Hi. I hope everyone is doing well. We had a bit of snow here on Monday, but the freeze has left and now very mild weather is ahead. We went from -40 to +40 degrees in a couple weeks time, which is quite a change and means more outdoors time for me and the dogs, yay. The sky in the photo might look like there’s a fire, but it’s only the sunset and the prospects of warm weather ahead. We’ve started taking the bird feeders around the house down at night because deer have been eating them dry. If you can believe it, papa deer is able to stand on his hind legs, balance, and eat from the bird tray in the photo. The deer are also able to empty the other feeders. Squirrels are less of a problem here, but we are on the lookout.
Not much else is new, but we had a couple notable anniversaries this week. First my husband and I passed our one year anniversary since we moved out of the city for the countryside, which has been fantastic. We love it so much more here. We still have more upgrades to do, but we’ll do them over time as we can. Also today marks eight weeks since my knee replacement surgery and I’m doing well. I go to physical therapy once a week and practice the exercises daily as well as I can pedal an indoor bike. So little by little, I’m returning to normal activities, but just not tennis playing yet, which is okay.
Last week I posed the question about when is it time to DNF a book and you all had great answers about your own rules of thumb for it. So I will pose another book-ish question, which is: Are you a “monogamous reader” — reading a book at a time — or do you prefer to have multiple books going at once? And how many do you usually read at a time? I admit I have generally been a monogamous reader all my life. Once I’m hooked in a book, I like to focus on that one till it’s done. Though I usually have one print read going and one audiobook going at a time. Just recently, along with a fiction read, I’m able to have a nonfiction read going on the side. So perhaps I’m trying to leave monogamous reading behind. What about you?
And now I’ll leave you with a couple reviews about what I finished lately.
Western Lane by Chetna Maroo / Farrar Straus & Giroux / 160 pages / 2023
4.2 stars. I found the writing outstanding in this debut novel set outside London about a British-Indian father and his daughters Gopi, 11, Khush, 13, and Mona, 15, who have just lost their mother as it opens. To occupy them, their father gets them training in squash playing at their nearby rec center Western Lane, though Gopi who narrates the story is the only one who really excels. Her father puts her through a rigorous squash regimen and she begins playing with 13-year-old Ged, whom she begins to like.
However, it’s all very restricted and repressed as the girls, whose Gujarati relatives are lurking and have let the father know they are willing to take and raise a daughter since his wife’s death, live under a tight decorum of rules. But it all begins to weigh on Gopi, her sisters, and the father, and fractures in their family begin to emerge. Towards the end, Gopi trains for a squash tournament that could bring them back together.
Western Lane is a moving coming-of-age story of Gopi’s reckoning and an internal family drama. As an avid tennis player I loved how it brought the sport of squash into Gopi’s drama over the loss of her mother, like a metaphor of her life then. When you’re on the court, “you are alone. That’s how it’s supposed to be. You are supposed to find your own way out,” says Gopi. This novel is a winner and I will watch for whatever Chetna Maroo writes next. This was my first audiobook of the year narrated expertly by British actress Maya Saroya.
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters / Harper / 320 pages / 2023
3.75 stars. The story follows the lives of two siblings from Nova Scotia whose indigenous family comes to Maine each berry season to work and pick in the fields. It’s not really a mystery early in the story that as a young child, age 4, the girl goes missing and is raised elsewhere, not fully comprehending her origins. No one knows what happened to her, but her brother, two years older, lives with the loss and guilt over last seeing her. The story, which alternates chapters between Norma and Joe, explores how their lives play out over a few decades in different places and under different circumstances.
The story felt sincere, heartfelt, and agonizing over how the indigenous family is not whole afterwards and how it suffers from various tragedies over the years as well as how the two main characters’ lives face hardships. There’s quite a bit of sadness and longing to it, and the debut author does well to make the two character’s different lives and places feel authentic (it’s quite a visual telling), though there was still just a touch to me that felt a bit contrived and melodramatic. The story’s also sort of predictable. Still it’s an interesting portrayal of their lives, what happened to them in different families, and it kept me turning the pages.
The novel was a pick by my book club, which will be discussing it in February. It seems to include many issues in it about ethnicity, race, and how and where a person is raised, so I think it’ll make for a good discussion.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read these books and if so, what did you think?
