Boys in the Trees: A Memoir by Carly Simon

In 1980, I went to see a documentary-style concert film called “No Nukes.” I was 17 years old, and I remember the exact moment in the film when James Taylor summoned his wife Carly Simon from off stage to sing the duet “Mockingbird.” It remains hands-down one of the cutest and most romantic things I have ever seen. She was wearing a striped, purple-and-green plaid jump suit that screamed, “Step back people! I’m a rock star! And I’m married to one, too!” They are truly happy people in love, singing and dancing for all to see. Of course, Carly and James were divorced about 3 years later, but that doesn’t take away from that magical moment on screen. If that sounds cute to you too, then read this book. While billed as a memoir, the majority of the book is dedicated to Carly’s relationship with J.T. (They were married from 1972-83 and raised two children together.) If you like books about sex, drugs and rock and roll, this will not disappoint. If you like books about people with performance anxiety – even better. Carly is so talented and still so beautiful at the age of 70, but anxiety has plagued and overwhelmed her from childhood through adulthood. The fact that she had relationships with Mick Jagger and Warren Beatty (“So Vain!”) doesn’t make for bad reading either.  As the daughter of the eccentric founder of publishing house Simon and Schuster, Carly has great stories about her dysfunctional parents, too. The Boys in the Trees is a lovely book about not one but two of the brightest sounds of my generation. It is a pleasure to read, but even more fun to listen to Carly read it out loud on an audiobook.  For discussion, do you have a favorite Carly Simon or James Taylor song? To purchase this link on Amazon click here.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

I have been doing volunteer hospice work for two years. One of the reasons I like it is because there are no mean people who go into hospice work. Well I suppose there might be one or two, but I have not met them yet. I think that nasty cranky people just go into other lines of work in general. So the work I do for Hospice By The Bay brings me a lot of joy not just from the patients but from the co-workers. One of my co-workers recently said that she thinks we do it to try to “de-sensitive” ourselves about death. And that is probably true of me. I have not known many people who have died, so providing relief care and comfort care for patients puts me at the front line of a subject that interests me. So with that in mind I would like to recommend the book “Being Immortal” by Atul Gawande. I had the pleasure of listening to this book on CD and it made me fall in love with driving again. I couldn’t wait to get into my car and listen to it. The premise is simple but innovative: Do we have it all wrong? Should doctors stop trying to save lives and instead help us to die? When a patient is terminal shouldn’t a doctor try to help them die with dignity instead of pummeling them with painful treatments that have no hope of saving their lives? Gawande experienced this situation first hand when his father, also a doctor, got sick. His personal story, and experience with terminal patients makes this book fascinating. After you read the book you can also look up interviews and programs on line in which Gawande talks about his dad as well as interviews other patients. This is not only a great book but it introduces a new way about thinking about healthcare that is not only realistic but also comforting. To order this book on Amazon click here.

A Window Opens by Elizabeth Egan

This is a story about a smart woman juggling kids, an out-of-work-boozy husband, beloved-aging parents and a brand new way-over-her-head job. From her home in suburban New Jersey, the heroine Alice Pearse, mother of three, sets out for her dream job at a start-up trying to launch a coffee-shop style chain of literary lounges dedicated to the classics. Of course the job is not as dreamy as Alice imagines but her journey back into the work force is still funny and real.  It seems like this territory has been covered many times before (by Fielding, Semple, Reddy and more), but something about the way this author tackles it seems fresh, quirky and well worth the read. In particular, the relationships between Alice and her husband, her sick father and even her children's nanny don't smack of routine but rather of real people plowing through this modern world just trying to keep their act together. I was reading this book on a day when I went through several hours of errands and suddenly realized my cardigan sweater was on inside out. The Old Navy tag at the neck was flapping around in the wind for all to see it was not from Neiman’s. However, I did not beat myself up about this. I simply stood patiently in the supermarket line, and reversed the sweat to its correct position. I think this is something Alice would do, too. I hope you enjoy reading her story as much as I did. Yes, yes it is a good beach read, but let’s decide right now that beach books can be read all year long. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.