Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

Are we really in the last weekend of April? This entire month passed me by. I’ve not been wanting May to arrive because of all the stuff going on with my sister but guess what? It’s nearly here and there’s nothing to be done about it. For now, I will attempt to focus on the positive.

Right Now:

I’m a space cadet today. This horrendous wind has not helped. I always feel so scattered when it’s windy. My hair is all over the place and as dry as a broomstick. Coffee is always good but isn’t helping much. The plus side to being spaced out is that people don’t expect much from you.

This Week:

The Hub’s birthday is on Tuesday! We will celebrate it this weekend. His plans involve food and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. My son is working tech for Bring it On! – The Musical so I’m not sure if he will be able to join us but I believe he’s already purchased a ticket for the premier.

Other than that. Work. Rehearsal. Volleyball. Yep, volleyball was added to the list. Not for me but for my daughter. She wants to play in high school so she’s refreshing her skills for the next ten Sundays.

I titled this post PLANS because it’s time to really zero in on high school and what my daughter will be taking. She auditions for choir on May 8th. It’s also time to think about our Memorial Day plans not to mention whatever plans I can make regarding my sister’s situation That stuff can’t even be planned which is making me a little crazy. If you pray, I could use a few prayers. We really need a miracle to happen.

Reading:

I finished Please Look After Mom and it was very good. If you want a book to really move you, then be sure to get a copy.

I am currently enjoying Men Without Women (Murakami) and I’ve pulled out my copy of Walden because for some reason I feel the need to bond with nature. Have you read it?

Watching:

The series finale for Bates Motel was not surprising but extremely well-done. This means that I have nothing to watch. Lately I’ve been content to stare at walls (can’t focus) so maybe not having anything to watch is okay.

Making:

I went to the store and actually bought groceries. I made a chicken and sun-dried tomato pasta dish which was very delicious and gave me plenty to pack for lunch. I also made a chicken stir fry. Organic chicken was on sale at the market! Never happens. I should have bought more. I bought stuff to make split pea soup with my leftover ham bone from Easter. There will be a pizza night at some point this week as well.

Grateful for:

Weekends. Even when I have a lot scheduled, a busy weekend beats a busy work day anytime.

Please Look After Mom
By Kyung-Sook Shin
Vintage, Paperback, 9780307739513, April 2012, 272pp.

The Short of It:

The sacrifices that a mother makes for her children and husband are not fully realized until she goes missing.

The Rest of It:

Sometimes you read a book and it stays with you for a very long time. Please Look After Mom is one such book.

Sixty-nine year old So-nyo is with her husband at a Seoul rail station when they become separated from each other. Suddenly, days have passed and she has not been found. As the family gathers to post flyers, each of them find themselves questioning the life she’s lived and the sacrifices she’s made. As their search continues and the days pass without any news, they discover things about their mother that they never knew and it dawns on them that the severe headaches she complained of and the lapses in memory were perhaps more serious than she let on.

This book hit me hard. As a daughter, I just kept thinking of my own mom who passed away late last year and how so many things were left unsaid between us. Mental illness and addiction took center stage and I was left to dream about a mother I could never have. But then you look at this book from a mother’s perspective and you can certainly see why she did the things that she did. I’m telling you, this book grabbed me from all directions and it nearly caused me to “ugly cry” and that’s saying a lot.

Parts of the story are told using a second person point of view which always throws me off. Once I got used to it and how it was used to tell the story, it just felt right for the author to share the story that way. There’s an intimacy to it that leaves you feeling a little uncomfortable, which in this case wasn’t necessarily a bad feeling. It just really got me thinking about mothers, children, marriage and everything in between.

I can’t even adequately tell you how this book made me feel because it affected me on so many levels but it was a really good read and very different from what I’ve been reading lately. I’m so glad my book club chose it for our May meeting. Looking forward to the discussion.

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

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