I only read one book at a time. Always have. Right now I am reading The Spoon Stealer by Lesley Crewe. I am so happy it is raining so I can stay inside and finish it today. I am finding it wonderful.
Thanks Sharon for stopping by here … and also for letting me know about The Spoon Stealer. I did not know about the book. And like The Berry Pickers, it looks like it’s also set in Nova Scotia, Yay! I’m also interested in farm stories and so it looks good to me. I’ll check the library for it. Happy reading.
Lovely photograph! We have to play around a little with how often and how full our feeders are too…but when it’s -25 we follow different rules. Both of these are on my TBR list but I’ve not made it there yet. I bet The Berry Pickers makes for a great group discussion.
Thanks Marcie for visiting here. Glad you like the photo. Do you have trouble with deer at your bird feeders or squirrels? We are playing around with what works, so we’re not feeding all the wildlife in the area, but hopefully the birds, lol.
I think The Berry Pickers will make a good one for book club, though a bit of a sad story. Have a great week.
Hi Susan
Beautiful pictures of where you live and the deer figuring out how to eat from the bird tray. I believe it. We had a cat when I was growing up that figured out how to open the refrigerator.
Mostly I have been a monagomous reader but I would like to change that to two books at a time and as you say a fiction and a nonfiction work best, one book on audio, the other an ebook.
Thanks Kathy, trying to get some good photos. I can’t believe a cat opening the fridge — that’s funny! The deer are really getting smart here. I think the standing deer eating from the tray stunned my husband, lol.
I hear you about two books at once. That would be good for me as well. So far I’m able to do an audio and a book … but now I’m trying to add a second book. hmm. Not sure. Good luck with your reading.
Hi,
Your deer must be starving with the frigid temps you’ve had recently. Maybe they will leave your feeders alone with more to eat elsewhere now that the season has swung so dramatically. Your feeders make me think of one of the books I am reading now, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl. It is a short beautiful book (with gorgeous artwork by Renkl’s brother) about the nature outside Renkl’s window in Tennessee and her observations. Each chapter represents one week in the year and you follow her through the seasons. Renkl is otherwise an opinion writer for the NYT.
As hinted, I read several books at once. Mostly 2 or 3 at a time, usually 1 fiction, 1 audio and then one slow-burn — right now that one is Gary Kamiya’s delightful Cool Gray City of Love about San Francisco. It is dense & the print so small that it’s barely readable so I can only read a little at a time. But I enjoy picking it up and reading a chapter here and there. Thanks for your reviews — The Berry Pickers sounds good!
Hi. Yeah I sort of feel for the deer, they are hungry. Now they’ve been gone a couple days so maybe things are warmer & better for them.
The Renkl book sounds good. I like that it follows the seasons. I’ve read her before at the Times. I will check the library for it. Maybe it’ll give me more an appreciation of crows? Which I’m not a big fan of. Crows or magpies. bahhh.
You have a good system of reads going. I’m trying to fit in a third book … on top of one audio, one fiction. Like a nonfiction slow burn seems good to add. We’ll see. Happy skiing & reading there!
Beautiful pictures! Have not read either of the books, but I have The Berry Pickers on my Kindle. As to reading and being or not being a ‘one-book’ person. I am normally a ‘one-at-a-time’ reader, not counting that I often have a book in print or Kindle and another one as an audiobook. I also do read/listens which is when I get the book both in print and on audio from the library or wherever and flip back and forth depending on what I’m doing (like walking or driving in the car). I’ve not ever been a 3 or 4 or more reader.
Hey thanks Kay, I’m trying to take some better photos. It sounds like you have a good system of one book and an audio (which I do too) and sometimes you combine those, which takes it further. I think the combo of both must be terrific. I have yet to try that. I never seem to get both at the same time.
See what you think of The Berry Pickers. It’s a pretty quick read. Have a great week.
Great pics, Susan! I’m glad that your recovery is going smoothly, and happy house-versary as well. Wow for the deers/bird feeder situation…Animals can really get creative. 😮 I have always been a monogamous reader, but last year I read two books at a time in two separate occasions. The result was mixed. I’m reluctant to try again.
