Very Unfinished Book Reviews, Part II

To recap from our previous installment which you can read here, these are the books that my family had checked out from the NYC Public Library before, well you know, BEFORE.

In no particular order and noting that to date, none have been read cover to cover.

1. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

2. At the Strangers Gate, Arrivals in New York by Adam Gopnik

3. The Reptile Room by one Lemony Snicket

4. An Anthology of Intriguing Animals

5. The Wonders of Nature

6. To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donnohue

3. This is the second book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I checked these out for my kiddo hoping that this would be the series that really set him alight in terms of reading (it didn’t turn out that way, but no shade to this series, it really is deliciously dark). We didn’t finish this mostly because this is one instance where, dare I say it, the Netflix series might actually be better than the books. (Don’t come for me, you know, please).

4./5. Until very recently (hey Harry Potter) my son was primarily interested in non-fiction books about the natural world. When I checked this out the librarian laughed because she had put it out on display for all of about 30 seconds before I picked it up. Beautiful to hold and read, a page per animal/plant/rock etc, a pleasure to dip into a page at a time.

6. If you and I, dear reader, have ever spoken in person for longer than 20 minutes, I have probably mentioned this podcast episode of On Being between Krista Tippet and the Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue. In the course of their conversation, O’Donohue mentions he’s working on a book of blessings- this is that book. Here’s what I love, what has always been so attractive to me about Catholocism/Greek Mythology/ Astrology. Putting aside their considerable differences for one moment, they all have this in common: the ability to index search your issue and find a solution for it. Once upon a time I had an apartment I loved with a mouse problem that was, in short, Breaking Me. Happily there is a saint for that, because there’s a saint for everything. Enter St. Gertrude of Nivelles. Once the patron saint of travelers, she was apparently increasingly associated with her intercession on behalf of souls in purgatory who were often depicted as mice. From there it was a long sloooow sloping ride from patron saint of the noble traveler to musophobia. If you, like me, assume that there was some gratuitous elbowing out by one St. Christopher for the coveted title of Patron Saint of Travelers, you might be right, although St. Christopher did technically come first by a cool four centuries plus or minus, and I suppose one does get points for actually bearing Christ or whatever. Anyway, my point is that there is always prayer of intercession or something to give you some direction. I’m not going to be flip about this, it really does help. Not to belittle my own mouse experience, which was in fact awful, but To Bless The Space Between Us contains prayers, or poems if you like that better, for all stages of life. Meditations on the Arrival of Sickness, Grief, For One in Power, For Broken Trust are included, as is this particularly lovely one.

For the Artist at the Start of Day

May morning be astir with the harvest of night;

Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,

Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse

That cut right through the surface to a source.

May this be a morning of innocent beginning;

When the gift within you slips clear

Of the sticky web of the personal

With its hurt and its hauntings,

And fixed fortress corners,

A morning when you become a pure vessel

For what wants to ascend from silence,

May your imagination know

The grace of perfect danger,

To reach beyond imitation,

And the wheel of repetition,

Deep into the call of all

The unfinished and unsolved

Until the veil of the unknown yields

And something original begins

To stir toward your senses

And grow stronger in your heart

I didn’t finish this book because, well, it’s not really the finishing type if you get me. I’ll be sad to turn it in, it felt reassuring to have it around.

And now, Breaking News! The NYPL is now open for grab-and-go service! Also a moment for the phrase ‘grab-and-go’ which just sounds so jaunty and fresh to me. Like scooping up a handful of wildflowers from a field on the way to a friends house for tea (I know, I was born in the wrong century).

My husband just asked me what the deal is with fines… [insert extreme omg face on my part], but not to worry, looks like fines have been suspended for now. See NYPL website for information.