Way back in April I requested some reading recommendations and many of you jumped at the chance to share some of your favorite reads. I compiled them here and have remembered on occasion to bring the list to the library with me and work my way through the delights!
I was reminded of this today when I finished my most recent discovery from the library. It was a library stop during which I had a very limited amount of time, no books currently at home, nothing specific in mind, and full New Book shelves from which to pull. Among the ones that I grabbed was House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport. I highly recommend it as a book about discovery, about Hawai'i, Russia, the environment, the role of the military on the islands, family, the power of women and relationships. I never wanted to put it down, but not in the guzzle-read that I discover with a lot of grocery-store reading. It took me a couple of days of intensive evening reading to finish and I found myself captivated and immersed with the story.
What are you reading these days?
15 comments:
I am reading a novel - Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen. It's for a book club.
I went back and read your list and was flabbergasted that I hadn't made any recommendations. I am the QUEEN of recommendations. So thanks for the new opportunity.
-I'm glad you mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife, because I adored that book.
-(most) anything by Jennifer Weiner (avoid the mystery novel)
-The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel
-Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff (this is what I'm reading now)
-Anything by David Sedaris (laugh out loud funny...)
-Anything by Sarah Vowell
As for poetry, I'd be lost without Rumi and Hafiz. There's a beautiful interfaith anthology called The Soul Is Here for its Own Joy that is well-worn and loved in our household.
In the meantime, I'm going to print out your collected recommendations and pull them out next time I head to the library. :-)
Pink Shoes, I knew we were kindred spirits. I have bought (and then given away again) well over a dozen copies of Owen Meany.
On a completely different kind of note, I just finished reading Barack Obaba's "Audacity of Hope" (because secretly I want him to be my boyfriend). It reminds me in some ways of Walter Brueggeman's "The Prophetic Imagination," which still inspires me, and is a beautiful illumination of what I consider part of my call.
And Pinkie, have you read Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible"?
Mmmmmm.... yummy books, all, that you have mentioned, Mrs. M! Poisonwood Bible was an amazing book that I should probably read again -- it's been several years. I was at a benefit dinner the other night and an autographed copy of Obama's book went for over $500.
Katherine -- fabulous suggestions....
I'm sensing another collective list.... But will wait for some more recommendations!
I love Barbara Kingsolver- and think that her Small Wonder book is just that- but I am so ambivalent about the Poisonwood Bible. There is a family in my church that were missionaries to the Congo precisely when that book was set (and the patriarch of the family, whose now 78, has returned to the Congo to work at a University). They knew nearly every missionary that was there (as missionary communities tend to be well-knit), and they never encountered anything remotely like what BK depicted... they were part of a mainline organization that emphasized collaborative work with the people and bringing practical skills such as medicine and agriculture. I know that the ethnocentric prosetylization was certainly a major factor in the history of Christian mission, but my perception of that book changed when I realized they interpreted it as painful misperceptions.
Oops, I tripped onto a soap box. Sorry!!
Isn't it amazing how our perceptions of a story become impacted by someone else's story? Ah, the power of story. I've wondered that same thing about the book that I recommend in the post. Do people who actually live on the coast where Davenport sets most of her story actually perceive what she has set forth? And if so or not, how does that impact what I have read?
thanks for starting this discussion. I hopped over via RGBP's ring. I have a few suggestions to add to the hopper.
Leaving Church by Barbara Brown Taylor got me thinking about clergy health. B's writing, as usual, is beautiful.
Paris to the Moon by A Gopnik
Reading Lolita in Tehran
those are a few I've read recently.
Um..I'm reading the second book in the Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau...middle school age book.
Fantastic story about a dying city and the kids who try to save it.
I've just finished A Moveable Feast which I purchased at the Hemingway Home in Key West a few days ago. A delight. Essays. Life stories.
Although I have 2 English degrees, one was heavy on French feminist theory and Hemingway's fiction has never been a favorite of mine. But I think I will give him another try. Now that I am older and taking myself a bit less seriously. ;)
i am currently reading the Eldest by Chistopher Paolini. it's the second just finished the first. and am now ingrossed. and hope that the third will be as great. also reading Living History by Hiliary Clinton. it is also really good. it nice to find out about other people and where they come from.
MB -- I was a women's studies minor, and my English capstone was on Hemingway -- apart from the actual words, I developed some deep affection for his writing!
I won't tell you the dry and dust seminary books... ;)
I just finished Lauren Winner's "Girl Meets God" - fascinating story of an orthodox Jew meeting her Messiah.
I also just finished "Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter" by Adeline Yen Mah.
I can't wait to start "Jesus and the Father" by Kevin Giles and "Myth of the Perfect Mother" by Carla Barnhill and probably a gazillion others!!!
Deb
Deat Church by Sarah Cunningham
thanks for your comment my way.
as you know from the sermon, one book i'm reading is A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly. its young adult fiction and especially interesting if you live near me (which it appears you don't) as it is a portrayal of life near here a hundred years ago- but its beautifully written and I recommend it.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. I discovered Bryson this summer and LOVE his writing. This is a memoir of growing up in Iowa in the 1950s- very funny. He's great for a good laugh (as are Sedaris, Rakoff, and Vowell- good recommendations, katherine!
totally fluffy one i just listened to, and enjoyed, A Good Yarn by... mmm... i can't remember.
i was reading Generous Orthodoxy by Brian McLaren, but i've misplaced it and i was reading Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality by Jack Rogers, but was craving lighter reading (though its interesting and an easy read and i will get back to it).
that's just what's on the plate at the moment. thanks for asking.
Post a Comment