More books

A quick review of the books I’ve finished lately:

Why New Orleans Matters by Tom Piazza: This was written in the months following Katrina, in a response to those people who questioned whether rebuilding New Orleans was worth it. The first half of the book is an ode to the culture of New Orleans, the music, the people, the parades, the atmosphere- everything. Piazza does a fantastic job of capturing the elusive magic of the city, as well as the complexity of the people. The second half details his experience going back into the ravaged city and the horrible things he witnessed- not just the damage and loss of life, but also the really poor choices made by the people in charge of making decisions for the city. A heartbreaking, but really good book.

AAP Guide to Toilet Training by Mark L Wolraich: This was probably one of the most ineffectual books I’ve read. The front cover boasts “Step by Step Instructions”, but the section on actually potty training your child is maddeningly vague. It would be like if I wrote a book claiming to teach you to dance, then the section that was supposed to teach you to dance said, “There are many different forms of dance. Pick the one that suits you best and start dancing!” and that was it. Seriously, I thought I’d missed a chapter or two. Ah well.

Listening below the noise: A Meditation on the practice of Silence by Anne D. LeClaire : This book is amazing. It’s a memoir of LeClaire’s experience with practicing silence- she is completely silent on the first and third Mondays of every month. She details beautifully her experience and some of the lessons she learned from her silence. It was really inspiring and lovely.

Black Butterfly: A Lucifer Box Novel by Mark Gatiss : To my delight, I found out that this book existed last night and immediately bought it on my haunted Kindle (thanks forever for that phrase, Brandy, it makes me laugh) and had it in a matter of moments. I LOVE my Kindle for that. And for many other reasons. I was too tired to start reading last night, so when Tiny woke me up ridiculously early this morning, I started reading while she played on the floor. And finished it before it was time for her to go down for her nap. Truly a tasty, engaging little literary snack. 🙂 I love Gatiss’ style- it’s so quick and sly and funny; and while it’s no where near deep and philosophical, it’s charming in a old school pulp novel way.

That’s it for now, bringing my total to 16.
What are you reading?

One thought on “More books

  1. I just finished “Listening” also (thank you Maryanne), and it was profound. I love the end with her simple baby steps into practicing silence, and plan on starting with not listening to my iPod on my walks and not having the radio on when I drive to work. Wish me luck…

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