Review: Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, by Anna Quindlen

Pages: 182
Original date of publication: 2012
My edition: 2012 (Random House)
Why I decided to read: it was offered through Amazon Vine
How I acquired my copy: Amazon Vine, February 2012

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake is a series of essays, really, about being in one’s fifties. She covers topics such as owning “stuff,” having girlfriends, marriage, having grown children, and aging.

Although I couldn’t really relate personally to a lot of what Anna Quindlen talks about, reading Anna Quindlen’s book (and this really goes for all of her books) is kind of like talking to your mother. And there are similarities to my own mom that are eerie! (“I have needlepoint pillows everywhere: camels, chicks, cats, houses, barns, libraries, roses, daisies, pansies. I needlepoint while I watch television. I have a vision of my children, after I’m gone, looking around and saying, ‘What are we going to do with all these pillows?’”).

As I’ve said, there’s not a lot in this book I can actually relate to, since I’m only in my late 20s, but I know that when I give this book to my mom (who loves Anna Quindlen’s books) is going to love this one. Quindlen’s voice is unique and she has a lot of incisive thoughts about what it means to age. Her prose is very honest, although she tends to be a bit smug about her generation (and a little bit disparaging about those who came before and those who come after), and some of her viewpoints are a little contradictory. But overall, I thought that this was enjoyable. Quindlen definitely gave me new insight into a topic that I don’t really think about.

Comments

Francis said…

Actually every generation tends to feel smug about itself. Certainly the current crop of 20 somethings are no exception.
It would be tragic if a 20 year old thought like 50 year old, and perhaps even more tragic if a 50 year old thought like a 20 year old.
For those of us who identify with the author it is comforting to know that there is also an audio version of this book. There is a review of this audio book on The Book Report radio show (www.bookreportradio.com) soon. It could be a great book to listen to.

May 12, 2012 at 6:14 AM

Another giveaway

This time, the publicist at WW Norton sent me two copies of The Glass of Time , by Michael Cox--so I'm giving away the second copy. Cox is the author of The Meaning of Night, and this book is the follow-up to that. Leave a comment here to enter to win it! The deadline is next Sunday, 10/5/08.

A giveaway winner, and another giveaway

The winner of the Girl in a Blue Dress contest is... Anna, of Diary of An Eccentric ! My new contest is for a copy of The Shape of Mercy , by Susan Meissner. According to Publisher's Weekly : Meissner's newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth—a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials—whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers—Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young—become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy's words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars

Six Degrees of Barbara Pym's Novels

This year seems to be The Year of Barbara Pym; I know some of you out there are involved in some kind of a readalong in honor of the 100th year of her birth. I’ve read most of her canon, with only The Sweet Dove Died, Civil to Strangers, An Academic Question, and Crampton Hodnet left to go (sadly). Barbara Pym’s novels feature very similar casts of characters: spinsters, clergymen, retirees, clerks, and anthropologists, with which she had direct experience. So it stands to reason that there would be overlaps in characters between the novels. You can trace that though the publication history of her books and therefore see how Pym onionizes her stories and characters. She adds layers onto layers, adding more details as her books progress. Some Tame Gazelle (1950): Archdeacon Hoccleve makes his first appearance. Excellent Women (1952): Archdeacon Hoccleve gives a sermon that is almost incomprehensible to Mildred Lathbury; Everard Bone understands it, however, and laughs

A Girl Walks Into a Bookstore...

Search This Blog