You liked Western Lane more than I did; I gave it 3*. I thought the author was more successful talking about the intricacies of the sport and its most famous players than talking about grief and the coming of age of the girls, and the ending was just too open for me. I was intrigued by The Berry Pickers. It came out late in the year and made such a splash. Many publications chose it among the best of the year. It’s good that you liked it even if you found it somewhat predictable. Your reading is on a roll; you have read, what? Four books already this month? I’m still reading my second. It’s going reeaaaally slowly. 🙂
Hey Carmen, glad you like the pics. The deer are certainly getting creative, lol. Glad to hear you’re a monogamous reader — for years I thought I was only one left who was still reading this way, but it works. Now I’ve been trying to branch out a bit more with a couple — we’ll see if it works. Not sure.
You’re probably more astute than I am with Western Lane. I just felt for Gopi, and it seemed so oppressed the situation. And I liked how she mixed in the sport. And it seemed her only release. I was taken by the audio. But you make good points. I liked Western Lane a bit more than the Berry Pickers but the latter is worth checking out. A quick read. I’m sure your reading will pick up once you find something that clicks well. I’m trying the novel In Memorium now … but it’s large and taking awhile to get into it, argh. Enjoy your week.
I just finished reading Western Lane and I’m still trying to decide how I feel about it. The writing’s great. And I certainly got caught up in the lives of Gopi and her sisters. But the story was so melancholy, and I’m not sure I loved the ending. And it depends on what I’m reading on whether or not I stick to just one book, or read more than one at once. It’s mostly when I’m reading a longer nonfiction book that I usually have a fiction book that I’m reading on the side. If that makes sense. 😀
Hi Lark, good timing that you too just finished Western Lane. It is melancholy but I guess like you I just got caught up in the story. It felt pretty visual to me too. Gopi is going through a lot … luckily she has her sport which helps a bit. I wasn’t too sure Why she said Yes to going with her relatives … but maybe to help her father out? But man, that’s a killer … leaving her sisters & father, that’s harsh.
You finish books quickly – so you must have a good system … of what’s going and in the wings. Have a great week.
Good to hear that you are walking — ok weather and healing from your procedure.
I only read one book at a time. Otherwise I would forget what happened and have to start over!
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Hi Mae, thanks. It’s nice to be able to walk again with the dogs etc. Things are healing, and I move on slowly but surely hopefully.
I hear you about one book at a time. It’s the most straightforward way. And it helps my focus too. Happy reading.
I have not read either of those books. I hope to read Western Lane someday, especially because it is so short. The Berry Pickers sounds like a good topic but too sad. I will put in on a list to remind me of it.
I am usually a monogamous reader. Now and then I will try to keep up with two books at a time, but it usually doesn’t work. I end up focusing on either one or the other. If I am reading an ebook I will read that during the day and another book at night. I have to read at night before I go to bed. I do often have a fiction book and a nonfiction book going at the same time but often that means that I neglect the nonfiction book for months at a time.
Hi Tracy, yeah you’re right about both books. One’s short and the other a bit sad, some drama with both.
I can relate, if I have two books going – usually one can get neglected at times. I see what you’re saying and I think it’s true for me too. I need a better system like a day read and a night read. Sometimes I focus on the one I’m trying to get into but then the other can get left a bit. Something to think about.
Have a great week.
That’s a beautiful sunset. I am glad you have settled so well into your new home. I used to be solely a monogamous reader, but I’ve become a polygamous reader in recent years. The most I’ve read at once is five, and that was a bit much. Right now I am reading three: an audiobook, an e-book, and a print book. The Berry Pickers sounds like something I would enjoy. I hope you are having a good week!
Thanks LF: I think the move here has given us a new lease on life. 🙂
And wow you’ve really become a multi reader! 5 at once would be crazy, LoL. But now — like you — I’m trying to do 3 at a time, with an audio and 2 books. I think it’s possible perhaps. If I don’t neglect one too much. It seems to work for you well. I think you’d like the Berry Pickers. Cheers. Have a great week to you as well.
I’m glad that you’re healing well! I’m sure that the PT and indoor biking are good for that — yay for making sure that they happen because I know that isn’t always easy for people.
I used to be a monogamous reader but now I seem to have too much to read to make that work well for me. I usually have a print book that I read at most meals, an audiobook that I read on walks, and an ebook on my phone that I read at any dull moment in the day. I do have to work at making those different from each other and it’s easier if one is nonfiction.
