To honor and the upcoming National Book Month, this week celebrates escaping into a good book.
Cooler weather means evenings curled up on my sofa with a bowl of Granny Smith apples, a cup of tea, an obliging lap cat—and a good book. Finding a good book is an act of serendipity, though, but serendipity has never let me down!
Last week, serendipity—in the form of a friend who teaches at George Washington University—presented me with a ticket to hear Toni Morrison speak at Lisner Auditorium.
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After hearing the Nobel Prize–winning author describe publishing her first book, The Bluest Eye, the audience listened breathlessly to her read from her latest published work, A Mercy, and a few pages of the novel that she is currently writing.
The present-tense narrative of A Mercy was ill-suited to her gentle, almost lilting voice. But the powerful imagery made me eager to get my hands on the new book when it comes out. It contained riveting descriptions of two children sneaking to watch horses play and witnessing the burial of a lynching victim, as well as an episode that closed with the haunting line, “…the horses, beautiful, brutal, standing like men…”
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Morrison also spoke at the National Book Festival this past Saturday, along with Jennifer Egan, Laura Lippman, and Russell Banks. Unfortunately, I visited the festival on Sunday. But the festival still had plenty to offer. The National Mall hosted several large tents with speakers, rows of chairs, and avid listeners. A separate tent featured books for sale.
I briefly listened to a few of the speakers—Carla L. Peterson, Yusuf Komunyakaa, and Louis Bayard—and browsed the book tent, where I was tempted by a historical novel about Elizabeth I, but chose Laura Lippman’s latest, The Most Dangerous Thing.
Though the National Book Festival is over for another year, my favorite source for new books is Politics and Prose, one of the few independent booksellers left in the area. Politics and Prose regularly schedules book talks, and readings by celebrated authors fill up very quickly.
But most of all, Politics and Prose is a wonderful place to browse—something you can’t do on Amazon.com. On those shelves, I discovered Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs novels; Geraldine Brooks’ latest, Caleb’s Crossing; and Erik Larson’s In the Garden of Beasts.
With all of these great book ideas, I have my winter of reading planned out already.