After reading the Camel Bookmobile, I started reading The Evening is the Whole Day which is a great book, but found I needed something quick and light. So I picked up The Beach House by Jane Green.
Set in Nantucket, The Beach House is a sweet tale of lives falling apart and then coming together again in the most unexpected ways. Nan Powell owns a gorgeous old house which she finds she can no longer afford, so she turns it into a B&B. She brings together a group of people, including her grown son, who quickly become entwined in each others lives and become a surrogate family.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Camel Bookmobile
The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton is our July selection for my book club - and it was my pick.
It was a lighter read than I expected, but was probably a good choice for a July/summer read.
The story centers around Fi Sweeney who leaves her job and life in NY to launch the Camel Bookmobile in Kenya. She's looking for something interesting and more exciting in her life than the stable, predictable boyfriend and job.
Since this is her purpose, along with making a difference in the lives of Africans living in the bush, it's not surprising that she has some interesting experiences and almost forces a meaningful adventure.
Fi visits many nomadic camps but she becomes drawn to Mididima and the people there - the teacher, his assistant, the young Kanika and Scar Boy. All have a stake in keeping the camel bookmobile coming to their village and eventually their desires and motivations come to a head and none of them will ever be the same.
But questions remain on the importance of "western" education in a nomadic village such as Mididima.
It was a lighter read than I expected, but was probably a good choice for a July/summer read.
The story centers around Fi Sweeney who leaves her job and life in NY to launch the Camel Bookmobile in Kenya. She's looking for something interesting and more exciting in her life than the stable, predictable boyfriend and job.
Since this is her purpose, along with making a difference in the lives of Africans living in the bush, it's not surprising that she has some interesting experiences and almost forces a meaningful adventure.
Fi visits many nomadic camps but she becomes drawn to Mididima and the people there - the teacher, his assistant, the young Kanika and Scar Boy. All have a stake in keeping the camel bookmobile coming to their village and eventually their desires and motivations come to a head and none of them will ever be the same.
But questions remain on the importance of "western" education in a nomadic village such as Mididima.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Olive Kitteridge
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout is a collection of short stories that are all connected through a small Maine town and the title character, Olive Kitteridge.
The stories tend to focus on people in their 50s through 80s, so while all are interesting and very well written I found them a bit depressing. None of the characters in their "twilight" years seems very happy and there are many examples of strife and loneliness in their relationships.
I still recommend it as it is a wonderfully written selection of stories, however be prepared for some potential melancholy feelings to arise.
The stories tend to focus on people in their 50s through 80s, so while all are interesting and very well written I found them a bit depressing. None of the characters in their "twilight" years seems very happy and there are many examples of strife and loneliness in their relationships.
I still recommend it as it is a wonderfully written selection of stories, however be prepared for some potential melancholy feelings to arise.
A Separate Peace
Each summer I look through the Summer Reading selections at the local bookstores to see what is new to the list and to see if there is anything I have missed.
I realized a few years ago that I have never read A Separate Peace by John Knowles and I finally picked it up this year.
I don't know what I was expecting, but A Separate Peace was a bit disappointing. Maybe reading it at 34 in 2009 resulted in me missing the meaning. However, I was reminded a lot of Dead Poets Society which brought me back to the summer of my sophomore year when I watched it repeatedly and basically had it memorized.
I'm probably insulting many people with that comparison, so apologies in advance.
I realized a few years ago that I have never read A Separate Peace by John Knowles and I finally picked it up this year.
I don't know what I was expecting, but A Separate Peace was a bit disappointing. Maybe reading it at 34 in 2009 resulted in me missing the meaning. However, I was reminded a lot of Dead Poets Society which brought me back to the summer of my sophomore year when I watched it repeatedly and basically had it memorized.
I'm probably insulting many people with that comparison, so apologies in advance.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Mudbound
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan has been on my reading list for a while, so when I found a discounted hardcover I snatched it up.
Laura believes she is destined to be a spinster, teaching school and being aunt in Memphis in the 1940s. But when she meets Henry McAllan her plans change and they are quickly married. Laura is happy living in Memphis caring for her two girls and her husband until her husband comes home and tells her that he has purchased a farm in the Mississippi Delta.
