Snowstorm Stack

Another big snowstorm is headed our way! 

The good news: great skiing and snowshoeing ahead.

Bad news: dangerous traveling and possible outages loom. We had to cancel plans to visit friends/The Daughter in Vermont’s Upper Valley because of the weather. So what to do? Especially since I finished knitting The Hat during last weekend’s blizzard. Guess it's time to read! And wow, have I got some recommendations. 

First up:

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan is without question the best thing I’ve read in years. I’m embarrassed to confess it’s the first book of Keegan’s I’ve picked up, and now I’ve gone and ordered EVERYTHING else she’s published. Set in a small Irish town in 1985, it is narrated from the point of view of Bill Furlong, who is a father, coal merchant, and Catholic, and makes a startling discovery while delivering fuel to the local convent during the Christmas season. 

To adequately describe what this story is “about” would be impossible, because it is “about” so, so much. Fear. Courage. Resilience. Complicity. In one gorgeously crafted sentence after another, Keegan creates scenes and moments which offer glimpses into the very real, beating human hearts of her characters, in particular this one “ordinary” man. Confronted with an extraordinary, shocking situation, his perspective on his community, his relationships, and the circumstances of his entire life shift, freeing him to act … or not … in ways he never could have imagined before.

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich is fiction inspired not only by actual events but also by her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, on whom one of the main characters, Thomas Wazhashk, is based. Thomas is a Chippewa council member and the night watchman at a factory in rural North Dakota. A quiet man devoted to his family, Thomas finds himself prompted to take action — and travel farther than he ever dreamed — in order to stave off the disastrous consequences of proposed actions against the Indian nations by the U. S. Government.

The facts: in 1953, Senator Arthur V. Watkins of Utah introduced into the United States Congress a bill to abolish the treaties which had been made with American Indian nations. Had this bill passed, it would have resulted in the eventual termination of all tribes, including the one which Erdrich’s family belongs: the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. 

Erdrich does a terrific job bringing to life the land and community her grandfather inhabited, and helping us see — and feel — what was almost lost during this fraught period of history. 

Red, White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca just won a Newbury Honor! And to think: I was only just sitting near her at the Bath Book Bash! Sigh. But seriously: big congrats to Rajani and her excellent book, which I am reading right now with my tutee, Monique, who recently came to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of Congo with her family. Although Monique is African, not Indian like the protagonist in Rajani’s book, we’ve found much within these pages about the “new arrival” experience for Monique to relate to.

Told in prose-poem form, this middle grade book is narrated by Reha, an Indian girl who came to the U.S. with her parents. Reha does a beautiful job describing the challenges of growing up in America while also honoring the traditions and culture of her family. It’s hard, and to make matters harder: Reha’s mother becomes seriously ill, forcing Reha and her father to take stock of what really matters and how to move forward when you think your whole world is crumbling.

I’m about halfway through Ann Patchett’s These Precious Days, a collection of essays she penned during the pandemic, and I’m reading slowly because I don’t want it to end! From her three fathers (yes, three!) to her thoughts on knitting, Snoopy as a literary influence, and her friendship with Tom Hanks’s assistant, Snooki (a friendship which sparked the title essay) this collection is delight after delight. I have a few other books I’m SUPPOSED to finish fairly soon, but I may just hunker down with this collection during the weekend’s storm.

Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke is on my supposed-to-read-for-book-group list and you know? It’s great. Telescoping in on that halcyon period when air travel was supposed to be glamorous (1966-1975), Cooke introduces us to the stewardesses who were part of an elite group of young women carefully selected by the airline.

Thousands applied and the requirements were strict: you needed a college education and fluency in two languages. You had to be 26 or younger at the time of hire; between 5’3” and 5’9”, and weigh between 105 and 140 pounds. Moreover, you needed the savvy and sophistication of a Foreign Service officer, not to mention the courage of an American GI, as Pan Am enlisted many of its flight attendants to aid in the evacuation of Saigon and Operation Babylift, during which two thousand children were flown from Vietnam to the United States.

This entertaining, informative book is giving me a fresh perspective and new respect for the women who chose to “Fly the World” with Pan Am. 

Here's The Hat knit during the last storm.

Okay, that’s all for now. What’s on your stack? Got any suggestions for the next storm?