Whatcha been doin`?

I've been reading a lot lately. A lot. It's either been raining or burning-in-hell-hot around here. Although I list the books I've read in the column to the right, I've got more to say...

My current read is "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon. WOW! I am so totally engrossed in the story and characters. The initial premise is "What if the European Jews were not able to establish and settle Israel after WWII - and what if Roosevelt gave them an area in Alaska to settle?" Chabon got the idea for the story after coming across a "Common Phrases in Yiddish" book and wondered where on our modern earth would you need a Yiddish phrasebook? Because Israel was settled, Hebrew became the official Jewish language. But what if??? The book totally immerses you in this world where a murder has occurred, and our very flawed protagonist is the yid, Detective Meyer Landesman. His world has many of the same problems as our world: drugs, violence, divorce. I am completely loving this book and dreading "The End."

My last book was also set in a familiar alternate world. "Lion Among Men" by Gregory Maguire is the story of the Cowardly Lion of Oz fame - how he became 'cowardly,' what his life was like before and after his brief encounter with that Dorothy girl. Maguire writes with a very dense style that I felt like I was slogging through in the beginning, but it became easier to read as I let myself fall back into the world of Oz. Reading "Lion" made me want to go back and read Elphaba's story again - "Witch." It remains one of my favorites.

And then there was "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova. It reads very much like a biography, but it's the fictional story of a woman who discovers, at age 50, that she has early-onset Alzheimer's. Her life as a Harvard professor of linguistics, as wife and mother is marching to its inevitable end. The book roped me into caring so much for Alice, her plans to avoid the end-stage disease, her husband's reaction to the diagnosis, her children's way of coming to terms with her new and damaged self. Loved this one too.

Happy Father's Day & Happy Reading!

P.S. I finished my book this afternoon. I think I may turn back to Page 1 and start again!