Spiderweb

Spiderweb: A Novel 

by Penelope Lively
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Reminded me a bit of Barbara Pym's work; both in tone and in content. There were a lot of documents (letters, newspaper clips, etc.) mixed into the narrative which worked well with this story. There was a second thread of the novel about a neighboring family which turned the book in a darker direction than I had expected.  I didn't feel like the ending worked which diminished my rating. If you are a person who can't read about bad things happening to animals this is not a book for you.

This was a book from my owned-but-not-read shelf and I chose it for the January Unread Shelf theme of "comfort." I didn't find it particularly comforting but it is a good novel. I have read 2 other books by Penelope Lively (How it All Began, and Life in the Garden) both of which I liked but didn't love. Not sure if she is a writer for me to keep reading or not. Any suggestions of standout Lively novels I should consider?

The Stone Diaries

The Stone Diaries 

by Carol Shields
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“There are chapters in every life which are seldom read, and certainly not aloud.”

In 2004 I read Unless by Carol Shields and really disliked it. I'm glad I gave Sheilds the benefit of the doubt and read more of her work because some of it is really wonderful. This book--which was on my #unreadshelf even though when I opened it I realized it belongs to my sister--was amazing.

It is the story of Daisy Flett and takes you through her long life, as well as the lives of her family and friends from numerous perspectives in a mere 269 pages. Shields tells the story using a variety of narrative techniques, including several letters, and I couldn't put it down. Not a word was wasted.

In the introduction (read it after you read the story--it is full of spoilers) Penelope Lively says that this novel is "a virtuoso discussion of the nature of evidence itself, of the ways in which it is unreliable and conflicting." That is exactly right. 

Shields lived in Canada most of her life and much of this novel is set there. I am counting it toward the 15th Canadian Reading Challenge. 

Unread Shelf Project January 2021

My UnRead Shelf, Jan 2021

I went through all my shelves in the last months of 2020 and identified 43 books as owned-but-not-read. I gathered most of these into a single bookcase. (Some are elsewhere because they are part of a project or collection that has its own home). During 2021 I am going to endeavor to read as many of these as I can. Or to decide I am not going to read some of these books and move them on to a new home. Most of these books have been in my house for many years and I have no idea exactly where they came from. As I get though these additional titles may be shifted to this collection so 43 is definitely not a firm number. 

  January challenge for the UnRead Shelf project is to read a book with high expectations. I considered several books for this designation: the 3rd and final volume of Blanche Weisen Cook's Eleanor Roosevelt biography (I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first 1300+ pages), an Anne LaMott book (Bird by Bird is an all-time favorite); The Moonstone (arguably the first mystery novel); and Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (so much hype, so many awards!) I decided to go with Let the Great World Spin. Will see how that goes.

The December 2020 UnRead Shelf challenge was to read the shortest book on your shelf which for me was Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively at 199 pages. At this point it is still in progress, but I am moving through it, and for the most part enjoying it.

Review: How it All Began

How it All Began by Penelope Lively

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The publisher's blurb says this book is "Funny, humane, touching, sly and sympathetic, HOW IT ALL BEGAN is a brilliant sleight of hand from an author at the top of her game." Which I think is overstating the thing quite a bit. This is a charming novel about the way we are interconnected and how one event can ripple out to change the lives of seemingly unconnected people. I thought the characters were appealing enough to want to know how things turned out for them and Lively's philosophical musings on mothers and daughters and on reading (mostly through the character of Charlotte whose mugging starts the chain of events) were insightful.

"Forever, reading has been central, the necessary fix, the support system. Her life has been influenced by reading. She has read, not just for distraction, sustenance, to pass the time, but she has read in a state of primal innocence, reading for enlightenment, for instruction, even. She has read to find out how sex works, how babies are born, she has read to discover what it is to be good, or bad; she has read to find out if things are the same for others as they are for her--then, discovering that frequently they are not, she has read to find out what it is that other people experience that she is missing."

My Ever Growing TBR List

Here are recent editions to my to-be-read list:

From the Crime Fiction Alphabet (the host warned us we would end up with more TBR books) the post from BooksPlease about Endless Night by Agatha Christie convinced me I want to read this one. From a post about a Josephine Tey novel I have also added The Little Stranger which was apparently influenced by the Tey's Franchise Affair.

A friend on Goodreads gave 5 stars to How It All Began by Penelope Lively. I have liked her novels before, so onto the list it goes.