I have a stack of books that I'm returning to various places, so here's a smattering review of them.
1. Duty by Bob Greene.
Excellent. Non-fiction account of Bob Greene, who examines the men and women of the WWII generation. Greene interviews, among others, Paul Tibbets, who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. The book is well written, the subject matter intriguing. Worth your time.
2. Proof by Dick Francis and The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman.
Pocket fiction. Mystery. Good. Not mind boggling or earth shattering. The kind of thing you want if you aren't asking much from a book. Not difficult reading. Just plot. Hillerman has some interesting Native American content. Might be the kind of series (both of them) that would be a good suggestion for a teenager who was looking for a summer book. I can't remember questionable content.
3. A Light in the Window by Jan Karon, the second in the At Home in Mitford Series.
Quaint fiction about small town. Charming really. If books were comfort food, this would be homemade chicken pot pie. Someday I will read the entire series in one, long, contented swoop. Worth reading. Worth recommending. Squeaky clean.
4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Fiction. Standard structure---boy is born, grows up, tries to find his identity, loves, loses, gains, grows, his parents age, he learns. But the writing is superb. Artistic word choice that could make you weep if you got weepy over that sort of thing. Wonderful insight into Bengali culture, which I knew virtually nothing about at the onset of my reading. Written in the present tense---the only novel I've read that could carry that off. Some adult content. I wouldn't recommend this for a church book group, but if you don't get offended easily, give this one a try. (Final note: When I started this book, I wasn't really into it by the first thirty pages, so I skimmed to the end. It was good enough to read the whole thing, so I did.)
5. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver.
Anyone who gardens, buys local, or has ever canned should read this book. Kingsolver and her family live off the produce and animals that they can grow on their farm or buy locally. Kingsolver wrote The Poisonwood Bible, which I didn't care for (too oppressive-man-
oppressed-women for me), but she is one doozy of a writer; the prose is delicious. This book will go on my recommended for all list. Liz, have you read this yet? You'll love it.
6. Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
I should've read this this a long time ago. So good. I wouldn't recommend it for teenagers necessarily, which is the audience this book is marketed to in the schools. I think you need to be an adult, and removed from adolescence, to understand the themes that Frank addresses. Another book for everyone. I need to buy it and own a copy.
