Teeth-chattering, Book-reading Weather

With crazy cold weather... even snow in South Texas!... it's hard to think about being productive.  Most of the city has checked out and hunkered down.  For me, this behavior started yesterday. It was so cold that all I could think about was sweatpants, hot tea, a couch, and my book.

Because the baby took a long winter's nap yesterday, my dream came true.  Pure luxury.  And I finished my book!  I was reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and I have already asked for her next book for Valentine's Day.  I had actually put off reading this book despite numerous recommendations; it seemed like a sad story, and I wasn't quite in the mood. But then my book club chose it, and my sweet neighbor and friend (who took the above photo) dropped her library copy in my mail box.  She had read it furiously and finished in a few days.  Reluctantly, I read the first paragraph, and from that moment, I looked for every excuse to read it.

My husband and I have a habit of reading first lines of our books to each other. We love really strong first sentences.  This one is a doozy:
"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster" (Walls, 3).

Walls' writing captivated me from that first sentence; it was gorgeous throughout. The detail was stunning so that each place where she lived was so clear, whether a trailer park, the desert of California, inner city Arizona, rural West Virginia, or New York City.  I also appreciated that, even though this story was her personal story, she didn't editorialize much; she just wrote what happened (from her point of view, of course).  She didn't try to make sense of it all, and she didn't even place square blame on anyone; she simply told the story.

I started this post on Friday morning, the snow day, when the temperatures were below freezing.  I am finishing it today, Sunday, when it's sunny and 60s.  Regardless of the outside weather, The Glass Castle has been sitting with me all weekend.  My mind keeps returning to the Walls family's wild ride, the sadness, the determination, the survival instinct, the ability to laugh, the unorthodoxy, the bravery, the hunger, the need to dream, the need for art, the tragedy, the heroism. I am excited for book club.