GOOD READS FOR THESE TIMES

I love a good mystery, even a thriller, but right now, I I'm picking books that are calming, without too much tension, maybe even a little boring, which means they may not always to be found on a recommended list. Normally, part of writing and reading a novel is to experience conflict, danger, or, at least tension that will touch our emotions and keep the reader turning the page. That just seems too much like real life right now. For the same reason, I never watched "The West Wing" because it seemed too close to the news every day and this was before the present administration. I've watched shows from other countries such as Denmark's "Borgen" and Korean historical dramas and though they cover the same kinds of issues as "The West Wing" does, they seem somewhat removed because they are in a different country and in a different language.

Woodblock print on fabric

I moved to New York City right out of college. My first job was as a floater at Mademoiselle Magazine, a magazine now extinct. As a floater, I went from one department to another filling in and trying to find a spot that fit my meager skills. I started in the fabric department and spent time with the Fabric Editor visiting huge manufacturing plants (now extinct) where fabrics were created on cumbersome machines and massive looms. The Fabric Editor's influence created color and design choice trends for the year, though she always pooh-poohed "dumb little florals," a popular design at that time. I then moved downstairs to work in the travel department of Vogue Magazine (Conde Nast owned both magazines) and laughed my way through the often bizarre antics of the super-rich who seemed to spend their time trying to outdo each other.

My last assignment was with the Fiction Editor at Mademoiselle. Sitting right outside of her office, I became her mail guard. I opened all the manuscripts of unsolicited writers hoping to be published. The fiction department made a point of requesting submissions, but most of the time, they published articles from well-known authors or people suggested by agents. I got to read the unsolicited ones, most of which were often more suited to ladies' magazine such as McCalls and Good Housekeeping instead of the fitting the character of Mademoiselle, with its focus on young women with careers. 

I made two piles each day, one of the rejects, and another slim one for the possibles, none of which, while I was working that desk, were ever published. I looked at the stacks of rejects to remind myself of my own submissions when I was very young and the stacks of slips, some of them with kind notes, that came back to me in the mail. From these submissions, I realized that stories need to fit both time and place. Right now, I need something quiet and thoughtful.

Here are my suggestions for quiet books:

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl, the former Gourmet magazine editor. 

Her writing is delicious and revolves around food and the pleasures good food brings. The young woman in the Paris Novel arrives in Paris on a ticket left to her by her frequently absent mother. Because she felt abandoned by her mother while she was growing up, she never took chances and spent her hours concentrating on work. Paris changes her life for the same reasons that so many love Paris.

The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura

For a while, novels about bookshops came fast and furious to my attention. Once I read one, all the online bookstores offered more and more bookshop-titled books for me to read. The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop not only includes a bookshop, but a magical one at that. Aren't all bookshops magicial? Where else besides a library can you walk into a room full of thought?

The bookshop appears when the cherry blossoms bloom and reunites people who have regrets to express to each other. The bookshop, its owner and its cat (what's a bookshop without a cat? Think of Shakespeare and Co in Paris) help heal people's sorrow under the branches of the flowering cherry blossoms.

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Like the other two books, Theo of Golden is not a book that will become a classic, but it is again a story of reconciliation, of dreams, and connections to other people and places. It's the story of an older man who moves to Golden, Georgia, and who buys the portraits that are hanging in a cafe, and reunites the portraits with the people portrayed in them. A good read for right now.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie, Pet Poems by Brian Biltson

Some silly, thoughtful poems about our relationships with our pets.

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BLOG POST Part 2

Little Bumps in the Road, When All Else Fails....

Here I was last week, feeling good, I just posted my 640th blog post last Friday, sailed through the weekend at the ballet and out to dinner with Bill. Life was good, till I received a concerned note from a friend that she hadn't received my blog post. More and more people expressed the same concern. My blog is handled by Blogger, part of Google's vast digital empire, but the subscribers list is run by an online company called Mailchimp. Since I don't monetize my blog, I've used their free service, designed by bloggers like me, with no problems for the last five years. I started to panic when I tried to get information from Mailchimp. I am sure they are a great help for people who use their blogs/websites to make a living. I'm not one of those. Instead, I've used them since they took over from a previous company and I had no other option.

I asked myself: Do I need to switch to Substack finally or set up a website for my blog? How do I contact readers if they don't get my blog posting? Mailchimp does keep track of subscribers' names and email addresses, but I've never wanted to know that information. I just appreciate all of you who read my blog too much to take advantage of you. I could see the coming nightmare of trying to find my way through a digital maze to correct the problem. I discovered that Mailchimp doesn't offer help to free blogs -- oops! maybe I'd been taking advantage of their services for too long? I finally found a way to contact them by pressing their Sales link. I received an email letting me know that they had had a glitch in their system, which they have corrected. I am counting on them posting my blog to my subscribers today.  A conundrum, a riddle wrapped in an enigma, such is dependency on the digital world, which has moved far beyond my skills.