There Will Be Gushing

    I think Maggie Shipstead is a sharp writer. She incisively describes characters that pierced me as a reader--not with sadness, but with observations that caused me to examine my own self-centered brokenness. Ouch. You Have a Friend in 10A is the book that follows her best-selling book, Great Circle. I'm on the waitlist for it and am slightly afraid to read it. Will it wreck me?  Shipstead is masterful in her short stories. Of the eight in the book, "The Great Central Pacific Guano Company" and "You Have A Friend In 10A" will roll around my head for a while, not only because of the terrible situations her characters find themselves in, but also because of their responses. It slays the dream that my best self shows up when life is tough.  

    I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy by Erin Carlson was a delightful book. I admire Nora Ephron's achievements as a writer and director and her larger-than-life persona. The three romcoms--When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, and Sleepless in Seatle--are some of my favorite movies. Carlson's book shows how the sausage was made. I thought it would be about Nora Ephron, and it was, but it was also about the production and the actors. I try to be a person who isn't caught up in celebrity culture, but this was a delicious book about movies and actors influential in my life. The hopefulness I possess about love and romance has roots in these movies.  Carlson portrayed the events and people authentically. I enjoyed it a lot.

    The Penderwicks at Last by Jeanne Birdsall concludes the five-book series. I love this series so much. It makes me wish my daughters were younger or my granddaughters older so I could enjoy it with them. Each book centers on a different sister going from oldest to youngest. It describes them at eleven or twelve at a momentous--to them--time in their lives. As the final book of the series, it is responsible for giving me, the reader, a window into how their lives develop when the series ends. This is not an easy task, but Birdsall does a masterful job. I had feelings of satisfaction and sadness at the end. I will miss the sisters, but I know they are living fulfilling and vibrant lives in the land of fiction. 

    I'm hoping a streaming service will make it into a series!