My Reading Frenzy

The Delightful Parnassus on Wheels

I cannot remember when or how I first heard about Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels, but I found a free e-version long before I read it.  It was not until I received it in my Book Riot Quarterly box. (I am not associated in any way with Book Riot, except as a fan.)  I used to subscribe to Powell's Indispensable, but I so rarely got any books I really liked or even wanted to read. This is not a criticism of Powell's, their choices simply did not fit my tastes.  Book Riot on the other hand has gotten it right in both boxes so far.  The Book Riot susbcription is also quarterly rather than every six weeks, which also fits my habits a bit better.  

Parnassus on Wheels is a novella. It begins with Andrew McGill's sister Helen. Andrew is a writer and farmer. When Roger Mifflin comes to the farm intending to sell his traveling bookshop to Andrew. Helen quickly sees the trouble this will cause and resolves to buy the bookshop to have her own adventure. It is a charming love story in traditional ways, but it is also a tribute to the love of books and reading. It will take only an hour to read if you are quick, and only slightly longer if you are not. I am seriously tempted to read it again before putting it on my "keep forever" shelves. 

Just as I was typing this I purchased Haunted Bookshop, also by Morley.  If it is even half as good as Parnassus on Wheels it will be well worth the read. 

Revisiting Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie

Not too long ago I succumbed to the lure of a great Kindle deal on Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. While I own all the books in the series, I am separated from them by a great distance. I kept reading in starts and fits on the Metro, which was a mistake as the emotional impact of the story calls for sustained reading. I did not make this mistake with books 2-5 checking them out of the library to avoid waiting to be reunited with my copies.

A few comments:

1.  Though the first book was published in 2001, the cultural references feel nostalgic rather than tired. 

2.  I was just as engaged by the romance between Jessica and Marcus this time as I was when the outcome was a surprise. 

3.  McCafferty has created teens I believe (and I taught HS for 15 years).

4.  Having spent 10 years living near where the books are set, I enjoyed visiting McCafferty's thinly disguised Pineville. 

5.  Watching Jessica mature is almost as satisfying as the romance. She is a woman with whom I want to be friends. (Maybe Megan McCafferty will be my friend instead. - Holden Caulfield says it best: "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.")

6.  Perfect Fifths is my favorite. The majority of the book takes place in the airport, based almost entirely on banter between Jessica and Marcus that sparks and snaps. Their exchanges speak to the genius of an author who can drive suspense with little action all the while slowly building up to the ending the two were destined for. 

I am looking very forward to the second installment of Jessica Darling's It List.  McCafferty  is taking us back to Jessica in middle school, to see her as she becomes the thought-full, notso we love as a teen and young adult.