What Are You Reading? March 2012

[Angie]

Welcome! This ongoing discussion is your place to share what you are reading and what you think about it!

[Angie]

I just finished Nathan Englander's excellent short story collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank.These stories strike an interesting balance between humor, often dark humor, and weightiness: most of the stories hinge on the choices people make when tested and how they live with the consequences of those choices.

My favorite stories were the title story, an update on the famous Raymond Carver story with its own twist; “Sister Hills”, about Jewish settlers in the West Bank and a bargain made between two mothers; “Free Fruit for Young Widows” a story I first heard on the Selected Shorts podcast about a father who slowly parcels out the history of a fruit stand customer to his son; and “The Reader” about an author who publishes a new book after a long silence. He finds himself on a book tour with no audience, except for one faithful reader who follows him around from bookstore to bookstore.

[Melanie]

I just finished Bailey's Cafe by Gloria Naylor and I'm not exactly sure how I feel. I will stay the book is very well written and very disturbing. If you ever wonder how people can end up selling their bodies this is a must read. While this book takes place in 1948 it could have taken place today. Main message never judge another person unless you have walked in their shoes: the beautiful may hate what they see in the mirror, the cold has a reason, and the crazy may be more sane than the "normal" people.

This is definitely a book the more I think about it the more I will like and appreciate it.

[Megan]

I just started one of P.D. James' first books Cover Her Face. I have enjoyed everyone of her books that I have read. She always writes you classic murder mystery. So far in this book the maid of a wealthy family has been murdered, and of course many people had a reason to want her dead. It is always entertaining to read how Det. Dalgleish will solve the crime.

[Tricia]

I'm about 1/3 the way through "Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder. This is a great book about Hitler and Stalin between the 1930s and 1040s. This book is such an eye opener to the atrocities that many Europeans went through because of Hitler and Stalin. There is more to the 1930s and 1940s than the Holocaust. I recommend anyone who has interest in the subject, and that someone is looking for an experience, not just a good read.

[Erin]

Right now I am reading a ton of children's books for class. All of them so far have been brand new to me because they are required to be published in 2007 and after. When I'm not doing homework, I have been catching up on the Hunger Games series and am on the final book, Mockingjay, and am anxious to find out what happens.

[Melanie]

Sunday evening I finished "I am the Clay" by Chaim Potok. This was my book club selection and not something I would normally choose. It is about an old peasant couple fleeing this village in South Korea during the Korean War. They end up saving an orphaned 11 year old boy about to die. It is about their journey to a refugee camp and to return home. In many ways the book was cold - very rarely was a name used. However, it was about about love and miracles.

[Melanie]

I finished reading "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave. This book was well written and hard to put down. I didn't always like Little Bee or Sarah, but was intrigued to what was going to happen next. Throw in a little bit of Batman to lighten up a book that can be intense.

[Kelli]

Tricia wrote: "I'm about 1/3 the way through "Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin" by Timothy Snyder. This is a great book about Hitler and Stalin between the 1930s and 1040s. This book is such an eye op..."

I actually own that book which unfortunately has delayed my reading of it. I am excited to get to read it though.

[Angie]

I am currently listening to the audiobook Defending Jacob by William Landay. In this mystery/thriller, the son of an assistant district attorney is accused of murdering one of his classmates. The reader is Grover Gardner, who does a respectable job, especially at capturing the teenager Jacob's annoyance at his parents and his predicament. Jacob is a hard read, though, to the reader and to his father, Andy, who must help his defense.

[Melanie]

Finished reading "Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen" by Joe Drape last night. The title does tell you what happens, however, even if you are not a football fan I think you may enjoy reading how they got there. They were expected to lose and kept winning. They had great leadership - Coach Roger Barta should be cloned and used in all high school football programs.