Book Notes: Recommended.

Now that I'm not teaching full time I get to read novels again! It's a complete escape for me. I'm highly picky so I have to find books that are well-written and not too depressing (the second part has just become true over the past 5 years--same with films.)

Here are some books that I've loved lately.
(note: I've linked to Amazon, but if you have a local bookseller, please consider supporting her instead of ordering online. I know it's tough with cost--I usually go for the library, myself--but people like my friend--the owner of Sustenance Books in Murphys, CA--will appreciate it.)

1. Peace like a River, by Leif Enger. My friend (the bookstore owner) loaned this to me and at first I wasn't sure that I'd be thrilled with it. But after the first chapter or so I was in love. It's one of those books that I didn't want to end. It reminded me of all the books I read as a kid-- the ones that really took me out of my reality and gave me a warm, cozy feeling. It's about a family with a single dad in the northern midwest. The older brother becomes an outlaw and the rest of the family goes on a quest to find him. It is told from the younger brother's perspective. Did I say that I love this book?


2. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. She is such a beautiful story teller.  I like to read her words again and again just to hear the sound of them. The story of Macon Dead III (nicknamed Milkman)  is well crafted and mythic just like her other novels.

3. Half-Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls.  Have you read Jeannette's first book, The Glass Castle? If not, read that first--it was one of my favorites. While The Glass Castle was about the author's childhood--a memoir of growing up in an unbelievably dysfunctional family, Half-Broke Horses is about her magnificently strong grandmother. It's a fun read--especially if you've read the first book.

4. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Loved it. He's a Nobel Laureate for a reason. It's about love in its many forms, but it's not at all a 'romance'. Like Toni Morrison, Marquez develops dynamic characters that you know so well by the end of the novel.


That's all for now. Another post later for non-fiction--I'm talkin': Outliers,  by Malcolm Gladwell, Playful Parenting, by Lawrence Cohen,  and Simplicity Parenting, by Payne & Ross.

Damn. It's been a hell day for me and the babies and one of them is awake! I haven't even emptied the dishwasher, never mind tried to close my eyes.... We're heading to the garage so as not to wake up the other.