Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

Good morning! I have been in the best mood lately. It’s this time of the year. I love all the shows, the movies, the books, etc. It’s nearly soup season and I will never say no to a bowl of soup.

Thank you for your good thoughts the other day. The additional imaging and ultrasound that I went for discovered a small lump. The radiologist said, in his professional opinion it’s benign but I have to go back in six months to see if it’s grown. If so, it will have to be removed. It wasn’t there last year. I was starting to get really nervous when I saw it myself on the screen. Ladies, the COVID shot delayed my yearly scan by a couple of months because they tell you to wait at least six weeks before scheduling a mammogram but get your scan in.

Right Now:

I will be heading to church to hang with the J High and High School students soon. Getting my coffee in and having a little avocado toast before I head out.

I finished all the books I was reading. My review of Hamnet posted last Friday. I should have my review of The Family Plot up this week. Boy, I really liked that one. I am at the awkward stage of knowing exactly what I want to read but not having the said book at my fingertips. Now, I have no idea what to read.

This Week:

I don’t have anything going on this week besides work stuff. I need to work on October’s social media calendar for work which is so weird to me. OCTOBER.

I sorted through all the clothes my daughter and son no longer use and have it ready to donate. It will feel good to drop that off. Bags and bags. So much.

Reading:

I have no idea what to read which is troublesome. This is the time of the year that a reading slump usually finds me so I am pushing hard to avoid that. The book I want to read is not available to me and I don’t want to spend $30 on a hardback but I might.

Watching:

I took a little tumble down the stairs trying to NOT step on the sleeping pup and did something to my knee. The pain has left me very restless so I’ve not been able to watch anything on TV. You’d think that couch time and cozying up with a good show would be the perfect way to let my knee heal but nope. It hurts more at rest. All my shows are waiting for me on the DVR.

Grateful for:

I’m very glad that the radiologist thinks this lump is benign but please continue the good thoughts and prayers. When the US tech added the markers I started to get very nervous.
I am still very grateful that my daughter has such a good friend group at college. Those girls are GEMS. They really watch out for each other too.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Read something good.

Hamnet
By Maggie O’Farrell
Vintage, 9781984898876, May 2021, 320pp.

The Short of It:

Did you know that Hamnet and Hamlet are one in the same?

The Rest of It:

Maggie O’Farrell wanted to give a voice to the boy we knew so little about. Hamnet, the son of William Shakespeare, who died at the age of eleven. The thing is, there is no record of Hamnet’s cause of death, anywhere. His death is believed to be caused by the plague, but no where is this confirmed. In O’Farrell’s novel, the way Hamnet dies is quite different from what you’d expect. Cracking open that first page of a book titled HAMNET, and especially since the author wanted nothing more than to give a voice to this boy, you’d expect the story to be all about Hamnet, but instead, it’s about his mother, Agnes and really motherhood in general.

As I was reading this book, I fell into the flow of the writing. It seemed poetic to me. I lingered here and there because of how melodious the words were as they rolled off the page. This was, dare I say it, a pleasant read even though it’s about death, the plague, and grief.

Telling us about Hamnet, through the grief of his mother was an interesting choice. Powerful at times, but there was a tiny touch of magical realism (in my opinion) that took me out of the narrative for a minute and I was left reading that section over and over again to make sense of it and to consider why the author chose to go that route.

We discussed this for my book club. I’d say that most liked it a lot, some loved it, a couple weren’t impressed. I loved the writing but honestly, I expected more of Hamnet and his famous father. William Shakespeare is never named in the story. He’s the boy’s father, the Latin tutor, and eventually the playwright. It’s not until the very end that you are even introduced to his craft. I will say that the ending was quite thoughtful and a touch sad.

This is a book that will stay with me, even though it left me wanting more.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Chatting with friends about books and life…