Published: April 08, 2008 11:47 pm            

John Cannon: Eclectic taste in books: 4/9/08

A resolution for 2008 that I have thus far actually kept is to read more. Although I do not have an exact count, I believe I have read 12 or 13 books to date.

I know of some people who read two or three books a week — or at least they claim to — but I am a notoriously slow reader, which is not to be confused with being a poor reader. I can read as well as anyone. It’s just that I tend to move along at a more leisurely pace than many others.

There is no question what is the best and most memorable book I have read in 2008. It is a work of nonfiction called “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls. It is a fascinating tale of how the author and at least two of her three siblings rose above childhoods spent as part of a shockingly dysfunctional family to become successful adults (as the book ends the jury is still out on the fourth member of the family, a sister somewhat younger than the other siblings).

In some ways, it is a sad book because of the appalling actions of both parents, a father who is an alcoholic and a mother who is a mental case out of touch with reality. Despite his battles with the bottle, I believe the father truly loves the children, but I’m never convinced Mom even liked her kids. Both parents were extremely selfish, putting themselves ahead of their children.

However, I will say this: Despite her parents’ shortcomings — and Lord know there were many — they always encouraged their children to read and the father taught them to be whizzes in mathematics. The parents were dysfunctional, but they weren’t dumb.

In the final analysis, this is a book about hope. It is just what the book jacket says: “a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption.”

I read “The Glass Castle” as part of a book club that meets at the Jesse Stuart Foundation. Each month, Jim Gifford, the foundation’s executive director, selects a book with the help of other club members that is in some way tied to this region. “The Glass Castle” was selected because a good portion of it takes place in Welch, W.Va.

I didn’t start reading “The Glass Castle” until the Saturday before the book club met on Tuesday. My wife had already read it and suggested I read as much of it as I could before the meeting.

Well, I started reading about 5 p.m. that Saturday and continued to read until past midnight. I resumed reading after church on Sunday and continued to read until late that night. I still had about 70 more pages to go on Monday morning, but by then, I couldn’t put the book down. I finished it before departing for work, arriving about an hour later than usual.

Since finishing the book, I’ve been trying to convince others to read it. There is a group here at the newspaper who are always sharing books.

I suggested the book to a co-worker who I knew did not read much non-fiction.

“All I ask you to do is just read the first sentence and see if you are not hooked,” I said.,

That sentence reads: “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster.”

Once I read that sentence, I was hooked. I highly recommend this book. You can order it through the Jesse Stuart Foundation.

Just to show that I like variety in my reading, I also recently read “T Is for Trespass” by Sue Grafton. I first became introduced to Grafton’s “alphabet series” about 15 or 20 years ago, and immediately fell in love with private eye Kinsey Millhone. She’s my kind of woman — tough and independent.

However, after reading or listening to a number of Grafton’s books, I got a bit lost as to where I was in the alphabet. As a result, “T Is for Trespass” is the first Grafton book I had read in probably 10 years.

I was telling this to a co-worker, when she asked me why I lost interest in Kinsey Millhone.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I liked Kinsey fine until I met Stephanie Plum, who is sexier and sassier. I think I left Kinsey for Stephanie. Then I met Lindsay Boxer.”

For the unaware, Stephanie Plum is the creation of Jane Evanovich. She is a bail bond enforcement agent in Trenton, N.J., and not a particularly good one. Her ineptness only further endears her to me.

Lindsay Boxer is a police officer in San Francisco created by James Patterson. I like her and the Women’s Murder Club better than Patterson’s Alex Cross.

This is crazy. Here I am confessing my love for two women. Since they are both fictional, I hope my wife doesn’t get too jealous.

JOHN CANNON can be reached at jcannon@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2649.

        

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