As The Seattle Times puts it, “the story hurls us from Baltimore, to Berlin, to Paris, to an obscure Polish town-as breathlessly as that trumpet player finishing a long heartfelt riff.
What are you reading this weekend, dear readers? I’m totally listening and taking notes.1 Seldom have I read such poetic words of praise as there are on the introductory pages of the novel Half-Blood Blues by the Ghanaian-born Canadian writer Esi Edugyan. The story has everything I love, multicultural characters, history, a European setting and Black Americans heavily represented. I totally feel like I hit the jackpot with this one, considering I picked it up because the author’s name sounded familiar. But I do know the book won and/or was short-listed for many literary prizes. I don’t want to read too many reviews because I don’t want to read with preconceived notions. I’ve only just started it but I love it already. Half Blood-Blues alternates between past and present telling the musician’s story. As I’d hoped, the book partially centers on a Mixed Afro-German jazz musician who lived through World War II. The other reason the book caught my attention was the title, of course.
Turns out Esi is a beautiful, Black Canadian writer with one other novel and several short stories to her credit. I admit, I first noticed this book because the author’s name is very similar to my son’s and I wondered if Esi was a man or a woman. It’s called Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan. So, yes, most nights I fall into bed and am asleep in two minutes and I barely have enough time to breathe, but still I promised myself that I would read at least one book a month for pleasure. And I do have to read a lot for “work” – books, articles, magazines, student work – to stay on top of things. That sounds crazy coming from someone who loves books like a fat boy loves cake, but as I reviewed 2014, I realized that the majority of what I read was for work. So, one of my 2015 resolutions is to read more for pleasure. What I’m Reading Now.Hi Meltingpot Readers,
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