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Book It!
Everyone keeps laughing at me when I say that I have made a New Year's Resolution ... to read more. Because everyone thinks I read constantly. I generally do, but last year my total number of books read was appallingly short. What could it be? Facebook? FarmVille? Too much computer in general. Oh, the fact that I actually took on a job last year? Anyway, as disgusted as I am with my minimal reading, I would like to share a few of my favorites with you. And I hope that next year I have more to choose from! As always, I encourage you to frequent your favorite local bookstore…mine happens to be Quail Ridge Books…where you will find booksellers who actually know about the books they are selling you.
No matter what your politics, I think you might enjoy American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. This work of fiction is supposed to be loosely based on the life of Laura Bush and to whatever degree you believe that, it's a wonderful work of fiction. Alice Lindgren is a small-town librarian from the Midwest. She's an independent woman, a librarian, a Democrat. And yet she finds herself falling in love with a boisterous Republican from a highly influential family. And the rest is history…I mean fiction.
I was so excited about The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer that I reviewed it right here on my blog! Or maybe I just didn't have anything to blog about that week. No…it definitely scored a 10 on my 1-10 scale, so definitely worth your time.
While traveling this summer, I dropped by an independent bookstore in Sarasota, FL…as I tend to do just about everywhere I go. I got in a conversation with the owner…as I tend to do just about everywhere I go. And he recommended The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I have never been led astray by an independent bookstore, so I added it to the four books with which I was already traveling. Why did this book sit, shining its bright yellow cover at me for almost 6 months? I have no idea. But when I picked it up, it immediately became "unputdownable!" I am so in favor of made-up words in situations like this. The basic premise (but there is so much more) is that a reporter is hired by an elderly man to write a family history, but really to look into an unsolved incident in the family's past. It's so much more than a mystery.
It took a major force of nature…I mean, my friend Patti…to finally get me to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer. Because of all the buzz around this book, I felt quite certain that it was some light, breezy book written just to take advantage of the current popularity of Book Groups. Sometimes I won't read a book simply because it's TOO popular. Thanks to Patti, I became engrossed in a fascinating book about the Channel Islands and their situation during World War II. Oh…and how sad…I discovered that the author passed away in February 2008 and this was her first book.
I hope you will take some of my recommendations…but moreso, I hope that you will leave some of yours in the comments! Happy Reading, 2010.
Live and Let Di
Diane is a TriangleMom2Mom featured blogger, appearing every Wednesday.
I try to be the voice of Moms with teens. My daughter Haley is 16. She's at that age where she is convinced that I know nothing. I'm thinking I'll seem a lot smarter when she's 22. We bond over Broadway shows. My son Rory is 13. He started reading the sports page when he was 5 and his passion for anything sports-related has grown ever since. This year he beat out 9 guys in their 40s to win his Fantasy Football League. Watch for him on ESPN in a few years.
My husband Hurley works from home, but travels quite a bit. When he's gone, I usually take a break from making dinner and cleaning the house. Oh, I don't do those things regularly when he's here either! Our parenting philosophy is "choose your battles." The only problem is that we often choose different battles. It keeps it interesting!!!
Diane appears Wednesdays on TriangleMom2Mom. Read more about Diane on her blog Live and Let Di.
Comments
Reading more is one of my resolutions this year also. I tend to go in spurts. I read alot of the summer then faded off over the fall. After being SO dissapointed with South of Broad, I really tapered off. I had been waiting for a new Conroy book for a long time.
I just got American Wife yesterday from the library and started it last night, so I was glad to see you recommended it.
I read The Help over the weekend and absolutely LOVED it. It was probably the best book I have read in many years. I know it's ultra popular, but I highly recommend it.
The Girl with the Dragon... and The Guernsey Literary... were both books that I was looking at on Amazon, so it's good to see you liked them. I'll go ahead and order them from the library.
Thanks for the recommendations.
I love this resolution. I'm lucky if I can get through five books a year because I read SO SLOWLY and because all my time gets sucked away by other things and because once I do get a chance to sit down and read, I promptly fall asleep!
My older son still curls up and reads far into the night, and I'm so jealous. Over Christmas, we put up new book shelves (30 feet still not enough) and I pulled about five books that I want to read RIGHT NOW.
I just added The Help to my list at the recommendation of Michelle Kauffman, a sportswriter at the Miami Herald (who happens to be married to Dave Barry) who went to high school with my husband. Sounds very promising!
I was VERY disappointed with South of Broad.
American Wife was great. I am reading a biography of Laura Bush now as a result.
I read 51 books in 2009, and my goal was 50. I'm trying to hit 75 this year...if I can get off Facebook.
Diane, I think you will be very glad you read the Help. It sat by my bed for 3 months before I finally read it and then I couldn't put it down.
I'm still angry about South of Broad. Conroy is SUCH a talented writer that it frustrated me that he wrote that book. I 've never found another writer that makes me feel a place more than he does, especially South Carolina.
I did like American Wife and Guernsey but I would also encourage three non-fiction books that are terrific and enlightening. They are also particularly relevant for women. "When Everything Changed" by Gail Collins discusses the good, the bad, and the ugly of the women's movement from 1960 to the present. "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is inspiring and empowering as it delves into the worldwide oppression of women and the tangible ways that we can make an impact as well as why we should try to do so. Lastly, I'm sure that many of you read "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson a few years ago, but he has outdone himself with his new book, "Stones into Schools." This book is even better than his first and I could gush over him for hours.
I can ditto your three non-fiction books as terrific. I could go on and on about the non-fiction that I've loved, but it's hard to get my bookclub to read any at all!
I used to read non-fiction rarely, and then I suddenly saw an upswing in my non-fiction reading. I've been keeping a book journal since 1997 on an Excel spreadsheet, so I can tell you ridiculous amounts of stats about my reading. I had one year where I read 100 books. That was highly unusual. I tend to like non-fiction that reads like fiction, but there are exceptions even there.
Does anyone want to have a book discussion section somewhere here on Mom2Mom?
A nonfiction book that I read last year that I LOVED was Outliers by Malcome Gladwell. It was very very interesting.
I couldn't get through South of Broad either. And yes Diane, you will love The Help. I read a really interesting and different book called The Gargoyl that I liked alot, and also The White Tiger-about life in India-you may like it-dark humor with a plot but lots of interesting culture. I also read Snowflake and The Secret Fan by Lisa See which I loved. I read The Lost Symbol, which was just ok, not as good as Dan Brown's others. Right now I'm reading The Book Thief and enjoying it!
I am right now in my brand new public library (just opened yesterday) looking for all these books. Most are checked out. I do have The Ten Year Nap, and I'm getting Stones into Schools on audio for my crazy commute. Thanks for the suggestions!
I agree that Outliers by Gladwell is an eye-opening read. I wish that the Wake County School Board would put it on their required reading list. I also think that The Book Thief is one of the most beautifully written novels that I have read in quite a while. Also, The Glass Castle and the "follow-up" Half Broke Horses are excellent (particularly the former) and I believe that the author, Jeannette Walls, will be at Meredith College this week.
My nonfiction recommendation - especially to parents and teachers is NurtureShock. Every chapter gave me something new to think about - especially the preschool and sleep sections.
Itiswhatitis.... The Glass Castle is one of my very favorite books!!!
I loved The Glass Castle also. I have had The Book Thief on my shelf for AGES and I need to just get down to reading it. My new obsession:
www.paperbackswap.com