Read it or Weep

I have more than one frame of reference for the word “WOW.” It was my son’s first word; it is an example of a palindrome; turned upside down it says MOM, and it is one half of the current super chamois called “Shamwow.” WOW is also the word that I said out loud when I finished reading the last page of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. 

We all have books that we have liked, books we have loved, books that we want to insist that absolutely everybody we know reads. However, I only have one book that has WOWed me. 

“Extraordinary” has been the only other one-word exclamation that I have said out loud upon finishing a book.  That book was Holes by Louis Sacher. 

Sometimes one word is enough. Sometimes one word says it all.

—Janet

My daughter will be moving into her first apartment soon. She is a person who becomes attached to everything. But recently she told me that if she isn’t using it she’s not keeping it. Those were words I never thought I’d hear. Our conversations about possessions usually finish with the two of us saying to each other, “You have too much clutter.”  We are both right.

With Peter Walsh as my clutter guru, I do have a list of possessions that I continually revise. It is a list that I have in my mind. I hope to leave my children a list of books that I hope they read in their lifetime. I want the list to be short so that they are not overwhelmed. The list will contain five book titles or perhaps three. The book titles that I list are either a book that so moved me that I hope they will read it or a book that might give them insight into the individual that also happened to be their mother.

As of 5/18/09 the list is; 1. Away by Amy Bloom, 2. The Reader by Bernard Schlink, 3. Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve, 4. The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread by Don Robertson and 5. The Bright Forever by Lee Martin.

So even though I have more PEZ dispensers than one person ever needs to have, I do have an uncluttered reading list that I never let grow too long. It’s a start.

—Janet

Donald Duck is my hero. I love his temper tantrums and the way he grumbles under his breath. He can express all of the emotions that as adults we are supposed to keep to ourselves. He does it magnificently.

In thinking about Donald, who can do anything without reprimand, I have thought of a few books that he can handle for me. My first category is “the book that you wanted to throw across the room but you didn’t because you are an adult and you love books.” I would have handed Donald Dream When You are Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg. I really enjoyed this book, but the ending did not work for me at all. It still doesn’t.

Toning things down a notch, my second category is “the book you wanted to slam shut and you absolutely refused to finish reading.” The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski gets my vote. Two-thirds of the way through that book I passed it over to Donald so he could slam it shut for me.

My third and final category is “the book you finished and even thought you liked at the time, but as time passed you realized that you would like to delete it from your mind.” The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst is my pick. I think I’ll let Donald quietly whisk it away. Hopefully “out of sight” will mean “out of mind.”

The next time you are reading and feel your blood begin to boil say, “Aw, phooey” and hand the book off to Donald. He will be more than happy to help.

—Janet