Review: High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never

High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To be honest, I didn't really enjoy reading this book. So why did I still give a 3/5 stars? For two reasons. First, although I just don't really enjoy reading essays (not a good start since it is a collection of essays), I can tell that she is an excellent writer and she has many wonderful things to say. As I was reading, I would underline things that resonated with me so I could remember them for our book club discussion. I have a lot of underlines. For example, I loved the line "Children are adept at becoming what we expect them to be. 'Terrible' [after a discussion of the phrase 'terrible twos'] does not seem to be a wise expectation" (p. 89). Or how about "cleanliness is next to godliness only if you are God's wife . . . housework is mostly about dirt. Other people's. The world's most renewable resource" (p. 62-63). Lines like these made me laugh because I can so identify with them (as a mother of a 2-year-old and as I seem to be incapable of keeping my house close to anything resembling the word "clean").

The second reason I gave it a 3 (instead of a 2 or 2.5) is because this book led to some of the best book club discussion we've had yet. We all underlined or took notes as we read, and we had so many lines to discuss. It was wonderful because it led to a lot of honesty and compassion between us (as well as some laughter). Anything that can inspire the kind of conversation we had deserves some credit.

That said, although Kingsolver certainly has many pearls of wisdom sprinkled throughout and inspired incredible conversation, I didn't actually enjoy reading it very much. Part of it is my own problem. I just don't like reading essays that much. I have a hard time sticking with it and reading them all because I get distracted by other books I want to read more. I never actually wanted to pick this book up; it was always a task. The essays were all written very conversationally, but seemed a bit ramble-y. One woman in the book club commented, "I think I would be friends with Kingsolver because I talk just like her, but when I was reading it, I just wanted her to get to the point!" I really would love to read her novels, because I really think I'd enjoy them more. Overall, this collection of essays was probably worth reading (if for the conversation it led to, if nothing else), but just not one of my favorites.

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