oh glorious summer - you allow me to read lots of books! all women authors this month...
maisie dobbs, by jacqueline winspear (the first book in a series of mystery novels about a female detective in 1920s england. a fine book, but not one that i was rushing home to read every night, and i don't think i'll be reading any of the other books in the series. it was...slow, i guess...and the mystery wasn't that mysterious.)
gilead, by marilynne robinson (i. loved. this. book. my uncle mark recommended it to me, so he gets a shout out for the great recommendation. the book is one long letter, written by a man [who thinks he is dying] to his son. it's a story of their family's history, but also advice he thinks he won't be around to give his son as he grows up. so you learn this world through the little stories of their lives. at some point in the book the narrator debates the question of whether human beings have capacity for change, or whether one is born good or evil...he is struggling with this, so you struggle with this. it's beautiful prose...so clean...very easy to read, but a lot going on - very thoughtful. the narrator is a minister, and if i knew more about the bible i think i would have enjoyed it even more, as there are a lot of biblical references. this book won a pulitzer prize, which sometimes scares me; i think books like that will be too intellectual for me. this was very accessible, and lovely. it's not action packed, but it's definitely worth reading.)
room, by emma donoghue (the premise: the narrator is a 5 year old boy named jack who lives with his mother in "room" - the padlocked shack where his mother's kidnapper put her, where she gave birth to jack, and where he has never left. um, omg. i had put off reading this book because it just sounded CREEPY...and then i started it and got so into it that i finished it in 24 hours. it didn't hurt that many of those hours were on an international flight and in between naps afterward, but i did really enjoy it, and hearing the story through the eyes of a child makes it much less upsetting than if it were narrated by his mother who understands how horrific the situation is. a really interesting book - i'd recommend it!)
"He struggles with this, so you struggle with this." If ever I saw a reason for students to read literature with a teacher, this is it. We also love this book, especially since Ann's father was a Lutheran pastor.
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