If you were a fan of the syndicated comic strip Cathy, which ran for more than 30 years (and even if you weren’t!), you will enjoy this collection of 48 witty essays by Cathy Guisewite. She writes from the middle of the sandwich generation, Guisewite deals with the 90-year-old parents she calls the Twins (both are well but impossible!) and her 19-year-old daughter the bread.
She also includes running Top Five Reasons I Didn’t Exercise Today sprinkled throughout the book, with truisms such as I feel too fat and I exercised yesterday and I don’t look any different. She uses titles to subvert expectations; for example, “Seduction 101” is about how to get a college fresher to make contact. “Ate O’clock” is a recounting of the accomplishments of other women, leading to a rebellious decision not to floss. I enjoyed this and gulped it in two days.
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I’ve been slowly sipping this memoir, because on pretty much every page, there’s something I need to think about. Alice Wong, who has a progressive neuromuscular disease, is a disability activist. The title refers to the Chinese calendar; Wong was born in the year of the tiger. She has put together a patchwork of her writing and interviews, as well as photos and artwork. In doing so, she gives a comprehensive picture of what life has been like for her as a wheelchair-bound woman who needs a Bi-pap machine to breathe. Wong is intelligent and articulate, describing the difficulties in getting a college education just as ADA became law—no handicap-accessible bathrooms, sometimes no way to enter campus buildings. Reading this memoir has given me much to be thankful for and to pay attention to. My only gripe is that the font changes, and sometimes is too small for me to read easily. But the book is worth the effort. Yes, it’s a romance novel, but it’s also a quick introduction to many Jewish holidays and customs. In addition, it gives a better understanding of generalized anxiety disorder (GED). With anxiety issues on the rise during and after the pandemic, I found this knowledge helpful.
Our heroine, Dara Rabinowitz, is a third-generation matchmaker, who has created an online matchmaking service for Jews. She’s booked to discuss the High Holy Days and the website on a floundering daytime television show with her nearly ninety-year-old grandmother, who takes over the interview. Dara, 34 and single, had created a list of characteristics for her perfect man, beginning with the need for him to be Jewish. But sparks fly with the show’s Gentile host, widower and single dad Christopher Steadfast. They craft a story arc for the show that features Dara’s quest for the perfect man. You can probably see where this is going. Jean Meltzer is a novelist because she was unable to finish rabbinic school, and her father suggested she write a book. This is her second Jewish-themed one, organized around the Jewish holidays from September to December. This charming “memoir on the power of friendships,” as the subtitle calls it, is a lens for viewing Nina Totenberg’s life as legal affairs correspondent for NPR. Yes, there are dinners—with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and many others in Washington, D.C. circles. The book also reviews some of the major political events and the people who influenced them over the past fifty years. In tone, it falls between a gossipy tell-all and a sober tome on current events. There are lively stories about the extraordinary men and women who shaped Totenberg’s world.
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What I’m ReadingI began working in libraries as a seventh grader, courtesy of scoliosis. My orthopedic surgeon wrote me a pass to miss gym class, so I began working in the school library to feed my love of reading. Even after my surgery to correct the curvature, I kept getting out of gym to work in my high school library and then in my college library (for pay, at last!).
So began my eventual career as a college reference librarian—after a detour into teaching high school English. Later I worked for an educational publisher before going back to libraries.
I have a reading and writing life now. I devour both fiction and nonfiction, and will tell you about some of my favorite reads, both old friends and new discoveries.
Here's some library-themed music to get you in the mood.
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November 2023
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