A small diversion.......

And such a long time away from the keyboard. Only excuse was a trip to Chicago, and an extremely s l o w internet connection in the b&b which would have made blogging an agonising business.A diversion, too, from my self-imposed Orange task, but one which I'm sure I can justify.
I was so moved by Home that I toddled off to the Barnes and Noble on the corner and bought another copy of Housekeeping, which I read years ago but was intrigued to try again. It was just as impressive second time around - such a remarkable book at the time for a first novel - but published too soon to be included in any OPF list. I still longed to reach out to the two sisters and steady them but of course it moved to its inevitable conclusion. Perhaps I read it a little differently with the 2 Gilead novels behind me, but it did seem a little less assured than her recent books. Still subtle and moving, however.

While walking past the same shop a day or two later, a "Chicago City Read" promotion caught my eye. Devon's "Lost World Read" is over now - a project we shared with authorities in the South West, Shropshire and Hampshire (a disparate group, who came together because of links to the Lost World author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or to the man whose work helped inspire the book, and whose anniversary it was - Charles Darwin.) Always keen to support someone else's reading campaign, and pleased that Chicago libraries were partners in the exercise, I decided to join in. Not for them the piles of free copies given away in our promotion - I had to part with the $ equivalent of £7.99 for - rather a thin - book. Still, the bookmark and readers' guide came free.

The book was The House on Mango Street, and the other thing that had snagged my attention was the author - Sandra Cisneros. In one of those follow-the-links that keen readers love, I remembered reading Cisneros' Caramelo when it was long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2003. I worked in Exeter Central at the time. Budgets were tight and stock in short supply - but when we decided to shadow the Orange Prize we were rewarded with multiple, shiny new copies of the listed titles. The books were flying off the shelves - except for Caramelo.It was huge - much bigger than the rest - and the cover featured a lurid painting of a senorita in elaborate frock, mantilla and all. Leaving after work I had to take pity on the 4 hardback copies siting reproachfully and take one home with me. The story centred around a large, noisy Mexican family, now settled in an American city (I didn't remember which one..) who made an annual event-filled trip to visit family in Mexico City. I enjoyed it - but it didn't make the short-list. Now here she was again, this time with a little book, but one which is apparently required reading in many American schools, and celebrating its 25th birthday. It's a series of vignettes - some of them very short indeed - dealing with the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago.To read more about it, or just see a picture of The Definitive Cowboy Boots, her website is www.sandracisneros.com