Carol’s Comments November 2025
Hello Everyone! Welcome to another issue of Carol’s Comments. Over the last few months, I decided to revisit my favorite literary genres in recently published books along with reading an old favorite from a new perspective.
I love historical fiction especially novels set in 20th century England between World War I and World War II. After discovering a very positive review in The New York Times about Johanna Miller’s new novel The Eights, I knew I found the perfect book for me. Unfortunately, the library had ordered only six copies and all were checked out. So meanwhile I had to read Miller’s novel as a Kindle e-book instead until the hardcover became available.
Set in 1920 at Oxford University, Miller’s book centers on four young women students; the first women to ever enroll at the University in 1,000 years. These four women all move into Corridor Room 8 and soon become good friends. Marianne, Ottoline (aka Otto), Beatrice and Dora each want to excel at Oxford but each harbor hidden secrets from their personal experiences during The Great War.
For instance, Dora lost both her brother and fiancĂ© in World War I and now wants to take their place at Oxford and earn a degree. Ottoline hopes to erase the graphic and horrible memories she witnessed while serving as an ambulance driver and nurse in London and longs to return to her former carefree socialite lifestyle while living at Oxford. Marianne, a vicar’s daughter wants to hide a terrible wartime experience by beginning a new life at the university. Finally Beatrice, the daughter of a famous suffragist yearns to create her own identity and purpose at Oxford.
Miller’s novel also features many real historical figures in the storyline including peace activist Vera Brittain which makes the book more realistic and relatable. Miller also includes a glossary, key dates section and bibliography that helps the reader understand Oxford’s and Great Britain’s transition into the modern world. Ultimately, The Eights is an excellent and well researched fiction companion to Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. I highly recommend it to all readers especially those who love modern historical fiction.
I’ve loved artist Maira Kalman ever since I saw one of her fanciful illustrations on the March 18, 2018 cover of The New Yorker. I usually don’t buy many hardcover books for my personal library but I couldn’t resist purchasing the charming little cookbook Cake and The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas which both featured her delightful drawings. I later reviewed both books for my blog in 2018 and 2020 respectively.
While browsing my Kindle app a few months ago, I spotted Maira Kalman’s newest book Women Holding Things. Since the St Joseph County Public Library only owned a copy in e-book, I quickly bought a hardcover edition on Amazon.
Kalman’s eclectic book features a collection of 80 imaginative drawings that depict women holding simple everyday objects with a short caption underneath or near it. I especially liked that the artist included famous people like Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Hortense Cezanne and Sally Hemmings because their captions had a very ironic and clever tone.
Kalman also prominently features whimsical illustrations of her own immediate and extended family especially her grandmother, parents, husband, children along with her aunts, uncles and cousins. Her detailed descriptions of their relationship to her and to themselves can be quite loving and comical yet brutally honest and sarcastic at times.
I highly recommend Women Holding Things to all modern art lovers and readers interested in women’s studies.
While watching CBS Sunday Morning on October 12, the program announced that Diane Keaton had died the day before on October 11 at age 79. Keaton’s untimely death shocked and saddened me very much. I admired her unconventional style and independent spirit the first time I watched her Oscar winning performance in 1977’s Annie Hall. She has been my role model for almost 50 years.
I knew immediately that I wanted to honor Diane Keaton cinematically by watching as many of her movies for free on my current streaming subscription services. After quite an exhaustive search, I found four of her classic comedies- three with Woody Allen- on a seven-day free trial through MGM+ on Prime Video. I decided to watch them in chronological order starting first with 1975’s Love and Death, 1977’s Annie Hall, 1979’s Manhattan and ending with Baby Boom directed by Nancy Meyers in 1987. These films especially Annie Hall brought back many happy memories of seeing the movies for the first time at the movie theater with my friends. They truly captured Keaton’s quirky and offbeat humor.
After my movie marathon that Sunday, I also decided to re-read and re-review Keaton’s memoir Then Again. I quickly checked the St. Joseph County Public Library’s web site to see if it still owned a copy. Miraculously, the Main library downtown still had one copy. I quickly put a hold on it. Two days later, I received an email that the book was ready for pickup, I rushed immediately to the River Park Branch to check it out.
I first reviewed Then Again for my blog when it was originally published in 2011. Re-reading it fourteen years later, I approached it with an entirely different viewpoint. I realized that the book contained nuances not found in traditional memoirs. Diane Keaton’s memoir does extensively chronicle her remarkable and eclectic acting career and frankly describes her romantic relationships with Woody Allen, Al Pacino and Warren Beatty. More importantly, Then Again is a very loving and poignant tribute to her mother Dorothy Keaton Hall who died of Alzheimer’s disease on September 18, 2008. I highly recommend Then Again to all readers especially Diane Keaton fans.
After considerable thought, I’ve decided to put my blog on indefinite hiatus. I might publish an occasional issue recommending some unique and thought-provoking books and movies that I think my readers might enjoy.
I’m very glad I’ve written Carol’s Comments for 14 years and posted 51 issues mainly due to the continued encouragement and support of my loyal readers. I’m also happy to know that my blog has inspired many of my younger readers to write and create their own online publications and web sites.
The books and movies reviewed in this blog can be found at most local public libraries. My readers in St Joseph County, Indiana can visit the Saint Joseph County Public Library’s web site at sjcpl.org for additional information. Enjoy the upcoming holidays! Thanks for reading! See you all next time.
