Three Books--No Mysteries

    I squeaked in three books this week. Hurrah! If I was going to give a theme to my reads this week, it would be Girl Power, a phrase I dislike because it diminishes women. Shouldn't it be woman power? Perhaps a better theme would be women finding their voice and their power.

    When it comes to science fiction, Ursula K. LeGuin is legendary--not only as a woman writing sci-fi but as a great writer. However, the book Lavinia is more fantasy. She is the final wife of Theseus, as related by Virgil. As a young woman, Lavinia meets when the poet's shade when he is at the edge of death on a ship out at sea, and she is worshipping at a shrine. She asks him about her life to come. He has written her into existence, but has made her a flat, colorless character. LeGuin's book tells Lavinia's side of the story. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis's book Till We Have Faces inspired by the myth of Cupid and Psyche as told by Psyche's older sister. Occasionally, this book is my favorite, and sometimes it is Connie Willis' book To Say Nothing of the Dog. 

    Lavinia starts slowly, but builds in intensity as Lavinia becomes self-aware and active in her life. She is ruled her entire life by men and creatively makes her way into the life the poet Virgil wrote for her. It might be an extended metaphor for fate versus choice. 

    I like self-help books because I want to do life THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. Several self-help books I've read use the motivation to try harder and do better. The Lazy Genius: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi is the kindest book of this genre I've read. She exposes the two extremes of trying harder against the opposite position of you'll never make it, give up: genius or lazy. I've been to both extremes, and it's not fun or effective. She has thirteen Lazy Genious principles (that's a lot, but they build on each other) and a Magic Question. My daughter, a Family Nurse Practioner (FNP), and the mother of a toddler and twins recommended it to me. I found its blend of philosophy and practical advice helpful and stress-reducing. 

 

    I finished Still Life by Sarah Winman thirty minutes before writing this post, and I feel that my thoughts are still in Florence, Italy. Winman evokes Florence with beautiful and tactile descriptions that it is hard not to buy a plane ticket immediately. The writing is evocative and lovely; the characters are tangible. Ulysses, a British soldier in World War II, meets Evelyn Skinner, a British art historian in her sixties, towards the end of the war in Italy. She inspires him to look at the world with new eyes.

“Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment. Captures forever that which is fleeting.” 
― Sarah Winman, Still Life

    Several women are unconventional for their time--mothers who don't want to be mothers, same-sex attraction, career over family, and in various ways, they own that and its consequences. The book has a prophetic parrot, visionary elders, love, cruelty, tension, food, art, tragedy, and beauty. I think it will win awards.