What I Read {Summer 2013}

Hi Friends,

I thought it was high-time that I caught you up on what I've been reading.  Here's what I read this summer:

Calling Me Home, Julie Kibler (4 stars). I loved this story of "forbidden love", and the lengths people go to so they can be with the one they love.  This is a story from another era, but it's lessons are timeless.  Loved it.

 Instant Love, Jami Attenberg (4 stars). Another collection of short stories that makes me rethink my opinion that I don't really care for collections of short stories.  : )  This is a good collection, friends.  The writing is sharp.  The relationships ring true. It's good stuff.

Love Me, Garrison Keillor (4 stars).  I'm still thinking about this one.  I'm not really thinking about Larry, (the main character who it's hard not to like even though he is incredibly self-absorbed), but of his wife, Iris, who is strong in ways that I can't even imagine.  She's spunky and real.  Larry was lucky.

The Melting Season, Jami Attenberg (2 1/2 stars).  This is probably my least favorite of Ms. Attenberg's books (yes, I became a little bit obsessed with her this summer), but it's still worth the read.  I didn't have much in common with Catherine, and her husband, Thomas, who was all kinds of odd, but the story works on many levels.

 A Fierce Radiance, Lauren Belfer (3 stars).  This book is part mystery and part love story, set during WWII.  It's the story of photojournalist Claire Shipley, who captures the beginnings of the discovery of penicillin through her photographs.  I learned all kinds of things about the politics behind this big discovery.  In between all of this, Claire falls in love, and helps solve a murder.  Intrigued?  Give it a try!

 Eleanor and Park, Rainbow Rowell (4 stars).  Ahhh!!  This is teen fiction at its absolute finest.  A love story between two misfits.  Every page, every situation rings true.  Loved it.

 Reconstructing Amelia, Kimberly McCreight (4 stars).  Yikes!  This book scared the you-know-what out of me!  A mother goes back to find out what really happened the day her daughter died.  What she uncovers is pretty much every mother's worst nightmare.

Zelda, Therese Anne Fowler (3 stars).  Okay, I think I need to stop reading books about the wives of famous authors.  This one made me seriously rethink my opinion of F.Scott Fitzgerald.  In fact, by the end, I was completely creeped out by him.  It was clear that the author was completely "Team Zelda," and not a big F. Scott fan.

 This Bright River, Patrick Somerville (3 1/2 stars).  This one is good.  It's a redemption story, and a love story, and a bit of a mystery.  I loved the combination.  I ended up caring about the characters, which is always a good thing.

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4 stars).  Oh, boy!  I love a book that spans decades and continents and is jam-packed with vibrant, flawed characters.  This book has all of that and more.  A deeply satisfying read.

Kingdom of Strangers, Zoe Ferraris (3 stars).  This book took me to a place I knew pretty much nothing about--deep into Saudi Arabia.  I loved this peek into a culture that is so very different than my own. Add in a hunt for a serial killer and an intriguing (and brave!) female protagonist, and what I found was an excellent, intriguing novel.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, Anton Disclafani (4 stars).  Another brilliant coming-of-age novel set in the early years of the Great Depression.  The main character, Thea, is sent away to a riding camp after she makes a shameful decision.  Anton Disclafani definitely made me feel like I was traveling back to the early 1930's.  Brilliant writing!

Happy Reading!

XO,

Vicki