The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_P/poe_shadow1.asp
If you have any interest in Edgar Allen Poe, this is a book to add to your collection.
When Poe died, he was considered a second-rate writer and a drunk. He was to be forgotten as quickly as possible. Mr. Pearl has an altogether different take on the situation.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
1491
1491 by Charles C. Mann
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1649
I cannot vouch for the absolute truth of every word in this book, but I can guarantee it will make you look at both the past and future differently.
What was America really like before 1492? Mr. Mann has some very interesting ideas that you never heard in school.
The Friday Night Knitting Club
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
One of those light, easy books that leaves you feeling good and reminds you that sometimes life does give you second chances.
One of those light, easy books that leaves you feeling good and reminds you that sometimes life does give you second chances.
The Help
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
www.kathrynstockett.com/book/
Three women - one white, two black, Mississippi, early '60s.
Their lives are as different as their skin color, but their stories intermingle and make for us a fascinating book. The lessons we learn are all based on the never ending plea to look inside a person rather than to the color of their skin before making judgments. There is not a single dull page in this book.
www.kathrynstockett.com/book/
Three women - one white, two black, Mississippi, early '60s.
Their lives are as different as their skin color, but their stories intermingle and make for us a fascinating book. The lessons we learn are all based on the never ending plea to look inside a person rather than to the color of their skin before making judgments. There is not a single dull page in this book.
And the Heart Says Whatever
And the Heart Says Whatever by Emily Gould
Looking up this book on Google produced page after page of reviews, discussions, interviews. It puts the search for Faulkner to shame.
The book is a collection of essays about a twenty-something in 21st century New York City. Her experiences, her frustrations, her relationships.
I met the author at a picnic this summer and found her to be a gregarious, charming young woman. I read her book and thought I had learned something about the trials of being young in today's world.
In the end, I was troubled. I didn't think she had learned anything. I didn't think she wanted to learn anything. I believe she saw her behavior as perfectly acceptable. I suppose my inclination to think her behavior wasn't so acceptable marks me as the old woman I am quickly becoming.
I still think she's charming.
Looking up this book on Google produced page after page of reviews, discussions, interviews. It puts the search for Faulkner to shame.
The book is a collection of essays about a twenty-something in 21st century New York City. Her experiences, her frustrations, her relationships.
I met the author at a picnic this summer and found her to be a gregarious, charming young woman. I read her book and thought I had learned something about the trials of being young in today's world.
In the end, I was troubled. I didn't think she had learned anything. I didn't think she wanted to learn anything. I believe she saw her behavior as perfectly acceptable. I suppose my inclination to think her behavior wasn't so acceptable marks me as the old woman I am quickly becoming.
I still think she's charming.
Kings of the Earth
Kings of the Earth by Jon Clinch
http://www.jonclinch.com/Resources/KingsRGGb.pdf
There isn't very much pretty about this novel. It is set on the edge of civilization. It is raw, brutal. It deals with disfunctional family issues, death, suspicion, and the child who escaped and made a life for herself outside the realm of the kings.
Powerful stuff - not for the faint of heart.
http://www.jonclinch.com/Resources/KingsRGGb.pdf
There isn't very much pretty about this novel. It is set on the edge of civilization. It is raw, brutal. It deals with disfunctional family issues, death, suspicion, and the child who escaped and made a life for herself outside the realm of the kings.
Powerful stuff - not for the faint of heart.
The Lacuna
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
http://www.litlovers.com/guide_lacuna.html
I loved this book. It had two things going for it from the beginning: it was by Barbara Kingsolver and it featured two of my favorite artists.
The author follows a young boy as he makes his way through adolescence and into adulthood in the Mexico populated by the likes of Diego Rivera, Frieda Kohl, and Leon Trotsky. She draws wonderful pictures with her words, provides a background brimming with detail, and recreates her characters with integrity.
http://www.litlovers.com/guide_lacuna.html
I loved this book. It had two things going for it from the beginning: it was by Barbara Kingsolver and it featured two of my favorite artists.
The author follows a young boy as he makes his way through adolescence and into adulthood in the Mexico populated by the likes of Diego Rivera, Frieda Kohl, and Leon Trotsky. She draws wonderful pictures with her words, provides a background brimming with detail, and recreates her characters with integrity.
A Reliable Wife
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_r/a_reliable_wife1.asp
I really don't think this book deserved all the high praise it has received, but I do think it has some lessons to teach:
1. Be careful when choosing friends and lovers. They may not be all they appear to be. Or they may be ever so much more!
2. What goes around, comes around.
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_r/a_reliable_wife1.asp
I really don't think this book deserved all the high praise it has received, but I do think it has some lessons to teach:
1. Be careful when choosing friends and lovers. They may not be all they appear to be. Or they may be ever so much more!
2. What goes around, comes around.
The Walking Drum
The Walking Drum by Louis L'Amour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Drum
I did not want to read this book and would have never picked it up had it not been selected by a book club I admire and sometimes attend. After the first 50 pages, I was still baffled by their selection and without the encouragement of a friend I would have put it down without reading another page. She promised me that if I would just persevere, I would enjoy it. Yeah, right! Well, she was right.
In the end, I had more highlights in this book than in any novel I had read in many years.
Some of my favorites:
"It is only the ignorant who can be positive, only the ignorant who can become fanatics, for the more I learned the more I became aware that there are shadings and relationships in all things."
" . . . all things are timeless, and whatever lies before is only a page in what lies before that and before that."
"There is no cause worth dying for that is not better served by living."
" . . . a problem clearly defined is already half solved . . . "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Drum
I did not want to read this book and would have never picked it up had it not been selected by a book club I admire and sometimes attend. After the first 50 pages, I was still baffled by their selection and without the encouragement of a friend I would have put it down without reading another page. She promised me that if I would just persevere, I would enjoy it. Yeah, right! Well, she was right.
In the end, I had more highlights in this book than in any novel I had read in many years.
Some of my favorites:
"It is only the ignorant who can be positive, only the ignorant who can become fanatics, for the more I learned the more I became aware that there are shadings and relationships in all things."
" . . . all things are timeless, and whatever lies before is only a page in what lies before that and before that."
"There is no cause worth dying for that is not better served by living."
" . . . a problem clearly defined is already half solved . . . "
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