WWW.WEDNESDAY

 

 

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WWW. WEDNESDAY asks three questions to prompt you to speak bookishly.

1. What are you currently reading? Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump. Donald Trump has one niece, his older brother Fred's daughter. She introduces us to the family that created him. She's a clinical psychologist, so her insights into the motivations of her relatives are more grounded in theory. But it's her family, and we all have complicated feelings about our families.

I'm not very deep in, but one thing is clear: at first Donald Trump's own family believed he was running for President as a publicity stunt and didn't think he'd win. Certainly his older sister knew her brother wasn't temperamentally suited to the Presidency. A judge (Clinton appointee), she voted for him "out of loyalty" and kept her mouth shut for the same reason. Imagine the misery we all would have been spared if the Judge had shared her trepidations with the voting public.

A fascinating, but not at all enjoyable, read.

2. What did you just finish reading?  The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Greaves. A college romance ends abruptly. Ten years later, Annika happens to bump into her first love at the grocery store and they try to make a go of it a second time.

This book came to me at the right time. First I read Kwizgiver's review, then my library recommended it, and I thought, "OK, I'll give it a shot." I didn't realize then that Annika faced cognitive challenges. Right now I'm dealing with friends in my real life who are battling dementia, TBI and bipolar disorder. It can be difficult navigating my relationships with these loved ones. The phrase that's become my mantra is, "Meet them where they are." I have to accept that they can't help much of their behavior and, for the most part, are never going to view the world the way the rest of us do. So I felt for Jonathan more deeply than I might have otherwise.

One thing about the book really bothered me, though: the sex scenes. Not because they were explicit (I've read more detailed accounts and their encounters were pretty standard) but because of the emphasis on Annika's physical perfection. Her legs were beautiful, her breasts were ideally proportioned, her face was a dead ringer for Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's. Why? Did the author not trust Jonathan, or us, to care about a sweet and good-hearted but cognitively challenged girl unless she was incredibly gorgeous?

3. What will you read next? It's time for a mystery.