Books I read in March 2010

Welcome to the Books I read in March. This is a blog format that I basically invented a year ago. I read books and then I list them on my blog. It has really changed the way people blog.

I started a lot of books in March that I did not finish. Here is a list of the books I did finish.

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes. This novel is about richies and the people who resent them. If you hate snobs, you'll love this (which is ironic because Fellowes's first book is actually called Snobs. So it could also be said that if you love Snobs you'll love this.) Past Imperfect contains the following: secrets, grudges, estrangement, paternity mysteries, and galas.


Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney. I love this book--it's Frank's latest. (I call him Frank now.) I don't know how Frank thinks of this stuff. Well, you all know how I feel about Frank. In this book there is a ventriloquist's dummy named Blarney. He disturbs me.
Keeping House: The Litany of Every Day Life by Margaret Kim Peterson. This book is what so many relief society lessons purport to be but I find it much more interesting and really quite beautiful.
From Publisher's Weekly: In this deeply theological, welcome book, Peterson (Sing Me to Heaven) argues in favor of the idea—no longer fashionable—that Christian service and spiritual growth are inherent in the acts of keeping people fed, clean, housed and comfortable. Housekeeping, she says, is akin to a litany, a long public prayer to announce needs and requests. A litany is repetitive and focused on the basics: food, health, shelter. Similarly, housework is ongoing and incarnational, teaching us about Jesus' earthiness and decision to live among us; it requires perpetual tending, much like God's active sustaining of the world. "All the more is this so when our homes are not all we might wish them to be," Peterson points out. "God's world is not as he wishes it to be, either." Addressing such topics as laundry, cleaning, shopping and cooking, Peterson offers persuasive biblical interpretations and incisive theological and cultural commentary. The two chapters on food and its preparation are especially groundbreaking, with Peterson enumerating helpful criteria for how Christians in a food-obsessed culture might determine whether a particular food is worthy of eating. At times, her domestic opinions have the whiff of superiority, as when she speaks disapprovingly about microwaves and dishwashers, but these moments are far outweighed by the book's well-researched and generous approach to domesticity.

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. What a great book! And totally readable and juicy. I don't know why, but I kept thinking about Twilight while I was reading this. I guess I was thinking that grown women should like this book better than they like Twilight. Because it's better. But it's still fun--with cattiness and a handsome man. PS It's not about vampires. And now I'm going to read a story to my daughter. The story I will read is A Bargain for Frances, one of my favorites. When I was growing up I think I thought Frances was a Koala bear. Now I'm not so sure. What is Frances? I don't know. But I do know this: Thelma is trouble. So many kids I know are just like Thelma. I hate them.

"Be careful. . . because when you play with Thelma you always get the worst of it."

Plastic tea set better and more valuable than a china tea set? Riiiiiight.