Book Reviews

One of the things I love most about summer is that I have plenty of time to read. Although I make an effort to continue reading during the school year, there's always schoolwork to do. During the summer I can spend an entire day reading a book if I want to. And I've been up reading until 2 am several times during the past month, until my eyes just can't stay open no matter how much my brain tells them to keep reading. I've already finished our local library's summer reading program for adults, but I still have several books on my summer reading list. And with August coming next week, I know my free reading time is quickly coming to an end. (I really need to start planning for school next week…and I still have some items other than reading on my summer "to do" list.)

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite summer reads. I love books that stretch me and make me think, that show me different cultures and ways of life, and broaden my horizons.

• Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese is about twin brothers, born and raised in an Ethiopian mission hospital. The story is narrated by one of the brothers, Marion, and explores themes such as love, family, betrayal, forgiveness, home and country.
  
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett is a novel told from the viewpoints of a young white southern woman who has just graduated from college and is looking to pursue a writing career and two black women who work as maids for white families in Jackson, Mississippi. The three women join together, scared, yet determined to complete a dangerous project in order to make a difference and expose the realities of southern life in the 1960s. This book is beautifully written and the author's note at the end adds to the authenticity.
  
• The Line by Olga Grushin deals with the hopes and dreams of life as well as the everyday realities of life. The setting is 1960's-ish Soviet Union when people stood in long lines daily for everyday items. Telling the story from the viewpoints of several family members - a father, mother, grandmother, and son - the family joins a long line at a kiosk that will be selling tickets to a one-night orchestra concert. The catch is - no one knows for sure if the concert will actually take place. There is no scheduled performance date and the tickets are not on sale yet. A crowd of people wait in line for over a year for the kiosk to open and sell the concert tickets; along the way we see how strangers interact with each other and how standing in the line transforms the members of this family.
  
• La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith is a little lighter read, telling the story of a young widow living in the English countryside during World War II and how she and her neighbors work together to get by. It's light and sweet, but is also a testament to the tenacity of women in a time when women were not encouraged to be independent.
  

Next on my list is House Rules by Jodi Picoult. She is an author who always stretches my thinking. I also plan to read The Space Between Us (Thrity Umrigar), Secrets of Eden (Chris Bohjalian), and Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama. If I can squeeze it in, I'd also like to get to Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone before school begins. So many books; so little time!