The Museum of Ordinary People

The Museum of Ordinary People by Mike Gayle 336 pages

 

What do you do with your mom’s stuff after she is gone? It’s a predicament that many find themselves in these days. Or maybe I feel that way because my own mom cannot live at home anymore. But what the heck am I going to do with all that stuff! Sixty years worth of life!

 

That’s the issue Jess is facing.  Her mother dies suddenly. Jess is an only child so the entire burden passes to her.

 

From the book’s back cover:

“Still reeling from the sudden death of her mother, Jess is about to do the hardest thing she's ever done: empty her childhood home so that it can be sold.  As she sorts through a lifetime of memories, everything comes to a halt when she comes across something she just can’t part with: an old set of encyclopedias.  To the world, the books are outdated and ready to be recycled.  To Jess, they represent love and the future that her mother always wanted her to have. 

In the process of finding the books a new home, Jess discovers an unusual archive of letters, photographs, and curious housed in a warehouse and known as the Museum of Ordinary People.  Irresistibly drawn, she becomes the museum's unofficial custodian, along with the warehouse’s mysterious owner.  As they delve into the history of objects in their care, they not only unravel heart-stirring stories that span generations and continents, but also unearth long-buried secrets that lie closer to home.

Inspired by an abandoned box of mementos, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant novel about memory and loss, the things we leave behind, and the future we create for ourselves.  

I really enjoyed this book and was intrigued by it. It takes place in a London suburb, but it could have taken place anywhere. I found the story rather sad and heartbreaking, but there are shining moments. This is a tough book to review as it is hard, for me, to articulate my feelings. Still, I encourage everyone to read it and give this challenge: Think about your home. What would donate to The Museum of Ordinary People and why. The Museum of Ordinary People receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Girl Who reads on the Metro

The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Feret-Fleury  208 pages

I consider myself well-read, but when the author started listing titles and books I’ve never heard of, I felt stupid. Maybe that set the tone for me for this book.

Juliette lives in Paris. She has an ordinary life and an ordinary job. On her commute to her ordinary job, she is always interested in the books her fellow commuters are reading. Desparate for a change, Juliette gets off the metro at a stop unfamiliar to her. As she wandes through this new area, she discovers a gate held open by a book.

Entranced, she venture through the gates and discovers a small but very crowded bookstore. This was creepy if y’all ask me. The store is run by a man named Soliman, who lives on the premises with his young daughter. Soliman was creepy. He never ventures out of his compound, yet he has a gaggle of passuers that seem to do his bidding. Their goal is to match a book with the right person.  I was never really sure how that worked. The general gist was that they should follow the person, get to know their habits, etc., so they could be matched with the perfect book.

 “The Girl Who Reads on the Metro” isn’t my cup of tea, and that is why it receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Metropolitan Stories

Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson    208 pages

I’m not a huge television watcher, but I do enjoy watching the behind-the-scenes shows at zoos. Watchers get to take a peek behind the curtain at what it takes to care for the thousands of animals in their care. Fascinating stuff.

I feel the same way about Christine Coulson’s new novel, “Metropolitian Stories.” From a writer who worked at that renown institution for more than 25 years, reads are taken through to the offices, the storage rooms, the cafeteria and what seems to a million-mile labyrinth of hallways that connect the myriad of buildings, galleries and studios. On the down side, I had no real idea of where the vignettes were actually happening, and that confused me a bit. But it didn’t stop me from reading.

 I loved all the stories, but my favorite is “Meats and Cheeses.” It involves a 4,000-year-old leg of lamb. The narrator, Kate, is on a mission of a different kind, but winds up in a room full of hats---all types from pith helmets to straw boaters. Hebe and Helen, who work in the room, are a

riot. It seems that Kate’s, who has only been with the Met about a year, main job is to deliver the yellow interoffice envelopes known as “cheeses.” She is following a hand-drawn map and trying to get a sign off for a China exhibition’s title wall.  I won’t write anymore as I may give it away, but Kate’s adventures through the maze of hallways looking for a blue door is the perfect story for readers to understand the complexity of working at the Met.

Light-hearted, full of whimsy and just plain fun, I give “Metropolitan Stories” 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.