She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It had the same significance for her as an elegant cane for the dandy a century ago. It differentiated her from others.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?
Sometimes, it sure seems that’s what life intends. After all, it’s basically like a centrifuge that spins every few years casting proximate bodies in disparate directions. And when the spinning stops, almost before we can catch our breath, life crowds us with a calendar of new concerns. Even if we wanted to retrace our steps and rekindle our old acquaintances, how could we possibly find the time?

The latest reading list.

I’ve easily raved about this book to anyone who cares to ask about my current favorite reads. A modern day mystery and love story rolled into one, set in my favorite city: New York, organized into Memento-like time traveling vignettes. Insightful, quick, and intriguing.

American Subversive by David Goodwillie: Amazon, Barnes & Noble.

Meghan McCain was on Chelsea Lately tonight promoting her new book, co-written with Michael Ian Black. Within five minutes of not knowing who she was, I had America, You Sexy Bitch penciled right in to the summer must-read list. I’m not a politics-centric person at all… quite the opposite actually.  But I don’t think this book requires any strong passions to appreciate. Personally? The title has quite a bit to do with the appeal.

Some books I read and enjoyed.

Courtesy of a three-month-long vacation from academia, which collects into a wealthy reserve of quiet moments, I’ve taken to old-fashioned paperbacks to bide the time. From a combined list of recommendations and mental notes, I was able to tick the following (notable, recommended, enjoyed) titles off an ever-growing list of books I need to read:

1. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
2. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
3. The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Caroline Kennedy
4. The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides
5. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
6. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

The confident way Madeleine drove (she often insisted that athletes made better drivers) bespoke a simple faith in herself that Leonard, for all his intelligence and originality of mind, didn’t have. You went out with a girl at first because the sheer sight of her made you weak in the knees. You fell in love and were desperate not to let her get away. And yet the more you thought about her, the less you knew who she was. The hope was that love transcended all difference. That was the hope.

If you read, you may want to write. Great painters learned to paint by copying Old Masters in museums. You can learn to write by trying to copy the writers you like. Writing helps you to express your deepest feelings. Once you can express yourself you can tell the world what you want from it or how you would like to change it. All the changes in the world, for good or evil, were first brought about by words.

prettybooks:

(by MarianneLoMonaco)