May reading: secrets, going undercover, grammar, and music

May is always such a busy month, filled with endings and emotions.  It was full and memorable for us again this year since we had the bridging ceremony from Daisies to Brownies, the end of first grade, a dance recital, a trip to Europe, and my birthday.  In between, I read a few books…

The Paris Architect: A Novel by Charles Belfoure

In WWII Paris, an average man gets an opportunity to be a hero.  Mostly its characters are cliche, but I found myself on the edge of my seat to find out what happens.  The transformation of the main character made the book worth reading for me.

“Let me explain something to you, Monsieur Bernard. Back in 1940, when this hell began, I realized that my first duty as a Christian was to overcome my self-centeredness, that I had to inconvenience myself when one of my human brethren was in danger—whoever he may be, or whether he was a born Frenchman or not. I’ve simply decided not to turn my back.”

A Woman of Note by Carol M. Cram

This story is based on  the lives of three women composers: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Louise Farrenc.  Cram writes about a serious, plain young woman who composes her own music, something quite scandalous in 19th century Vienna.  Her relationships and her music create a most riveting tale.  I recommend this one.

Gorsky: A Novel by Vesna Goldsworthy

This is another telling of The Great Gatsby, telling about the exploits of the rich, this time about expatriates living in contemporary London.

“The true luxury of wealth is to be solitary in places where you least expect it.”

“Whenever I entered Gorsky’s world I lost my bearings, as though money created its own decompression chambers in which even the laws of gravity ceased to apply.”

“Everything around me… was harmoniously orchestrated, beautiful to look at, yet the cumulative effect was melancholy, as though some unquenchable thirst lurked at the heart of it all.”

“He stared at Natalia’s face as though bewitched.  If I hadn’t been jealous, I might have found it almost funny.  And I was indescribably, immeasurably jealous.  Not of the idea, which now seemed certain, that he might soon have this woman for ever, not of the building nor of the money he possessed, but of his capacity to feel.”

The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table by Tracie McMillan

After reading The Food Babe Way, I had to read this book recommended by Vani Hari.  There is a large human cost to America’s cheap food and I’m more convinced than before that it needs to change.  Eating healthy food should not be this difficult.  McMillan calls it “an abandonment of America’s great promise.”

In order to learn the true workings behind our modern food system, McMillan went undercover for a year as a California farm worker alongside migrant laborers, as a Walmart produce handler in Detroit, and as a kitchen assistant at a New York Applebee’s. In each job, she struggled to live and eat off the wages she earned, paying rent and buying groceries as if it were her real life.

The book reads like an adventure with the main character working, eating, and living alongside the working poor.  McMillan’s commitment to social justice for those she worked with and for consumers is what kept her going during situations when surely you or I would have thrown in the towel and returned to our air-conditioned, middle class ways.  Highly recommend this one!

Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris

Having spent more than 3 decades at The New Yorker, specifically in the copy department, Norris is highly qualified to instruct us about good grammar.  It was a fun read and I learned quite a bit about the history of language.  Admittedly, I am much more interested in punctuation and grammar than the average person, but I still learned quite a bit about proper usage.  And Norris is quite funny: “Chances are that if you use the Oxford comma you brush the crumbs off your shirtfront before going out.”  

“One of the things I like about my job is that it draws on the entire person: not just your knowledge of grammar and punctuation and usage and foreign languages and literature but also your experience of travel, gardening, shipping, singing, plumbing, Catholicism, midwesternism, mozzarella, the A train, New Jersey.  And in turn it feeds you more experience.”

Maybe in Another Life: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid

OK, this one was totally cheesy but light and fun to read. I got quite invested in the main character’s story.  It’s sort of a Sliding Doors-type story and the chapters alternate with two possible outcomes of the life of a 29 year old girl.

“Life is long and full of an infinite number of decisions. I have to think that the small ones don’t matter, that I’ll end up where I need to end up no matter what I do.”