An update I haven't given in awhile - because there hasn't been much by my bedside. First-trimester nausea and exhaustion, finally-pregnant-again doubts and fears, and extremely boring education textbooks (what on earth was I thinking?!) have all conspired to keep me from getting much leisure reading done - or even being interested in it.
But the fog is clearing - I feel better (on all levels) and have figured out how to balance those boring textbooks with reading that's actually well-written and engaging (Side Note: I have read plenty of non-fiction of late that is arresting, entertaining, and informing - would it be so hard for college classes to employ more reading material that did all of those things, instead of boring one to tears?!)
Earlier this summer I read:
Gardens of Water by Alan Drew: It was worth every penny of the 25 cents I spent on it at a Texas panhandle Hastings. Fascinating, informative look into a world I knew nothing about - displaced Kurds in Turkey (did not know pretty much no one in the world likes the poor Kurds). Throw in an expatriate American family, some morally-questionable Christian attempts at proselytizing an unwilling, captive audience, and an ill-fated love story and I could not put it down. Recommended.
I'm currently enamored with:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - After resisting for over a year, I've finally given in and have quickly and eagerly jumped on the bandwagon. Read this book. And this review I dug up by Googling "black woman commentary on The Help".
Also on the nightstand - may or may not get read:
Random grabs from the library displays
Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner
The Summer without Men by Siri Hustvedt
Separate Beds by Elizabeth Buchan
From my "personal library", perennials that I read a few pages of between more demanding titles
Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett
Beautiful Swimmers by William W. Warner
Earth Works by Nancy Ross Hugo
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Hi Amy -- So glad your pregnancy is progressing so wonderfully. I just finished listening to "The Help" on audiobook and I LOVED it. I am eagerly looking forward to the movie's release in a few weeks. This is a wonderful story.
ReplyDelete(About The Help) You crack me up, the way you resist trends as if it can't be good if it's popular. Sometimes it's popular because it is good! But I'm a little bit the same. I'll read and watch things years after their heyday and then go "Oh that's why everyone loved it."
ReplyDeleteI feel wishy-washy about the pending film though. It doesn't look bad, but it looks bright colored and pop Hollywood. It doesn't "feel" the way I pictured the book - more realistic and gritty. But I'm willing to give it a chance and put my expectations aside and see the movie as a separate experience.