Books and Reading, Reading and Books
My latest book review for Book Pleasures was posted here last week. It is a fun read and, at less than five bucks for the digital edition, it’s totally worth the money.
I also had a new essay published in the online magazine Buddha Chick yesterday that you can check out here. It’s a free magazine and has some really great writers. If you like to read about women’s spirituality, you may enjoy it. And if you like to write about it, read an issue and submit some of your work. It’s unpaid, but a great community to belong to.
I realized I’m also woefully behind on updating the sidebar of the blog that lists the books I’m currently reading. The truth is, I read two or more books a week, on average, and I’m not very good at messing with the format of the blog, so I rarely change it. Here are a few of the titles I’ve read recently, with a decided bent toward nonfiction.
1. “Girlchild” by Tupelo Hassman. The lone fictional work on this list, I highly recommend this book. What an amazing work by this new author! The book is written from the point of view of a child and her voice is spot-on. I think many of us can identify with the desire to grow up and get the heck out of our hometown, but this little girl has more incentive than anyone I know. Despite that, she is as tough as they come and has a unique way of looking at the world.
2. “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. This is the author who wrote “Seabiscuit” and, while I’m not generally drawn to biographies (I prefer memoir), this was an epic ride and a history lesson all in one. I prefer to learn history by way of personal stories, anyway, so for that reason, this story reminded me a bit of another book I loved, “The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman. This is the heartbreaking story of a soldier who became a POW during World War II and his astonishing survival.
3. “Moonface: A True Romance” by Angela Balcita. I love me a memoir, especially with dark humor and medical interest. This has all of that and more. I actually read this one quite a while ago, but highly recommend it.
4. “fathermothergod: My Journey out of Christian Science” by Lucia Greenhouse. Another memoir that educated me immensely. I know of Christian Science only what the media tells me about parents who refuse medical treatment for their terminally ill children or Tom Cruise and the way he slammed Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants. It was very eye-opening to read this account of a young woman growing up steeped in this way of life and coming face-to-face with its limitations when a loved one falls ill.
What have you read lately that you can wholeheartedly recommend?
Wonderful essay at Buddha Chick — congratulations!
amazing essay. i will put your recent reads on my own reading list. as always, im so impressed with your writing!! 🙂
Just bought HEFT, and hear it's a can't-put-down.
kario, thank you for your kind comment on my blog. I am eager to hear your thoughts about my book. Also am blown away to learn about the memoir of a journey out of Christian Science. I'd find that very interesting, as I took that journey, too. (A common point of confusion is that Tom Cruise is a Christian Scientist, but he is not – he is a Scientologist. They are quite different, for all the similarities in the names!) Blessings to you!
Dear Kari,
I read mostly history and mysteries, but I also enjoy many books published, supposedly, for children. The latest I read is "Wonderstruck" by Brian Selznick. (He's the author of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," on which the movie "Hugo" is based.
He won the Caldecott for Hugo and I think he deserves it again for "Wonderstruck."
Peace.
I've been reading a couple of little books written in the nineteenth century by an adventuress named Isabella (Lucy) Bird. The first was A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, and let me tell you, this lady explored the Rocky Mountains alone or in the company of male guides on horseback, and she did not ride side saddle. She was one of the first women to climb to the top of some of Colorado's highest peaks.
I'm now reading another of her little books about the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and a precursor to the Rocky Mountain adventure.
I had to order hard copies of them, because I want my granddaughters to discover them in my library one day.