read differently in winter. It’s when I indulge in slow reading, lingering over beautiful passages and re-reading treasured authors. I love the backdrop of winter reading: my phone’s ringer turned off, a fire in the fireplace, a cup of tea, my feet snuggled into my LL Bean moccasins.
My favorite place to read, although not that close to the fire!
Here are my book picks for reading or gift-giving:
I’m excited about The Testament by Margaret Atwood and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernandine Evaristo. Atwood and Evaristo shared this year’s Booker prize, the English literary award for the year’s best fiction.
The Testament, the long awaited sequel to A Handmaid’s Tale follows a few brave women who plot rebellion against Gilead, the frightening theocracy that resembles Mike Pence’s version of utopia. Mainers will enjoy the reference to Bangor Maine, which I won’t give away. I’m not sure The Testament is deserving of the Booker, but it’s a page-turner suitable for getting through a snowstorm.
Atwood and Evaristo accepting their joint Booker prize. At 79 Atwood is the oldest Booker winner while Evaristo is the first black woman to win
I’ve only just started Girl, Woman, Other, but I’m thoroughly engaged—it kept me up past my bedtime last night. Evaristo’s novel covers the lives of 12 Black women in the UK, ranging from artists, lesbians, teachers, a low-income mother and many more. A novel that revolves around 12 characters without going astray is a literary tour de force.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is another absorbing read for your list of snowstorm books. This story centers on two siblings whose conniving stepmother exiles them from their palatial family home when she marries their father. The relationship between the brother and sister is tender and well developed. There are a few plot twists that I accepted on good faith, but didn’t find particularly convincing.
I can’t wait to read Elizabeth Strout’s new book, Olive Again.
From previous Strout novels I know Olive, as a cantankerous, highly independent personality. Olive is a Mainer, very reminiscent of the older Maine women I know who live alone, chop their own wood and shovel winding paths of snow in winter.
A recent photo of Elizabeth Strout. She grew up in Maine, and now divides her time between her Manhattan apt and her Maine country home
Zadie Smith’s new collection of short stories, Grand Union: Stories, will be gobbled up by Smith fans. If you’re not familiar with her work, this could be a good introduction. While Smith is known for her novels like, “White Teeth,” this is her first short story collection. The New York Times praised the experimental direction of these stories.
Another new novel on my short list is Girl by the celebrated Irish writer, Edna O’Brien, who has taken a bold turn with this story of a young Nigerian girl kidnapped by jihadi fighters, returning home with a jihad’s child. O’Brien, now 88, traveled to Nigeria to research this book. While her books can be unsettling, the sheer power of O’Brien’s plots and characters draw me in like a magnet.
A must on the topic of social issues is Naomi Klein’s new book, On Fire, which delivers a stark portrayal of the climate challenges facing us.
Klein insists the only viable response is a Green New Deal. With the US withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords, you owe it your self to be familiar with what we’re up against and what actions you can take in response. Jane Fonda credits Klein for inspiring her DC Friday Fire Drills, designed to pressure Congress to address climate change.
For a book that offers a positive spin on aging, there’s Twyla Tharp’s Keep It Moving. Tharp, 78, a renowned choreographer, wants her readers to embrace aging without denying its realities. She believes that the key to a positive old age is to move. In a recent PBS interview, she resembled a hyperactive child, shifting constantly in her seat to demonstrate the importance of moving our bodies as we age. Her positive-thinking book features simple exercises to get you moving.
HAPPY READING!
