Book Club

[insomniac2]

What a wonderful surprise! I've always loved Anne Tyler, but this latest book, Clock Dance, was a sheer joy from beginning to end.

Tyler's earliest books always drew me in: I was there. Then her characters started aging, as I imagine she did, but I wasn't at the same point in my life--so while I appreciated the books (more humor started sneaking it, and I liked that), I didn't find the same feeling of involvement.

And so it went: I would buy (she is worthy of owning in hardback) every new release, and have the pleasure of reading them, but still feeling just a tad disjointed.

But this Clock Dance is something else! Is it because I've finally become a grandmother in the last year, or because the main character Willa is like me in other ways?

Anyway, reading this book was an outstanding experience for me: my faith in Anne Tyler is completely renewed.

Reading is the greatest experience!

[on the bay]

@insomniac2-

Your review might encourage me to read that.

I initially read The Accidental Tourist and then another book of hers.

Though her writing did completely hold my attention also, I felt her stories and her characters view of their life was kind of depressing.So one or 2 of her books became enough for me.

 It will be interesting to see her humor and her experience of being a grandmother.

Thanks for the review!

[IMW]

Reading is fantastic and fabulous. Thanks for your recommendation.

[Sweetbay magnolia]

Thank you so much, @insomniac2!

I'm travelling today and was just checking my Nook for books - saw that I had indeed finished Celestial Navigation, which I did enjoy.  I think it is a little more abstract and edgy than some of hers, and I have read many.

I'm going to download Clock Dance and read it today.  Anne Tyler has long been a favorite, a "go to", for me.  I need all the help I can get.  I do not enjoy travel, so I need a good distraction.

Happy Trails!

[DukeBlueNan]

I recently finished the book, too and completely agree! So good. 

[JanetsGirl]

I am a big Anne Tyler fan as well.  I enjoyed "Clock Dance" very much.  I think my favorite of her novels is "A Spool of Blue Thread."  What I like about Tyler is that she starts off with a person (usually a woman) in a typical American life who then confronts a situation calling for her to make a choice about how to react to that situation.  What Tyler does is make the character choose the reaction that most of us would not have chosen, and then has the character explore the ramifications of that unusual choice.  Sort of the "road less travelled" story twist.  That's what makes Tyler's novel so very interesting to me.  Count me a fan!