The first three weeks of June were sort of a washout with most days being overcast and rainy. Sure, we had a couple of nice days and one good weekend but that was it. Frankly - as I said last month - it kept the pollen down. Plus, I didn't have to slather on the sunscreen. I ran a few errands each day and spent some quiet time reading.
Miscellaneous
The Westing Game - Ellen Raskin ($6.99/$4.28, copyright 1978, 182 pages, Trade Paperback)
This book is listed for Young Adults but I think a lot of older people who enjoy a good mystery with some humor will like it. The plot is pretty simple - a group of people who have been tricked into buying apartments/businesses in the same building are gathered together at a nearby mansion. They are given the chance to win a great deal of money if they can find out who killed Sam Westing, the mansions original owner. Raskin drops a lot of clues and red herrings but her strength is in her characters. They are too numerous to mention and no one actually stands out but they are all well-written, and a bit bizarre, and there's an interesting ending. I enjoyed it.
American Pastoral - Philip Roth ($1495/$1.00, copyright 1997, 423 pages, Trade Paperback)
I have noticed this book on one of my shelves on-and-off since I picked it up at a Library Book Sale about 2 years ago. I always meant to read it but there was always something new that caught my interest. Having read about Roth's death last month, I thought it was time. It's the story of Swede Levov, who's living the American Dream. He was a famous High School athlete who inherited his father's business. He married a former Miss New Jersey named Dawn and they moved into a beautiful house. They had a wonderful daughter whom they named Merry. Everything was great until 1968 when Merry helped in a terrorist act against the Viet Nam War. Roth's characters are well defined and their dialog rings true. His description of the effect that the riots had on Newark and elsewhere are brutally honest. I have to admit that I had some trouble with this book and had to set it aside from time to time but I did finish it. It was OK.
Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem ($15.95/$.50, copyright 2009, 467 pages, Trade Paperback)
I first came across Lethem when I read "Motherless Brooklyn" several years ago (I 'm pretty sure I posted about it). This is the story of Chase Insteadman, a former child star, and Perkus Tooth, who used to write about pop culture for Rolling Stone. These unlikely friends, and a whole bunch of other characters, end up on a dead end quest for something that they're looking for. They wander all over Manhattan and Brooklyn to find it but don't, although they do have some interesting experiences. To be honest, I'm not sure what it was because Lethem tends to wander around a bit narratively. I will says that he's pretty good at creating characters and writing dialog but I got bored several times and picked up something else to read before I finished this. It was OK.
This afternoon, the sun came out. According to the weather reports we're in for a heat wave starting in a couple of days. I've just picked up a few books that I'm looking forward to getting in to.
July is next ….
Keep reading.