Hi Joy, thanks. The PT and all the exercises can be hard to keep on with after many weeks. I need to rededicate myself when I start slacking off.
Interesting how you make room for all your reading. I like how you divvy it up … even on a phone. I haven’t tried that, but I often read news on a phone so not sure why a book would be different? It’s a small size. But I love my e-reader. Thx for sharing your thoughts. Enjoy your week.
It must be frustrating to have deer at your bird feeders. I know people around here who put out food that’s specifically for the deer during the cold days.
I read many books at one time. I like to have four or five or even up to ten books going. I don’t think of myself as an ADHD person, but maybe I am.
Ha Deb. Yeah I see you have a lot of books going at once. You seem to handle it well. But can you remember all 10 when you switch back & forth over time? You must be able to, but I think I would be a bit crazed after three. You have been doing it a long time, so you know what works for you.
I guess we were okay to help the deer a couple nights as it got cold and we weren’t sure how much they took. But then it got too much with the feeders being emptied, lol. But the deer seem to have meandered now … and it’s warmer so I think they can eat from the fields again. Have a great week.
We are able to keep the squirrels away from our bird feeders, and thankfully, no deer nearby. We do have raccoons roaming the ‘hood, but they must get enough from the trash dumpsters to bother with bird seed. ;( Do you have bears? I know some folks can’t have feeders because they attract bears.
Wow. I can hardly believe that it’s been a year already since you moved to the country! Amazing how time flies. We’ve been here in Oregon now for almost seven years. Doesn’t seem that long. Glad to hear that your recovery is going well. Just in time for the nice weather. Do you do any snow-shoeing? I tried it once and enjoyed it, but what a workout! Of course, we were at an elevation of about 10,000 feet.
I read more than one book at a time. Usually one audio, one fiction, and one nonfiction. The nonfiction tends to be read in fits & spurts, maybe at lunchtime or a few pages here and there during the day. The novel is saved for bedtime. I also like to add one other nonfiction into the mix, reading it over the course of a year. I recently read a cookbook, of all things. Lots of anecdotes with each recipe, which made for great reading.
I had not heard of Western Lane until reading your review. It sounds like a great debut!
Enjoy your beautiful weather!
Hi Lesley, thanks the weather has turned really mild now. We might even see 50s soon which will cause a mass melt-off. hmm not good for that.
It’s good you’re able to thwart the squirrels from the feeders there. I think a bear would be really rare here; mostly we have just coyotes, foxes, and deer. But I almost ran into a bear in Calgary just a couple years ago in a park, crazy!
It’s amazing you’ve been in Oregon 7 years now, wow. You must love the change. That was a huge move for you’all which seems like it would’ve taken some courage to up & leave. But kudos to that! It seems neat there.
I have done some snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing in past years — I like both! They’re wonderful. But I probably won’t this year.
You seem to have a good system of how you read. I also like to have going a fiction book, an audio and I’m trying to add a nonfiction too, though it’s a bit on the back burner. I laughed about your cookbook … but some are good.
Enjoy your week at the Cove. Plenty of rain lately right?
We have bird feeders that the deer used to get to but we raised it. The last couple of days the squirrels have figured out how to climb the pole it’s on which is insane, but my husband put some Crisco on the pole and that solved the problem. They’d otherwise eat all the bird seed in there.
I am usually reading at least two books. One audio and one e-copy. Sometimes more than two at a time.
Your sunset photo is gorgeous! Congrats on being in the country for one year! We also moved into the country 1 1/2 years now and love it as well! Nice to hear your recovery is going well with your knee!
Thanks Rachel. Your move seems similar to ours and I enjoy hearing about it and seeing you put in plants & trees. It’s beautiful country where you are. It seems like a wonderful change for you all.
And yeah the squirrels seem to climb the bird feeder poles which is a problem — but I hadn’t thought of trying Crisco, funny. I hope it continues to work. Our squirrels are a bit infrequent here – and our Labs are on squirrel patrol just to chase them away, lol.
An audio and e-book seems like a doable combo to have going. Enjoy your week.
Wow, those photos are something! Really beautiful.
