The Ocean at the End of the Lane

 The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
2013
Weight: 11.2 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving Away via Lending Library

This was my first Neil Gaiman, which is shocking given how prolific and well-known he is.  I was not disappointed.  Gaiman offered me a new world that I was hungry to imagine and know.  This book had strong women, imagination, a villain who is also a victim, grief, loss, immortality, a farm, an ocean that was a lake.  It was a reflection of the narrator, looking back on his childhood.  I cannot wait to read more Gaiman.

Pizza Girl

 Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier

2020

Weight: 8.6 lbs

Method of Disposal: Lending Library at Work

I was surprised with a trip to Strand Books when I was surprised with a day trip to New York during the trip I planned to Pennsylvania to surprise my wife.  I know.  It is a lot.  We try to be good to each other.  It is a constant struggle of the wills to see who will be doing what for who at what time.

I had already been to several local bookstores in Pennsylvania, and I might have shown low self control, so I knew I already had a lot of weight to take on that plane home.  I decided to only buy one book from Strand (and a bag, of course).  I found pizza girl on a table in the center of the store with other LGBTQIA+ books.  I am not sure what drew me.  The cover art?  Maybe.  Queer fiction? Definitely a part of it.

I read the book when back in Georgia, and I had some mixed feelings about it.  I was immediately hooked and wanted to read it well into the night, which would, of course, ruin the work day the next day.  So, it is clear that I was taken with it and enjoying it.  I struggled to relate to the main character, but she was an eccentric, young, grieving, pregnant woman, so that was understandable.  The ending of the book came on like a hurricane.  It moved fast and was over before I knew it began.  I was a little frustrated about it.  It went from being a reasonably over the top book to something that seemed appropriate to the character, but also unbelievable.  There was something here but, overall, they lost me, unfortunately.  It was always pushing the line and going over it a bit, but it just went too far over to hold me.

Hillbilly Elegy

 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

2016

Weight:8.8 oz

Method of Disposal: Lending Library Decatur, GA

This is a hard one.  I was interested in the part of this book that was more memoir, but the author would periodically include opinions that I found problematic and that would pull me out of the book real fast, like I had been slapped.  I was reading and in Appalachia, enthralled by what I was seeing and then, all the sudden, the author would say something overly generalized and even passive aggressive.  He would be frustrated and you are rooting, yes, yes....and then, no.  It was like he was putting blame in all the wrong places.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book, and there were some good descriptions and moments, but I could have lived without the politics and the odd snippets about racism, welfare, and many class issues that really missed the mark.  A dumb thing to expect when reading the book of a politician, I suppose.

 

Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Matt Lake
2005

Weight:2.45lbs

Method of Disposal: Leaving in a Lending Library

We recently made the trip to Pennsylvania to see a couple of shelter foster/volunteers turned friends and, in the extremely brief time we were there, we did a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.  It was an excellent taster, and there is so much more I would like to do now.  

We had Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia.  Mine was vegetarian, of course, and absolutely delicious.  We explored Doylestown and New Hope.  We visited Frenchtown, Lamberton, and then New York City.  It was my first time visiting any of these places.

In Doylestown, there were three bookstores, and I absolutely loved them all.  We bought a new book at Doylestown Bookshop and then bought a whole bag of used books for less than $10 at the other two used bookstores in town.  I might have kept going if I were not flying, but I had added a lot of weight to our luggage already.  I found Weird Pennsylvania in a cardboard box on the sidewalk for 98 cents.  Yes, please.  What oddities could I find in Bucks County that even our hosts did not know about?

It was more paranormal and ghost focused that others I have read in the Weird collection, so there was much less I was enthusiastic enough about visiting than usual, but it was still interesting.  I was quite intrigued by the Rosicrucians and their pyramids.  The fact that Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln a part of that group added to the appeal and the mystery.  The secrecy and symbolism is somewhat irresistible, despite myself.

Anywho, I always love a good flip through the Weird books when I am traveling and, also, searching Atlas Obscura online.  As if there was not enough to do before opening up all the weird!  The world is so big and complicated, and it is endlessly amusing when you have time to look a little harder aka are not working all day every day.

Dog Stories

 Dog Stories (Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series)

2010

Weight: 14 oz

Method of Disposal: Recycling pieces and throwing out pieces

Another victim of Wisconsin.  I suppose he decided to move in from Middle Eastern Studies.  Or maybe, he just did not like this collection.  It was fairly sad for a dog lover, especially a modern day dog lover, but it was also well worth the read if you can stomach the sadness.  I say this because I am married to someone who will not watch a tv show or movie where the dog dies or suffers too much.  She is as huge fan of www.doesthedogdie.com.  So, I figured some readers out there may want to know.  Sometimes the dog suffers mightily, sometimes the dog dies, sometimes it is unclear if the dog has a physical form.

It is hard to decide, but two of the top stories for me were Black Dog by Penelope Lively and "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass.  I do not want to give anything away so I guess I better not go any further but, even if you do not read the rest of the collection, I would read those.

Oh, and winner for first line!  Mark Twain, of course.

"My father was a St Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian."

Also, Best Insult, "Her husband did not look at her.  Her face annoyed him, but he did not know why. She could be good-looking but there were times when she was not.  Her face was like a series of photographs, some of which ought to have been thrown away."

"My Lord You" James Salter