A day in the life

 the morning started with a lovely yoga practice with the library staff via zoom, led by Lisa Garside from Ohana Yoga.  An excellent way to kick into gear.  Then there was book ordering, always a pleasure and then phone calls, including a long one with Paula, the head of the Recreation Department.  We are both struggling with what summer programming might look like and how best to serve the community while keeping people safe.  We would also like to find a way to partner, if possible.  Then there was a zoom meeting with representatives from the school district, Gordon Crouch from First Church and  Keene State faculty, including Dottie Morris, the VP for Diversity and Inclusion.  We are planning a community wide discussion about social justice and culturally responsive work, using a "community read" of Jerald Walker's "How to Make a Slave" (a finalist for the national book award last year) as a springboard for discussion.  The multi-layered program will have its kick off event on Thursday March 25th at 7pm via zoom.  Stay tuned.  We expect challenging but important conversation.  Then there was Governor Sununu's weekly press conference.  Covid numbers continue to go in the right direction and that's very good news.  He still urges mask wearing and social distancing, but perhaps we can allow ourselves to believe that we are turning a corner..  

I finished "Nick" by Michael Farris Smith, which tells the pre-Gatsby story of Nick Carraway.  It is largely his harrowing experience in WWI, torn relationships and ambivalence about how to justify the war.  It continues on to a period of escape post war in New Orleans, full of atmosphere and tawdriness and well drawn characters.  Only at the very end do we meet a Nick who is barely recognizable as the narrator of Great Gatsby.  It was a grimmish read and I confess I chose it because of the accolades on the back cover by Richard Russo, Jeffrey Lent and Robert Olen Butler.  Still I kept with it and was pulled into the story and the characters.  It made me pull Gatsby off the shelves.  It's been a long time.  A quick read of early pages reintroduces Nick, but I can't say I quite believed that the tortured Nick of the new book is the same one we encounter in West Egg, NY.  I may revisit the novel to see how/whether it connects. Clearly, I'm a bit haunted by Nick...

Now I'm reading "Shuggie Bain" by Stuart Douglas, a first novel that won last year's Booker Prize.  I'm pretty hooked with the immersion into grim Glasgow.  But I think I'm going to be on the lookout for something a bit more uplifting for my next read.  Suggestions welcome.  

I'm going to be off for a few days.  Heading home to the cat...she likes to help me with the crossword.