Yes, I am still here. It’s been a rough summer, with a cancer diagnosis (very treatable) and some post-surgical complications.
But I am not done with writing. Not yet!
So, for my first canter, I’m going to share a few book titles that may be of interest to you, books I read while coming to grips with incessant reminders of the human body’s fragility and resiliency.
The Invincible Miss Cust (Penny Haw) relates in fictional form the life of Aleen Cust, the first woman to become a veterinary surgeon in Britain. Her journey toward her goal required every bit of pluck and determination she had. And more. Her story serves to remind us all of the blatant discrimination against women at the time. Well worth an afternoon of your time, especially on a hot day.
A Writer’s Paris: A Guided Journey for the Creative Soul (Eric Maisel) became a favorite of mine years ago, so when I yearned for Paris this summer, I reached for this soul-soothing book. More than just a travel guide, A Writer’s Paris offers support and encouragement for creatives in all artistic genres. What’s not to like about spending a day people- and bird-watching in the Place des Vosges? Maisel serves up tidbits of history and food, too.
Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor E. Frankl) is one of those books I read as a young adult and that I read again every few years or so. Frankl spent time in Hitler’s concentration camps and survived, perhaps by sheer luck, but also by sheer grit based on understanding the qualities a person needs to survive even the most horrifying circumstances.
Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking (Von Diaz) caught my attention the moment I spotted it in a local bookstore. I wanted to try all 125 recipes STAT! Many of them brought back fond memories of my days and nights in the tropics. Well, maybe not the mosquitoes! The tostones on the cover looked good enough to eat right off the page. Now the book sits on my kitchen counter, and I am fixing to recreate pikliz and red beans and griots from Haiti, among other dishes from islands I never stepped foot on, and probably never will. (But that’s why books and reading are so important: we travel to faraway places when we read!)
Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence (Francis Gavin) underlines the problem with illness in modern society, or at least what is perceived as a problem. In the productivity-crazed world we live in, being ill is a major obstacle to life itself. Meaning, of course, illness slows us down, derailing our routines, our plans, often our very dreams. Dr. Francis reminds us that recovery offers gifts we might not even think about. His book reminds me a bit of the themes in the work of Teresa of Ávila and Saint John of the Cross – the only way to the other side is through it.
So there you have it, my first canter back, to writing, that is.
I’d love to hear about the books you’re reading, so please share in the comments.
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
So great to hear from you. You sound like you’re busy with books, too. Isn’t it wonderful to have so many years under our belts with memories to go with them? Thank you for chiming in. Nigel Slater is a fave of mine. You’ve given me an idea for another post. I particularly love his “The Christmas Chronicles.” The architecture book sounds fascinating, and I would love to know the title. I wish I knew more about historical architecture.
I’m so glad you are back at it! Thanks for your new book suggestions. I enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures, which you mentioned in a previous post. But I have not read any on this list. I’ve added the first two to my “want to read” list.
What have I been reading? The Handmaids Tale, Hang the Moon, and Fahrenheit 451. When I was about halfway through that last one, I saw Ocean Vuong interviewed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and went to the library to check out his latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness. I had to put my name on a waiting list for that one, so I checked out instead his earlier novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Yesterday, halfway through it, I removed my name from the library’s waiting list. Although Vuong’s writing is incredible, I have other books in my bookcase waiting to be read. Perhaps The Personal Librarian will be next.
Dear Cynthia It was so nice to have your blog to read this morning again! I do hope you are feeling back on track. I am trying to do the same at 83 now; where did the time go? Yes, the health care system is a maze that you get caught up in but I am a previous provider of it so try to remember the ways to cut through the BS for myself and my family frankly. What am I reading? I have a library of cookbooks so have turned to old favorites like Nigel Slater and Susan Hermann Loomis. I also purchased a massive book by Ben Pentreath about classic English architecture and interior design. This was a total pleasure and ‘reward’ for getting through another medical crisis lately. I found a folder of recipe clippings yesterday while looking at pictures of a trip to France in 2007 with my sister and I had forgotten it was in that corner of a bureau! Now I have to sift through these again. Many are from food columns in newspapers that are extinct..a sad statement of fact. Thank you again for your writing, Dianne