Book Chatter

getty-8 Hello, again! Normally the week flies by for me but this week is dragging just a tad. Anyone else?

For today’s post I am sharing some photos from my recent trip to the Getty Center. The photo you see at the top here, is the view from the center itself. We still have haze from smoke but that cluster of buildings you see is downtown Los Angeles. As you can see, the day was beautiful and it was breezy on top of the hill. Very refreshing.

Although the museum had timed entry and low capacity, some of the galleries were still packed which is why many of my photos are off to the side. Especially the Van Gogh. Here are just some random shots and a few fave pieces.

It felt really good to be taking some art in. After hobbling around for two hours on my torn meniscus though, I could barely make it back to the shuttle. I tried to get The Hub to wheel me around in a wheelchair but he wasn’t up for the task. My daughter suggested via FaceTime that I wheel myself around using my ARMS. I laughed at that. My son suggested I amputate my leg. See how the humor works in my family?

Needless to say, I need more outings like this.

I am still waiting for My Heart is a Chainsaw to come in from the library for RIP. I don’t think it will ever come in. I am at the top of three lists but the wait pattern seems stalled. I’ve moved on. I think I will read Reese’s latest pick L.A. Weather since that came in from the library quickly. It won’t work for RIP but I have to keep the reading flowing or I will for sure hit a wall.

The Otter Pup is giving me side eye these days because I am not able to take her for her walkies. The Hub has been taking her but she is throwing me some serious shade. Won’t read with me, won’t let me tuck her in for bed, etc. Me trying not to step on her is what caused my injury so you’d think she’d be grateful!

I don’t like to be down for anything so I’ve been very antsy. Jittery. Feeling as if I need to be doing 100 things. My daughter’s birthday is coming up and it feels weird to not have her here. Her friend is flying out to see her though. Very sweet. I don’t know, my mind is spinning. I need to get outside again, soon.

Have a good week!

Damnation Spring
By Ash Davidson
Scribner, 9781982144401, August 2021, 464pp.

The Short of It:

Slow build, but worth it in the end.

The Rest of It:

Colleen and Rich Gundersen are raising their young son, Chub, on the rugged California coast. It’s 1977, and life in this Pacific Northwest logging town isn’t what it used to be. For generations, the community has lived and breathed timber; now that way of life is threatened. ~ Indiebound

Damnation Spring is about a lot of things. That is why the story is sticking with me even though I finished it a few days ago. Colleen and Rich don’t have the perfect marriage but there’s love there, especially for their young son Chub. But after eight miscarriages, Colleen wants nothing more than to carry a baby to term but there’s a problem. The spray used to control the growth in their logging community is poisoning their water. Colleen, an amateur midwife to the other women in the community has seen the proof of it more than she cares to admit. Babies, born with half a brain, and now her own sister is pregnant.

Colleen’s determination at finding the cause for her miscarriages creates problems for Rich and his logging team. He wants to ignore it but when he looks at his son Chub, he also doesn’t want to endanger his life or Colleen’s. Plus, he has a financial stake in all of this because he purchased a large part of the land, with the hopes to sell the timber but there are challenges there too. Roads, not owned by him. You might own the timber but you can’t get it out if the roads aren’t available to you.

This was a rich, complicated story about people trying to survive. I loved the complexity of the characters. There is a rawness to the story too. The beauty of the timber, the destruction of the forest, the poisoning of the water and everything around it trying so hard to survive. It was very good and I didn’t notice its length at nearly 500 pages.

Recommend.

Source: Review copy provide by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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