Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

I finished Esperanza Rising just in time to count it for this month’s book challenge (“an immigrant story”), although I must say the book felt mechanical, in a way: it never surprised me, never deviated from the expected emotional beats that the premise suggested. So that was a bit disappointing.

Unread Book Club progress: I finished Janice MacLeod’s Paris Letters, a memoir about MacLeod quitting her job, moving to Paris, falling for a Polish butcher (in Paris) and settling down there and supporting herself by selling illustrated letters from Paris on Etsy. The watercolor illustrated letters are gorgeous and filled me with the desire to paint letters myself, although like my youthful desire to illustrate my diary I suspect that this is a desire that will die stillborn. Painting is beautiful but writing is so much faster.

What I’m Reading Now

Emilie Buchwald’s Gildaen: The Heroic Adventures of a Most Unusual Rabbit, from the Unread Book Club. A brave rabbit in medieval times meets a shapeshifting magical person and sets out on adventures together! They have met the banished huntsman of the boy king who is being slowly corrupted by one of his advisors, and have set off to the palace to try to save the king and kingdom from this villainy.

What I Plan to Read Next

MY ENGLISH PENPAL SENT ME WHEN MARNIE WAS HERE!!! Naturally I shall take it with Miami with me and read it on the beach, which is not exactly the right kind of beach for When Marnie Was Here, but still the proximity of saltwater ought to be enough, don’t you think?

Comments

[asakiyume]

Wow, I remember seeing the cover of Gildaen as a young person, so it must be a pretty old book?** I also remember being intrigued and drawn by the premise, and yet somehow I think I never took the extra step to actually read it. If you end up liking it, maybe I will.

Regarding Esperanza Rising, which I haven't read but which I dutifully added to my to-read list when it came out, I know what you mean about a book that hits all the expected beats--and not much more. For comparison, The Boston Girl was redolent with immigrant experience ***without*** hitting the beats I was expecting and showing other things instead. I guess this was in part because the immigrant experience wasn't the main focus of the book, even though it was an important part of the character's experience.


**Yes: 1973! Wow--how did you come across it as a title?

[osprey_archer]

My mother read Gildaen to us when I was a kid. I don't know where she got it - although now that I think about it, probably Chinaberry - and it was so long ago that I didn't remember the story at all, but I'm enjoying it all over again this second time around.

I think you've mentioned The Boston Girl before! And I thought "Hmm, that sounds like something I should read," and then it languished, as books are wont to do. But I really should read it! It sounds delightful!

[evelyn_b]

That's too bad about Esperanza Rising. What's it about?

I don't think I'd ever heard of When Marnie Was There, but I just investigated it and it sounds great! I hope you enjoy it - and Miami!

[osprey_archer]

It's about a young girl who is forced to immigrate to America from Mexico after her father dies and her greedy uncles steal his estate, leaving Esperanza and her mother penniless. It's a very dramatic set-up, but I didn't feel like Ryan got half the emotion out of it that she could have.

I only heard of When Marnie Was There because Studio Ghibli made a movie based on it. I liked the movie, so here's hoping the book is even better!

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, I hope you enjoy When Marnie Was Here. It was one of the books out of I LIke This Story, which had extracts from 50 books and I tried to find all the ones I liked, but it was one I never found! I did find when I was an adult, but it seemed wrong at that point to read it.

[osprey_archer]

I hope it is one of those children's books that is still just as good if you read it as an adult! Otherwise I may end up rather put out.

[brigdh]

Paris Letters! I stumbled across some of them for sale last year, but I had no idea there was a whole book behind them. They were very pretty.

[osprey_archer]

I think the letters actually came first, and then eventually the book was published. So perhaps the book wasn't out yet when you found them.