for the book pile

As I think about a book I will one day write, I consider what form I want it to take, what shape. How specific do I want the theme to be? Is there an event or experience I can use as the backdrop for a story?

For instance, I wrote several essays about various home renovations we did several years ago that coincided with my step-father’s cancer, and I have a friend who is working on a series of personal essays that weave her life’s story through her experiences exploring the craggy shores of Puget Sound.

So I found this interview interesting, today, as I drove around running errands with Thomas. The author is Rachel Simon, and her book is “Building A Home with My Husband: A Journey through the Renovation of Love.” Here is the Publisher’s Weekly Review from Amazon:

In her second memoir (after Riding the Bus with My Sister), Simon writes about her relationship with her husband, Hal. The two married after 19 years together (including a breakup and reunion) and moved into Hal’s historic row house in Wilmington, Del. When the house is burglarized, the couple consider moving, but decide to renovate instead, both to save money and give Hal, an architect, the opportunity to design their abode. The decision, Simon writes, will blow open the tight seal around everything I think I know about myself, about family, about the misunderstandings and resilience of love. It makes for an intriguing narrative, punctuated by musings on everything from quitting to the definition of design to her life as a writer and public speaker. In this inspirational book, readers who have completed or are contemplating remodeling will empathize with Simon’s frustration-induced fits of pique or the couple’s rush of gratitude for a lovely home. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

I look forward to reading her book, both for the story she has to tell and to see how she weaves her life’s story throughout the Everyday.