LOOKING BACK TO "30 BOOKS I'VE REALLY ENJOYED" (2017)

 

In 2017 I wrote a BLOG post with a LIST of 30 BOOKS I had read and really enjoyed.

• http://azestylife.blogspot.com/2017/07/30-books-ive-really-enjoyed-in-past-few.html

My friend MILLY recently told me that she had COMPLETED reading of ALL 30 BOOKS and she's asked me for a NEW LIST!! What a huge compliment to a BLOGGER to have someone respond in this way. I had NO idea!!

While I compile a new list, I thought you might be interested to read what MILLY had to say when I asked her which were her FAVORITES on that original list.

• The one book that has really stayed with me, in that some of the scenes were so vivid the visual pictures in my mind just have remained (and I'll say I could never go see this as a movie), is THE PARIS ARCHITECT. It may not have been the best writing, but it really riveted me and gave me a true sense of what it must have been like. I'll put it in my top group.
  
  
• I really liked THE LAST PAINTING OF SARAH DeVOS, and it had an influence on me. My daughter and I went to pick a spot for a mom/daughter graduation trip for her last Spring and we picked Amsterdam and Brussels. Unfortunately, we did not get to go, as we were "locked down".
  
  
• One that surprised me (although I wouldn't say it was TOP 3) was A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. When I read the synopsis I thought it may be slow or not hold me. I was wrong - I enjoyed reading about her life very much and was pleasantly surprised. Hence, the great thing with a list, is that you do pick up things you probably wouldn't have otherwise.
  
  
• Really liked POPE JOAN - although it was one of the first I read, so it has been a while and the details are no longer there - I just remember being intrigued by the whole idea of the possibility.
  
  
• I talked about SOUL OF AN OCTOPUS so much. My husband also then read it and enjoyed it, as he did FIVE PRESIDENTS as well. I read FIVE PRESIDENTS before MRS. KENNEDY AND ME and I'll say that MRS. KENNEDY AND ME was a little redundant (I read them close together).
  
  
• Enjoyed both THE DOVEKEEPERS and the whole Russian-Fairytale part of WINTER GARDEN and I could call out a number more.....
  
  
• After reading AMERICA'S FIRST DAUGHTER, I ended up suggesting it to our neighborhood Book Club, and it was a big hit there too. 
  
  
• Just too hard to pick top favorites....
  
  
• Loved being "forced" to read A TALE OF TWO CITIES - I had seen a musical based on it on Broadway (it was only there a short time and never made it big, but I had liked it), but never actually read the book, so was pleased to be given additional motivation.

Thank you again for many hours of enjoyment, Milly

"So many books, so little time" (quote from FRANK ZAPPA), right?!!

JOAN

BOOK - THE RED ADDRESS BOOK by SOFIA LUNDBERG (2017) (NO SPOILERS)

What a SENSITIVE, HEARTWARMING, ENGAGING book.  I don't cry very often, but I have to admit that I welled up nearing the end of this book. 

Debut novelist, SOFIA LUNDBERG chose a beautiful premise for her story..... 

For her 10th Birthday, DORIS received a RED LEATHER ADDRESS BOOK from her father - "You can collect all your friends in it. Everyone you meet during your life. In all the exciting places you'll visit.  So you don't forget."

DORIS is now 96 years old, living back in SWEDEN, where she started. She's facing her mortality and in looking back on her life, she's reminiscing her relationship with each of the people in her RED ADDRESS BOOK. She's also documenting "their stories" for her only living relative, grand-niece JENNY - "I'll give you my memories. They're the most beautiful thing I have."

JENNY lives a world away in SAN FRANCISCO. Thankfully they have SKYPE for weekly visits.

This is a book that will stick with me. It's filled with one woman's EMOTIONS, MEMORIES, and REVELATIONS as she remembers all of her MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS. Each of her family members - her devoted, loving, platonic relationship with GOSTA - the memory of the LOVE she felt for ALLAN....... 

As I normally do, here are a few excerpts to WHET YOUR READING APPETITE!

Pg 33
"I wish you enough," she whispered in my ear. "Enough sun to light up your days, enough rain that you appreciate the sun. Enough joy to strengthen your soul, enough pain that you can appreciate life's small moments of happiness. And enough friends that you can manage a farewell now and then."

Pg 50
"He never asked me about myself. I don't think he even knew which county I came from. He wasn't interested in what was going on in my head. That might be one of the most degrading things you can subject someone to, not caring about their mind."

Pg 78
"A beautiful person is listened to, admired. This became all too clear to me later in life, when my skin suddenly lost its elasticity and my hair started to turn white. When people stopped looking at me as I walked through a room. That day will arrive. For everyone."

Pg 125
"Everone experiences setbacks in life. They change us. Sometimes we notice; other times they happen without our knowledge. But the pain, that's there the whole time, piled high in our hearts, like clenched fists ready to break free."

Pg 130
"It's difficult being old and unwell, unable to decide for yourself when you're rested, tired, or somewhere in between and what you should or shouldn't do about it."

Pg 230
"The city hung over us like a constant shadow of the past, when everything had seemed so much better. In truth, it still hangs there today. In the furniture, the French books, the paintings. Paris is the city that captured our souls."

This last paragraph resonates with me. PARIS has certainly captured MY SOUL!!

JOAN