I’m sorry for your losses, mathmom, SJCM, buenavista. Losing family is so hard.
Yay for your daughter’s decision, Mary!
I have My Brilliant Friend on the nightstand. I’m over half-way through it and have mixed feelings; the characters are, for lack of a better word, rough. Additionally, I have the second Louise Penny myster*y, A Fatal Grace, and a book recommended in the WSJ by Molly Keane, Good Behaviour waiting. I’ve been on a food book kick since listening to some podcasts about women in the food world (Radio Cherry Bombe). I’ve borrowed several of Ruth Reichl’s non-fiction books from the library, and finished listening to her first novel, Delicious, which definitely reaches back into her experience as editor of the wonderful, but gone Gourmet Magazine. Another food book on my to-read pile is In Pursuit of Wild Edibles; A Forager’s Tour by Jeffrey Greene.
Based on a recommendation by @nottelling from the Best Book thread, I’'ve been listening to Philip Roth’s American Pastoral read by Ron Silver. It is indeed a really fine pairing for the author and reader. I’ve had difficulties with some of Roth’s obsessive writing–he can get pretty graphic or just downright dirty, but Pastoral isn’t too, too, imo. The story’s very compelling.