Monday Moments - Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

 Ooh!  A new Anne Tyler book!  I  popped  into the library last week  to return  some books, and I decided to browse the  new fiction  shelf. What  a treat to find - Three Days in  June by Anne Tyler is a very short delightful tale about  second chances. 

Friday - Gail Banes might have lost her job, or maybe just quit it. She wasn't invited to pre-wedding spa  day. And her  ex-husband, Max, shows up...with  a cat...and needs to stay for the  weekend. 

Saturday - daughter, Debbie, is  getting  married.  All  fine and  dandy, except some secrets have  popped out. Gail  thinks  it should  be a deal breaker.  Both Debbie  and  Max sorta say, "Hmm.  You,  of all  people, can  not  judge this situation."  

Debbie  does indeed say, "I do."    The wedding is pleasant, even though  the  new in-laws are almost  "too  much", in Gail's opinion. 

Sunday - well,  is  the cat staying...is Max  leaving?

Typical Anne Tyler writing. Humor.  Humanity.  She smoothly depicts a family and all its foibles. 

I  truly enjoyed this witty book. 

Finally Friday - French Braid by Anne Tyler

 Opening an Anne Tyler book means you are welcoming an old friend into your reading room. Tuck in with an afghan on your lap and a cup of something tasty within reach. You are going to meet a memorable family, journey with them through decades, and enjoy the ups and downs of reality. French Braid proved to be a delight and I hated to see it end. 

From the 1950s to our present, follow the Garrett family in Baltimore. Mercy aspires to paint. Husband Robin doesn't want change. Daughters - Alice, always common sense, Lily, boy crazy and drifting. David, the youngest, just wants to escape.  Book blurb - As these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation. 

p 232  "Oh, a French braid," Greta said.   "Undone, hair would still be in ripples, little leftover squiggles, for hours and hours afterward."

"Well," David said, "that's how families work, too. You think you're free of them, but you're never really free; the ripples are crimped in forever."

And that's Anne Tyler's effortless writing and descriptions. She pulls you in and engages you. French Braid is solid writing, storytelling, and observations on life. Thanks, Anne Tyler. 

Shout out to Becky Thorne - see, I did read this book from the library. Cheers!

Book Review - Clock Dance

I love Anne Tyler’s writing and Clock Dance does not disappoint. This is not my favorite of hers – I did like A Spool of Blue Thread more, but even lesser works are better than most. Trust me, Tyler knows how to capture ordinary folks (often “older”)  – their thoughts, their lives, and she gives them dignity and understanding. Often tough to do in this day and age.

Cover blurb:  Willa Drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life.  1967 – schoolgirl coping with her mother’s disappearance. 1977 – college coed considering a marriage proposal. 1997 – young widow trying to piece her life back together. 2017 – yearning to be a grandmother.   Then one day, Willa receives a startling phone call from a stranger. She flies cross-country to look after a young woman she’s never met, her nine year old daughter, and a dog. This impulsive decision will lead Willa into uncharted territory.

Interesting and quirky, Willa turns out to have some nerve and backbone. She’s willing to say no to her stiff second husband, and continue her journey of self-discovery.  Clock Dance by Anne Tyler is full of surprises. We’re all fighting the battle against Father Time. This book is a lot about how we choose to do it – are we in charge? Or is time itself?

Tick-tock.

Book Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler unspools a story smoothly. No tangled confusion. She has such a great sense of place, time, and people. In A Spool of Blue Thread, you feel as if you are sitting on the Whitshank's fabulous porch and enjoying their lives.

cover blurb:  It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon....This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959.  Anne Tyler spins a family tale of laughter, celebrations, jealousy, disappointments, secrets, and death. We meet the grown kids who move back to the homestead, worried about Abby's "spells". The aging issue is handled well, along with the black sheep son Denny who returns (and was always secretly Abby's favorite).

Here are some samples of Anne Tyler's writing
p. 56  And in looks, they were no more than average. Their leanness was the rawboned kind not the lithe, elastic slenderness of people in magazine ads, and something a little too sharp in their faces suggested that while they themselves were eating just fine, perhaps their forefathers had not.

p.168  She might suddenly smell again the bitter, harsh, soul-dampening fumes of the chopped onions and green peppers her mother fried up most evenings as the base for her skillet dinners

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler is a calming, tender read about a family. So many little moments in lives sewn together with love and language precision.

Book Review: Anne Tyler's The Beginner's Goodbye

Anne Tyler is an author I welcome into my home regularly. I can always count on her smooth writing, well developed characters, and insight into the human condition. Her gentle humor prevails and her books are a treat.

The Beginner's Goodbye explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances - in their house, on the roadway, and in the market.  (book blurb)

Aaron never thought he'd get married, but Dorothy, an unassuming doctor, came into his life and made him happy. Her shockingly abrupt death puts Aaron back at square one. However, as he works in his family's vanity publishing business, he learns through some of the self-help titles that there is a way to say goodbye.

This book is not maudlin. I chuckled as Aaron tries to evade his older bossy sister and muster gumption to move on in life.

P. 122 In regards to Dorothy:
Only I knew that underneath her boxy clothes, she was the shape of a little clay urn. Her skin had a burnished olive glow, and there was a kind of calm to her, a lit-from-within calm, that made me feel at rest whenever I was with her.

The Beginner's Goodbye is a quick read guided by the sure hand of a skilled writer.