Hi all, I hope you are well. We are staying near the beach and there have been some gorgeous sunsets. We have been enjoying family get-togethers with my Dad and brother (and hopefully soon with my niece and nephew-in-law too). We’ve done a bit of shopping, bike riding, reading, football watching, and of course dog walks. We still have to put up the tree! That’s what happens when you travel you do things on the fly. But we are gearing for the holiday and plan to see the boat parade here this week, which is always fun and colorful, and maybe take in a movie. I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays with friends and family.
Have you decided what your first book of 2025 will be? Okay, let’s hear what it is. I haven’t decided mine yet, but I plan to over the weekend. I think first reads of the year should be a bit special, so I will look for something. Isn’t it fun that soon we will have a clean slate and new year for reading. Perhaps many of us will have new reading challenges, or changes to our reading that we want to try. I sort of want to boost my nonfiction next year but don’t I always say that? And I’d like to have a few books always going at once instead of just one print and one audio at a time. I need to open it up a bit more. But first, I want to finish at least two more books by the end of the year and then turn my thoughts to next year. How about you?
And now I’ll leave you with a review of what I finished lately.
Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie / Random House / 224 pages / 2024
Much of this memoir seems brave. Not only for Rushdie’s stands past and current against terror and fatwas, but also for the health recovery he details and his openness on talking about things that are personal, the changes, and his thoughts. It’s a memoir that’s a bit here and there and I preferred some parts more than others, but still it gave an encompassing picture of the tumultuous life-altering event he and his family endured due to the brutal assassination attempt on his life in 2022 when he was horrifically stabbed at an event numerous times.
The chapters on all his health recovery and rehab post-attack are daunting and tense, but I preferred the other chapters more about his thoughts about the world, where his life and work are, and how his loving family and wife poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths came to be his stalwarts. His personal life after several marriages seems to have settled with Eliza who appears to be his rock since their marriage in 2021. And he molds much of the memoir into a story about love conquering evil, which is pleasing, and the book’s other part is his trying to understand what happened and why.
One segment goes into an imaginary interview Rushdie has with his assailant, which I thought was worth while … as well as his thoughts about religion. It seems frustrating trying to reason with people who don’t have much reason behind their acts to others, or who do things for incredibly absurd or incorrect assumptions. Rushdie has long been a beacon of freedom of thought, expression, and religion and that still burns brightly here.
I listened to the audio version read by the author, which was insightful to hear him read it.
That’s all for now. What about you — have you read this one and what did you think? Have a great week.
What a stunning sunset! Wowzers! I’m glad you’re having a good time in CA. Which town are you staying in? Looks like the dogs are enjoying their beach time, too. 🙂
I’m not sure what my first book of 2025 will be since I just started a chunkster and it will probably take me into January before I finish. I’m going to look at my TBR bookcase (all 9 shelves!) and make a stack of the books I want to read with the idea that it may be my last year of reading. It won’t be, of course, but I want to go into the year reading everything I would be disappointed to miss out on if, say, I lost my vision. How’s that for bleak? Lol!
Not sure if Knife is my cuppa, but I do love a good memoir… maybe the audio is the way to go with this one.
I am so glad you’re having a good visit with family. My daughter comes home tomorrow and I am really looking forward to seeing her.
My first book is going to be Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars. I have tickets to hear him speak in January so it seems fitting to have his second book be my first of the year.
Happy Holidays! I really need to go watch some sunsets.
Love those beach pics! That’s where I wish I was right now. I’ve only spent a few Christmases at the beach, but they were some of my favs. And I’m hoping to read more nonfiction next year, too; in fact, Knife is on my list. 😀
That is a gorgeous sunset! Happy to hear you’re having a nice time busy with activities and family! Looks like the dogs are enjoying the trip down south, too! I don’t remember reading about Rushdie’s attack and didn’t know the history behind it, so I just read a little on it. How awful for him! I’m happy he’s okay despite losing sight in one eye and the use of one of his hands! The reasoning behind attacks like this just boggles my mind! I would guess it’d be hard to be on guard from a bunch of crazy zealots 24-7.
I never thought of my first read of the year being particularly special. I’ll give a little more thought on my choice! Hope you enjoy the rest of your trip, Susan!
I seldom read nonfiction unless it relates to birds or Nature so I’m unlikely to read “Knife” but I appreciate your review of the book. And I appreciate the courage of Rushdie in carrying on with his life and with writing the story of the horrendous, hate-filled attack that almost killed him.
Happy holidays to you and your family. And the dogs! (But then they are part of the family, aren’t they?)
What a beautiful picture of a beach sunset! That gorgeous red, omg! Love to hear that you’re spending time with your family, I hope you all have a wonderful time together. I haven’t thought about my first book for 2025, but now I will. I hope you have a great one in mind!