Panjee Tapales on witches, secrets and Ernest Hemingway

In olden times, women used to have sewing circles but in later times women bonded in reading circles or eating clubs and I am proud member of such a group of kindred spirits — a sisterhood of friendly banter bonded over great food and lots of laughter. One of my sisters in this close circle is Panjee Tapales and over one such riotous post-Christmas breakfast I asked her to share some of the books she is currently or just recently read.

These are five of Panjee’s top picks:

1. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

“I love witches and have been called one by many, sometimes in jest. I bought this book and found myself thoroughly enjoying every page. It’s a very entertaining read about a witch who falls in love with a vampire. It’s a great story and page-turner, so if you’re looking for a book to curl up in bed with, this is it. It’s the first of a trilogy, and though the second one, Shadow of Night, was not as great, I eagerly await the last installment.”

2. Celebrate Christmas, Celebrate You by Lynn Jericho

“A group of friends decided to get together once a week over Advent, hoping to go back to what the season meant.  We were determined to slow it down, make it quiet and meaningful. We wanted to connect with what the season really meant, as an antidote to the frenzy that normally takes over. A friend had this book so we used it as our guide. This little book packs a punch and asks a lot of questions that made us go back to Christmases of the past, for example, to figure out scripts we’ve held about Christmas that were formed when we were young. It was so enriching. We read, shared stories, lit our Advent wreath and sang songs. Our little weekly room was Christmas becoming and it was the opposite of what the materialistic Christmas shoves at us each year. We all felt it gave us good substance that we could share with our families, to make Christmas less about material gifts and more about stuff that matters. This is a gem of a book and I’m happy I have my own copy now.”

3. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

“I’m a sucker for books about secrets that are carried through generations and then solved by a family member who decides to ask questions and won’t sleep until they’re answered. This is one such book. It goes as far back as before World War II and poignantly shows how long-forgotten events shape a family.  This happens to all of us, of course, but it’s always more clearly seen through a riveting story. When I like an author, I become their stalker. I think I’ve read all of Kate Morton’s books because she’s a great storyteller and always has such interesting characters. I love traveling through time with her.”

4. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

“It was the cover that first got me, of a well-dressed woman of long ago. The book is about Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson, and their time in Paris. I had just watched the HBO film, Gellhorn and Hemingway, and was clearly embarking on an obsessive pursuit, so I knew that the right book had found me again. I loved it. I felt the author really gave Hadley Richardson a good voice. The novel is well researched and gave me a rich and living picture of what it must have been like to be in love with Ernest Hemingway, to marry him and live in Paris with him, and then deal with his artistic temperament and everything it brought. The man was clearly bipolar, struggling with the demons of war and navigating a world that was trying to find normalcy. This was a golden time for him, even if he didn’t realize it then. Years later he wrote of Hadley, ‘I wish I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.’ I was sad when I finished this book and have been reading up on Hemingway and his life since.”

5. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

“After The Paris Wife, I wanted to read Hemingway with new eyes. This book is based on the complicated, almost incestuous relationships Hemingway had with his friends on a difficult trip they took together to Pamplona, which included his wife, Hadley. This was the first time she saw her husband in love with someone else and she bore it with much pain and courage. Later on when she read the draft of this book, she realized he had left her completely out of the story and it hurt her very much.  Years later, when they separated, Hemingway made sure all rights and royalties from this book went to her. I’m reading it now with the added bonus of the context in which it was written.”

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The Reading Club recommends Ramses by Christian Jacq available at National Bookstore and PowerBooks.

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Your suggestions and comments are welcome at mjrodis@yahoo.com.