March Books: Plays, Poetry, Nonfiction

 My usual spring blahs arrived right on schedule last month and I was even more grateful than usual to have access to books of many genres. Whatever my mood, books enrich my life. 

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Mary Harnett and Wendy W. Williams

Bill ordered me this book as a surprise. I loved it, but it also made me sad to think about what the world, and particularly the US, lost with her passing. The book is a collection of her writing through the years and even includes a couple of pieces she wrote when she was a kid. Many were given as speeches and some from the bench. It was interesting also to learn a bit more about how the Supreme Court operates.

Mouthpieces by Eimear McBride

I’ve not read any of this author’s other work, but when this popped up as a new title in the e-book section of the library website, I decided to give it a try. It was strange and unsettling.

‘Written during her time as the inaugural fellow in the Beckett archive last year, Eimear McBride's three short, characteristically brilliant plays - collected in one work, Mouthpieces.

Each play depicts a fragment of female experience, all of them told in in Eimear's vivid, original and sharp-witted style. In 'The Adminicle Exists', we hear the inner voice of a woman who saves her troubled, dangerous partner; in 'An Act of Violence', a woman is quizzed about her reaction to a man's death; in 'The Eye Machine', the character 'Eye' tells of her imprisonment, flickering through a slideshow of female stereotypes.’

The Truth Teller by Joyce Carol Oates

I came across this play in the e-audiobook section of the library website and I’m so glad I did! The listing for this said: ‘Joyce Carol Oates' hilarious take-off on a classic Southern play begins when liberated Hedda arrives home to visit the family estate, ruled by the family’s tyrannical patriarch, “Tiny” Culligan.’ 

It was funny and I laughed more than once during this recording of a performance by L.A. Theater Works. The story is set in Buffalo, specifically in the very large home occupied by Tiny Culligan and his wife, Norah. Hedda has been gone for 5 years and has not contacted her parents in that time as she was off finding herself. Along the way, on a hike in Idaho, she also found a psychosociolinguist (the only one in the world, we’re told), Saul, and he accompanied her back to Buffalo, both of them travelling by bicycle. Their arrival is a surprise for her parents, who are already hosting Hedda’s sister and her brother. It’s a strange crew with seemingly nothing in common, but as the days pass, everyone discovers things about themselves that they had hidden or been unaware of before.

The Perfectionist by Joyce Carol Oates

This is another of the author’s comic plays that was in the e-audiobook section of the library website. Parts of it were funny and I did laugh, but I found her treatment of one part of the story somewhat disturbing and thought the ending was lame. Of the two Oates plays I listened to, I thought the other one was far better. The central character in this one is Tobias Harte, a middle aged man with two young adult children, a boy who has dropped out of college and a girl who is finishing high school at an exclusive private school where she was put on the list at 18 months old. The wife is a Xanax-taking suburban wife and mother who enjoys the material benefits and prestige of being the wife of Tobias, who works for a research institute in New Jersey, where conventional wisdom says he is about to be named director. Tobias is the perfectionist of the title, driving everyone else (and himself) mad with his high standards. Things come to a breaking point at work and at home.

The Historians by Eavan Boland

This is the last collection of poetry by this Irish icon, who sadly died last year. I love her work, giving voice as it does to women’s work and small domestic moments that usually pass us by without us noticing them. She noticed and communicated her thoughts about them so beautifully.

Sprouted! Seeds, Grains & Beans; Power up Your Plate With Home-Sprouted Superfoods by DK Publishing

The e-book section of the library website has added many gardening books, covering different topics and types of gardening. This was among them and given my newfound interest in sprouting, I didn't hesitate to borrow it. It was a good guide, even though it was more in-depth than I plan to get with sprouts. The book contains a lot of information on how to sprout, but also what to sporut and why to sprout. There are sections on seeds, beans, and grains with information on taste, nutritional benefits of sprouting, and how to use sprouts, including how to dehydrate sprouted grains and grind into flour! I am pretty sure I will never do this, but it was interesting anyway. The informational section is followed by a recipe section, which contains a variety of recipes using different kinds of sprouts.

I hope there are plenty of books to entertain, inspire, and inform you as we move through this month!

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