The Selected Works of T.S. Spivetby Reif Larsen I had no idea when I opened this beautiful, quirky, and imaginative novel what awaited me–every page is embellished with hand-drawn maps, drawings, schematics, sidebars, and footnotes that follow up on some reference in the narrative. Supposedly the story of twelve-year-old T.S. (Tecumseh Sparrow) Spivet, map maker …
Ugliesby Scott Westerfield It was during a classroom discussion of Fahrenheit 451 that one of my students said, “This is just like the Uglies.” What followed was a rather confusing rush of plot tidbits from two or three of the girls. I’m not sure the novel even sounded interesting to me at that point, but …
Savorby Thich Nhat Hanh Having read Living Buddha, Living Christ and skimmed Hanh’s Meditations on Mindfulness, I was pleasantly surprised by the time I finished Savor, co-written with Dr. Lilian Cheung. The practice of yoga first introduced me to the idea of living in the moment several years ago, and Thich Nhat Hanh writes compellingly …
Servants’ Quartersby Lynn Freed It has been at least a year or longer since I’ve been compelled to read straight through a book, taking time only to eat, sleep, walk the dogs, and keep the house running. Lynn Freed transported me completely into a world I’ve read about, but only rarely. The voices of Penelope …
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs Another round of Friday Night Knitting Club and I’m buying it all the way. Take up knitting? Me, too! Bake some muffins? Me, too! Go to Rome? Me, too! Open a bakery? Me, too! Live in New York? Me, too! Kate Jacobs strength is not necessarily in fine writing–but in …
Cutting for Stoneby Abraham Verghese From the very first pages, I heard echoes of John Irving in Verghese’s first novel: the exotic setting, strangers in a strange land, and unbelievable (and yet SO believable!) twists of fate. Imagine–a British doctor and an Indian nun work together in Ethiopian mission. Sister Mary Joseph Praise finds herself …
The Little Giant of Aberdeen Countyby Tiffany Baker –but not the kind in the cable series! Truly Plaice’s life would be extraordinary whatever her circumstance. Born with acromegaly, she is, indeed, a giant. Truly’s mother Lily, sick with cancer, struggles to deliver this incredible child, all the while composing a letter in her mind to …
Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough I was intrigued with McCullough’s premise–to unfold TR’s life to the point where he “came to be” the TR we know from history. And so McCullough writes of Roosevelt up to his run for mayor of New York. I have to admit I knew so little of Roosevelt–mainly, the …
Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs If a book could be a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, this novel by Kate Jacobs would be just that. Nothing special, no fancy twists or turns–but satisfying all the same in a … comfort food kind of way. Rather typical chick lit, we’ve got the single mom (a …
–for blogging, at least. Sometimes frugal to a fault I hesitated buying this NPR recommended book–but my husband ordered off my wish list as a bit of “Happy Winter Break” reading material and it’s definitely a keeper. While I was initially drawn in by the stories of the help, it was Skeeter Phelan’s story that …
This is my symphony 