Thursday, February 19, 2009

"I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty."*

I have a lot of shoes. Especially for someone who is not especially girly.

I have sexy silver strappy high heels (that I haven’t worn in, oh, eight years).

I have businesslike black and brown pumps (you know, the ones that kinda resemble penny loafers with chunky heels).

I have an elegant pair of Paul Green black Oxfords that cost me a remarkable sum of money and due to my ensuing four pregnancies no longer really fit me – but I refuse to give them up.

I own an embarrassingly large number of running shoes, all Adidas and in varying stages of wornness.

I have any number of summery shoes – brown strappy sandals with a wedge heel, several pairs of plain black flipflops, pink Mary Jane Crocs, Tevas from my college days, and brown Keen Mary Janes that go with everything, make my legs look really trim and muscular, and are on my feet (if I must wear shoes) constantly from about April till October.

I have Doc Marten boots, and LL Bean boots, for snow. I have Uggs for cold. I have both flat and heeled dressy black boots. My flat boots are kind of boring, with a buckle round the ankle and a zip up the side. But my heeled black boots – my heeled black boots are calf-length, microfiber, square-toed, and incredibly sassy. Just pulling them on makes me feel fun and flirty and hothotHOT.

Stephanie Kallos’ Broken for You is the sexy black boot of my bookshelf. You can recommend it to people knowing that if they read it, they will not only like it, but it will move them, it will make them think, and it will cement their perception of you as a discerning and intelligent reader. It does all the work for you.

But Kallos’ new book, Sing Them Home? Is the brown Keen Mary Jane. Just opening this book every night was a pleasure. It went with every mood. I hated to see it end, much as I am dreading the eventual demise of the shoes I wear nonstop for six months of the year (In fact, I really should just order another pair or two right now.)

Yeah, this metaphor is a little strained, I know. It sounded better at 3am when I was dazed with sleep and with an infant attached to my breast. But when I turned the last page of Sing Them Home? I wanted more. I wanted it to keep going on and on and on, this saga of the Jones family and the town of Emlyn Springs and its inhabitants. I wanted to know who got married, who died, who had babies, who went away to school. I just simply wanted it to continue.

If that’s not one of the nicest things any reader can say about a book, I don’t know what is.

***************

*Imelda Marcos (Who else?)

17 comments:

Paula said...

I have a pair of Frye boots.

Or as I like to call them; my Ass Kickin' Boots, in which I do really feel like I can, um...kick ass.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like Sing them Home must OWNED. I'll add it to the list.

Bearette said...

Hmm, I like Mary Janes. So maybe I'll start with Sing Them Home.

Mary said...

Sing them Home sounds very amazoniable.(have I made up a new word?)

Bags for me - shoes not so much...

Anonymous said...

I loved Broken for You, and now you've inspired me to add Sing them Home to my library list.

And I'm with you- in the summer, I never wear shoes unless I have to. I could walk a bed of hot coals and not feel a thing.

Jess said...

While I don't quite agree about BFY being the sexy black boot of my bookshelf, I DO agree that STH is a comfy Mary Jane. I'm getting close to the end and kind of want to make it last.

Jess said...

Added to library list. Have I told you how much I love your recommendations?

Elizabeth said...

Well, you've certainly piqued my curiosity about that one.
I had to give up every single high heel I owned after having kids. And they were not replaced, except for one or two.

Beth said...

I have black Keen Mary Janes, which I wear constantly ear-round. I guess this means I have to read Sing Then Home as soon as possible.

Beth said...

I wear my Keen MJs arond the YEAR, not around my EAR. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

I love how you compared these books to shoes. Now you actually have me wanting to read both of them!

Kathy said...

I think saying that you want to stay in the world the author created is always the nicest thing you can say about a book.

LBA said...

i'm in the market for a new book .. this one sounds perfect - thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks also for your comment on my blog and your support for us, so far away from you, and those affected by bushfire.

thankyou
xx

Anonymous said...

Just reserved Broken for You at the library! (They don't have Sing Them Home.)

Thanks for the reccy.

Caro said...

I'll have to see if my library has it.

Comfortable shoes are my favorite kind.

Caro said...

Okay, it's on hold. I am number four in line. I miss the days of ordering what I wanted when I wanted it off Amazon. Sigh.

Pretty Things said...

Before my feet so seriously failed me, I had an embarrassing amount of shoes. And I taught aerobics so all those sorts of companies (Nike, Adidas, etc) sent instructors SUPER deals -- oh it got bad for a while!