I have read three leisure books in the past week and I am pretty excited about it.
First, I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This memoir was a New York Times Bestseller and tells the story of the Jeannette's life with her siblings and vagabond parents. It was simultaneously inspirationally moving and strangely horrifying. Though it is Jeannette's truth, at times it reads like fiction which helped this reader to feel just far enough removed, at times, to be able to look at things objectively and gain some understanding of people one might not be able to feel for otherwise. Achingly beautiful and stunningly real.
Second, I read The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. I picked this up at Habitat Books in Sausalito because I wanted something that took place in San Francisco and was written by a San Francisco author. The owner, Sharon, was incredibly helpful, friendly and even sent me home with a list of a few other good San Francisco area writers. I was not disappointed by this work of fiction narrated by a soon-to-be step-mom who loses her step-daughter-to-be one foggy morning on Ocean Beach. You are with Abby every step of the way just hoping and praying that she is able to find Emma and put the life she was about to have back together. A truly excellent and haunting book.
Finally, after two fairly heavy reads, I picked up 3 Willows: the sisterhood grows, a YA novel by Ann Brashares who also wrote The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Last Summer (of You and Me). As a fan of The Sisterhood series, I wasn't sure I would enjoy this "sisterhood part deux", but I was pleasantly surprise. Brashares tackles serious issues facing teen girls today and she handles them in a delicate way. Parents separating. Not getting exactly what you want. Making the most of all opportunities. Starting to date. Eating disorders. Loneliness. Cliques. Changing friendships. Alcoholism. Death of a sibling. All of these subjects and more are addressed. I think it would be an excellent book for mothers to read and discuss with their daughters in order to open a dialogue about these sometimes touchy subjects.
The Trifecta. My To-Be-Read shelve will be empty sooner rather than later.
Have you read any good books lately? I'd love suggestions!
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I just finished reading Jodi Piccoult's new book "handle with Care" The topics included a specific disability that I had no prior knowledge of, how that disability affected a family's life, the character of that person with the disability and the decisions parents make when they think they are acting in their child's best interest. Excellent. Read it in a day or two when I was home sick.
ReplyDeleteI finished Sea Glass by Anita Shrieve which was good but not one of my favorites by here.
And I am currently reading The Color of Water: A black man's tribute to his white mother by James McBride. It is a book that I have heard a lot about but have not actually read myself. Thus far, I am enraptured.
Those sound good. I have been reading The Dream of Scipio which is very good but requires close attention, which I don't have right now!
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