Laura's life quickly changes at the farm, which she and the girls name "Mudbound" since it is always muddy and the bridge into town becomes impassable with every rain. The farm has no indoor plumbing or any other modern comforts.
Life at the farm is complicated by Pappy, Henry's racist, mean-spirited father; Jamie, Henry's brother who returns from the war with traumatizing memories; Hap and Florence Jackson the black share farmers on the land; Ronsel, the Jackson's son who has also returned from Europe where his race didn't matter like it does in the Delta.
Add in alcoholism, a love affair and the Klu Klux Klan and the story quickly speeds to the climax and a tragic outcome that leaves no one at Mudbound unchanged.
A great story and wonderfully written from the perspective of each of the major characters.
Laura believes she is destined to be a spinster, teaching school and being aunt in Memphis in the 1940s. But when she meets Henry McAllan her plans change and they are quickly married. Laura is happy living in Memphis caring for her two girls and her husband until her husband comes home and tells her that he has purchased a farm in the Mississippi Delta.
Laura's life quickly changes at the farm, which she and the girls name "Mudbound" since it is always muddy and the bridge into town becomes impassable with every rain. The farm has no indoor plumbing or any other modern comforts.
Life at the farm is complicated by Pappy, Henry's racist, mean-spirited father; Jamie, Henry's brother who returns from the war with traumatizing memories; Hap and Florence Jackson the black share farmers on the land; Ronsel, the Jackson's son who has also returned from Europe where his race didn't matter like it does in the Delta.
Add in alcoholism, a love affair and the Klu Klux Klan and the story quickly speeds to the climax and a tragic outcome that leaves no one at Mudbound unchanged.
A great story and wonderfully written from the perspective of each of the major characters.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
The Clothes on their Backs
The description on the back and the cover art of The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant led me to believe that this book would be very different than it turned out to be.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, because the book actually turned out to be better than I imagined it would be.
Vivien Kovacs is the bookish daughter of Hungarian-refugee parents in London. Her parents live a quiet, secluded life as if they are afraid that they will be found out. Vivien longs for more and goes off to college and has a short marriage, at which point she returns to her childhood bedroom.
Depressed and lost, Vivien remembers a tumultuous visit from an uncle who her father would not let into the house. He continued to refuse to talk about this mysterious Uncle even as he is all over the papers durning a high-profile trial where he is accused of being a slumlord.
Years later, Vivien sets out to meet Sandor but is not fully honest about who she is. Through her involvement with Sandor, she is exposed to new people and new experiences and she learns much more about her parents and their lives in Hungary.
A fine story, but nothing amazing.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, because the book actually turned out to be better than I imagined it would be.
Vivien Kovacs is the bookish daughter of Hungarian-refugee parents in London. Her parents live a quiet, secluded life as if they are afraid that they will be found out. Vivien longs for more and goes off to college and has a short marriage, at which point she returns to her childhood bedroom.
Depressed and lost, Vivien remembers a tumultuous visit from an uncle who her father would not let into the house. He continued to refuse to talk about this mysterious Uncle even as he is all over the papers durning a high-profile trial where he is accused of being a slumlord.
Years later, Vivien sets out to meet Sandor but is not fully honest about who she is. Through her involvement with Sandor, she is exposed to new people and new experiences and she learns much more about her parents and their lives in Hungary.
A fine story, but nothing amazing.
Monday, June 01, 2009
The Archivists Story
The Archivists Story by Travis Holland is our book club read for June. It takes place in Moscow in 1939. It is a bleak time under Stalin's rule and with Hitler looming across the border.
Pavel is a former teacher who's wife was killed in a tragic train accident. As Pavel deals with his wife's death, his mother's dementia and worries about various friends being killed for their political belief, he worries about his own future.
His job as the archivist of Lubyanka prison requires him to incinerate the writing of both major and minor Russian writers who have been imprisoned there. When he comes across an unclaimed work from an author who's work he used to teach in his classroom, he suddenly risks everything to protect what he values most.
A compelling, tragic work of fiction.
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