THE PARIS WIFE

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - I'd heard this was a good book, and sure enough, once started, couldn't put it down. It's written as fiction, but based on the real lives of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, his Paris wife, Hadley Richardson. Hadley tells a complete story, from her upbringing in St. Louis, to meeting Ernest in Chicago, to their life together in Paris and around Europe. It's beautifully told, and I only recommend that future readers look at pictures of Ernest and Hadley before reading the book in order to more clearly visualize the characters. The perfect read for summer, for winter, for vacation or for home. I think I'm going to read some Hemingway this summer too. It's time to revisit A Moveable Feast and In Our Time, and maybe The Torrents of Spring.

I LOVE to read. It sustains me like no other pastime. I'm thankful for words on pages and the authors who put them there. I'm thankful to have something so pleasureful in my life, and I'm thankful to be able to make the time that I make in order to pursue this passion of reading. I enjoy writing too, but haven't had the discipline that it takes to make the time to put together the books I dream of creating. So far, the ideas are simple and straightforward, and there are two of them. The first is a book of recipes that I love and that I love to make, and the second is the story of my grandfather, written both in his own words from his diaries, and then possibly edited so that others can read them with greater understanding. There is so much to do. So much to do.