Kitti's Book List: Book on Windowsill

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Book on Windowsill

Spring in Gościeradz (1933)
Leon Jan Wyczółkowski (1852 – 1936)
Leading Polish painter and educator

I love the way Wyczolkowski captures the ethereal
energy coming from book, curtain, tree, light!

And just what is that golden book upon the windowsill?
Could it be . . .

1.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1
by Beth Brower
Recommended by my friend Lisa

Hilarious, in manner of Oscar Wilde's
Importance of Being Ernest. Very droll!
Would make a better mini-series than Downton!

2.
August is a Wicked Month
by Edna O'Brien
Sent as a gift from my friend Vickie

While brooding about some ill-considered personal choices, the heroine repeats a mantra to herself . . .

173: "'It's not a crime, it's not a crime, it's not a crime,' she kept saying, arranging her footsteps to tune in with that one sentence. 'It's not a crime,' she said again . . . But even as she was saying it was not a crime she thought back to herself . . . the ivory girl in her tower of gold. Would they recognize her now?"

193: “She had not thought of him once. Not once. That was her crime. Under the soft skin and behind the big, melting eyes, her heart was like a nutmeg. Some of it had been grated by life but the very centre never really surrendered to anyone, not to the mother who stole for her, nor to the drunken father, nor to her far-seeing but poisoned husband, and not to the child in the way it should have.”

3.
Marriage and Other Monuments
by Virginia Pye
A must read for the local color of Richmond, Virginia,
written by one of my former Philadelphia neighbors

208 - 09: "Why are Black women always so angry at me? I haven't done anything to them."

"Jesus, Melissa, after all these years you don't get why someone might be less than friendly to you?

She shrugged. "I do, sort of, but come to think of it, no, not really."

220 - 21: "She [Cynthia] had left Bobby beause she was unwilling to be his helpmate, but maybe helping was an unavoidable part of the arrangement. Maybe marriage was a pact to keep each other afloat against all odds, natural and manmade. To ease the boat of life downstream through rough waters, including old age."

4.
The Hounding
by Xenobe Purvis
Sent as gift from my friend Laura

Here's what I noticed about this mysterious novel -- especially since I did not look ahead or read any reviews, not even the book jacket -- I honestly did not know and could not guess what was going to happen! Even up until the last page, I did not see it coming -- the murder, the reprieve, the escape.

I can see how some readers want a more detailed conclusion, but maybe it's better for the reader to wonder where the sisters are going and what will happen and whether or not there is a rational explanation. Personally, I want it to be a novel about imaginations running wild, completely unnecessarily.

I loved the thoughts of the grandfather about how strong and independent he wanted the girls to be.

~ Or these ~

5.
With commentary from from
my daughter - in - law Cathleen