Feeling Pensive

New York City

Everything seems to be happening quickly these days. Senior year will do that to a person. The Teen is currently on a trip to New York City for choir. The show he is in, Little Shop of Horrors is at the end of April, prom is in a little over two weeks, there’s a choir concert coming up, a banquet, some festivals to participate in and then graduation will be upon us.

Where did the time go?

The Girl is wrapping up 7th with her choir festival, numerous track meets and we are already thinking about summer camp. SO much is on my mind these days.

Plus, my boss quit. I’ll just leave it at that.

It’s funny because I go from thinking about college stuff, to thinking about how I really need a new purse. My mind is not able to focus on any one task for very long. I need an hour or two to just stare blankly at a wall.

This is where reading is such a blessing. You’d think that my brain’s lack of focus would not bode well on the reading front, but quite the opposite. All this nervous energy has me racing through books. Good ones, too. I just finished Hour of the Bees which was surprisingly good given its magical elements (not usually a fan).  I am currently reading Tuesday Nights in 1980  and it’s good so far. I am thinking about picking up Walden.  I picked up a copy and it’s been staring me in the face for a couple of months.

Walden

I’m not sure what the next few weeks will bring but I can’t tell you how much all of your comments mean to me. I am blessed to be able to connect with so many of you via social media because seriously, hearing from you guys makes me smile each and every time.

Plus, there are always books to discuss. Am I right?  I’m counting on it because as one leaves the nest, I may be a puddle of goo by the time all this is said and done.

Review: The New World

The New World

The New World
By Chris Adrian; Eli Horowitz
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Hardcover, 9780374221812, May 2015, 224pp.

The Short of It:

A strange, surreal story about love and marriage.

The Rest of It:

From Indiebound:

The New World” is the story of a marriage. Dr. Jane Cotton is a pediatric surgeon; her husband, Jim, is a humanist chaplain. They are about to celebrate their eighth wedding anniversary when Jim suddenly collapses and dies. When Jane arrives at the hospital, she is horrified to find that her husband’s head has been removed from his body. Only then does she discover that he secretly enrolled with a shadowy cryogenics company called Polaris.

Goodness.

What did I just read?

I’ve been wanting to read this book for months now. On Twitter, Care mentioned the iTunes app that was created for the book which of course made me decide on the spot to read it with her. I did not purchase the app myself. Instead, I read the Kindle book but it was one of the strangest reading experiences I’ve had and I’ve read Murakami!

Things happen. Jim’s revitalized self in the future spends a great deal of time hanging on to memories from the past. Mostly, of his wife, Jane. Even though Jane was not a perfect wife. Jane, spends her time trying to sabotage Polaris in order to set Jim’s mind free.

What makes this book such a trip is you never really know what is happening and when it happening. Is it a dream? Or a memory or thought planted by Polaris? Is it happening in the future… the past or the present? With Jim, this is easier to ascertain since there is a moment when he is in fact, without his head.

This is a very short book but full, and I mean full of beautiful passages but reading this book made me feel  as if I was trying to read it while OD’ing on Benadryl. It has a sleepy feel to it. Dreamy, I guess. I felt sedated the entire time I was reading which is really strange because Jane’s part of the story is kind of frantic and urgent but somehow, I hung with Jim in his headless limbo.

I’m not even going to try to pick apart what I read in order to understand it. All you need to know is that it’s about marriage, the love between two people and maybe how the guilt of certain actions can shape a person.

Would I recommend it? Yes, if you are looking for something completely different (and short) I recommend it but know going in that it’s a bit of a mind trip.

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

Chatting with friends about books and life…