Glad that you enjoyed Western Lane as much as you did. I hadn’t thought about an audiobook version of that one, but I can imagine that it really does work well as an audio version, especially with the right reader, as you described her.
I do tend to read multiple books at a time, hardly ever less than three or four, but lately I find myself rotating between at least eight at a time. I kind of surprised myself last week when I suddenly realized that I had ten going at once…one audiobook and a combination of print and e-books.
Hi Sam, thanks I’ve been working on outdoor photos here. And you’re a book sampler so I know you seem to have a slew going at once. How do you keep track of 10?! lol. But you seem to manage well with many, and probably have been doing that a long time.
And I really enjoyed Western Lane and sort of couldn’t believe it’s a debut novel. I was remiss in not giving you a shoutout since I heard about the book from your review. The audio was well done and got me into Gopi’s head. I loved the squash playing too. Have a great week.
I’m a one-book-at-a-time reader. It’s just the way my brain is wired. Both of your book reviews are interesting and I’m adding those books to my “want to read” list.
Hi Dorothy, good to hear from you. I like that you’re a one at a time reader and I have been mostly that way during life. You seem to plow through them.
I think you’d like both of these debut novels. Much to think about with them.
Cheers. Have a good week.
The Berry Pickers sounds really good, realistic too. Have a good week
Harvee at https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/2024/01/two-thrillers-beloved-bookshop-and.html
Hi Harvee: Yeah I think you’d like The Berry Pickers. And it’s a quick read too. Enjoy your weekend.
Wow, beautiful photos! Hard to believe it’s been a year already though. I’m glad your healing is going well, too, and that you’re into the physical therapy phase.
I’m mostly a monogamous reader… usually have a print/ebook going, plus an audiobook. Over the past couple of years I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to get both print and audio of the same book – my read/listen combos. That’s worked out really well!
Thanks JoAnn. It’s hard to believe — we’ve been here a full year. It’s been nice to experience the different seasons. So now we know as we move forward … so much more to do too.
I think doing a print/audio combo must really move the story along, which can be good. I can handle a different audio and a print read but usually that’s my limit for multiple books. Enjoy your week & walks on the beach!
Deer eating from the bird feeder – I would like to see that. Glad to hear temperatures have risen – I don’t think I could live in a place which got -40 degrees. Western Lane sounds good, I need to get myself a copy. And to answer your question: between 1 -4 books at a time. Sometimes, I have books for different times of day. On my phone, I have an audiobook, which I listen to on the commute to and from work. On my Kindle, I have a book, which I read at night before I go to sleep. It’s also useful to have a few different ones going to account for mood reading.
Hi Stargazer. The deer stealing from the feeders is a bit comical. It’s crazy too! The tray feeder is pretty high but they figured it out. The deer come mostly at night so I’m taking the feeders into the garage.
Your reading regimen seems reasonable. Do you take the tube? I commuted for many years on the subway in DC, listening to an audio. It was good for that.
You might like the audio of Western Lane. Not a whole lot of action happens but it’s an internal strife going on for this poor repressed 11 year old. See what you think. Have a great week too.
Wow, an 80-degree temp swing is huge–nice that it warmed up and you can go outside. We are in a warm spell in CO, but colder temps and moisture (yeah!) are on their way.
I stopped being a monogamous reader quite a while ago. I always have an audio book going for when I drive or cook or walk, books for my JASNA bookclub (meets every other month) and possibly the GoodReads bookclub if I like the selection, a non-fiction (history, gardening, archeology, or some other current interest), and a novel from my TBR shelf. I find I like the variety and I finish almost everything I start–I do like slow reads, so sometimes the non-fictions take months to finish.
I love the cover and title of The Berry Pickers and the premise is intriguing, but I just cannot take another heartbreaking story full of despair right now. Winter requires some escape reading, at least when we get to February!
Hi Jane, yeah the Berry Pickers has a bit of angst involved so maybe it’s best to skip for now. You seem to have a good reading regimen and selection of books, and I can see where multiple reads provide a nice variety. I’m trying out a similar strategy of reads of fiction, nonfiction, and audio, though the nonfiction does get left behind a bit.
I hope you get some snow in Colorado … this warm week has turned things to soup up here but we’re hoping for snowflakes on the weekend. Cheers.