Reading in the Garden

Olive with a Hint of Lemon Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is a Pulitzer-winning novel about a stern, intimidating schoolteacher and interconnecting stories of the townspeople whose lives intersect with hers.  Each of the thirteen chapters in this book meanders through the personal struggles and secrets lives of various people in a small Maine town. Although this was not a cheery book, I enjoyed it and found the narration fresh and intriguing. It was like listening to a friend gossip about neighbors. Strout’s skillful storytelling made it easy to get lost in the tales of the townspeople. She had my full attention. Among others, we get to know the piano player in a local bar, a mother of three who loses her husband, and a woman struggling with anorexia. Each story brings some type of tragedy or turmoil to light. The book is like a somber quilt with Olive as the thread that holds it all together.  Olive, herself, is not a bright and happy p...

The Charmed Life of an Explosives Expert The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson is a farcical tale of a centenarian who escapes an old folk’s home on his hundredth birthday and finds himself in an escapade that leads from one crazy situation to the next.  Allan Karlsson is no stranger to a wild and unusual lifestyle. He’s an explosives expert who, through his career, has met many historical figures along the way. He’s dined with leaders such as Stalin, Harry S. Truman, Charles de Gaulle and many more. The book alternates between his latest adventure and the outrageously far-fetched and funny background of his ten-decade romp through history. The book, first published in Sweden, has become an international bestselling sensation, much like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but on the complete opposite side of the serious scale.  The 100-Year-Old Man was skillfully written with a hand that had a direct connection to the funny bon...

The Art of a Con Stealing Mona Lisa by Carson Morton is a novel about a con artist who orchestrates one of the greatest art heists in the world, the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. While the bones of the story are built on facts, the meat is fleshed out with pure entertainment.  Fact: The Mona Lisa   painting was boldly stolen from the Louvre art museum in 1911. Fact: It was a former worker at the Louvre, an Italian named Vincenzo Peruggia, who accomplished the deed.  Fact:  Eduardo de Valfierno claimed to be the mastermind of the theft.  Fact: There really was a devastating flood in Paris (though not exactly the same year as the book) . Fact: I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I think it’s one of those kinds of novels I would like to see on the big screen. I imagine that the settings in Buenos Aires then Paris in the early 1900s, the Mona Lisa and art museums, the dramatic action towards the end, and the lighthearted, upbeat pace of t...