Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Rumer Godden’s The Kitchen Madonna, which kikainausagi recommended to me and which I, in turn, recommended to my mother, because it’s lovely. The new cook, a Ukrainian refugee, is unhappy because she misses her home country and her home customs, like having an icon of the Virgin in the kitchen; so the children of the house decide to make her an icon.

The book, like a number of Godden's other books (An Episode of Sparrows jumps to mind), is largely about the process of creation: gathering the materials, coming up with innovative ways to get materials they don't have money to buy (which is most of them), figuring out how to put it all together. It’s very satisfying.

What I’m Reading Now

Rumer Godden’s In This House of Brede and Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset. Observant readers may note that I was reading both of these last week. I haven’t been very focused this past week.

What I Plan to Read Next

I got Eva Rice’s The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp as a Christmas present, so probably that.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I'm way behind in reading LJ, and I really, really want to read your treats, but meantime, I just had to jump in here and say that the one Rumer Godden I remember, Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, was also about creation--of a Japanese house for two Japanese dolls. It would probably seem terribly stilted and whatnot now, but I did love it when I read it as a child, and I *loved* the creation of the Japanese house.

This one, The Kitchen Madonna, sounds really sweet.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Ha, I am so behind on reading everything too! I kept meaning to go back through the Yuletide collection and read more stories and...it just never happened. And now everyone is posting what they wrote.

Miss Happiness and Miss Flower is one of Godden's books that lots of libraries still have, so I'll definitely have to check it out.