Recent Reread: Love in the Time of Cholera

Love in the Time of Cholera is hands down one of the best books ever written. Everything about the story and the writing evokes beauty. I just reread it over the weekend in light of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's recent passing. I read a lot of it while at the neighborhood pool. Who needs a romance novel when you can read something like this, right?

I had taught all day the day that happened, and strangely enough, I had a conversation with a student about him. She's from Colombia and loves his writing just like I do. Then, later that evening I got a news blast that he'd died in his home in Mexico City. 

A few days afterward, I got word that a celebration of Marquez's life was planned in Decatur near Atlanta: 100 people would read aloud his 100 Years of Solitude in an event called, appropriately, 100 Readers of Solitude (clever!). I thought about going. Then my husband broke his collarbone and I honestly forgot all about it. I'm sure it was a great even though, and I hope I'll be able to go to another read-along event again.

USA Today published a story that Garcia Marquez has an unfinished manuscript that may be published. Here's hoping!

Arsonist's Read-Along, Day 2

This week I'm participating in a read-along of An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke with the bloggers at Literate Housewife and Indie Reader Houston. I'll be updating my blog as I'm reading, and checking in on what other book bloggers are saying. The event runs through Monday, March 19. 

Here are my observations from today's reading (through page 223):

- All of the things that amused me yesterday and still making me laugh today. Descriptions. Strange family relationships. All the thoughts that go through the narrator's head.
- I got kind of weirded out with all the visitors Sam received at his parents' house in one day. If you're reading along, you probably know what I mean.
- I like how Sam is building his own guide as the story unfolds. As he mentions things that would be good to include in his guide, I like how some of them are specific to actually burning down writers' homes and some are just specific observations on life and how it all works.

Arsonist's Read-Along, Day 1

This week I'm participating in a read-along with the bloggers at Literate Housewife and Indie Reader Houston. The book they've chosen is one I've been looking forward to reading, so this is my excuse to read it now. It's called An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke. I'll be updating my blog as I'm reading, and checking in on what other book bloggers are saying. The event runs through next Monday, March 19. If you're reading along too, or just interested in knowing more about the book, see Indie Reader's post with her first reactions to the book.

Here are my observations from today's reading (through page 110):

- The scene and people descriptions are cracking me up. For example, "...and once, in a fit or anger or grief, someone hurled a Birkenstock through our bay windows. It was a man's right shoe, size twelve" (p. 6).
- I like the stream of consciousness on pages 51-52. Produce rolling around in the backseat of an elderly woman's car reminds Sam (the narrator) of the time his father tried unsuccessfully to have a garden, which leads the reader into that story. It's a clever way for us to find out more about Sam's dad.
- "I've recognized that stories were everywhere and all-important" (p. 74). Well, of course!