Book Reviews

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.

Books for 14 and up, Especially Girls

1. Jane Eyre

2. Sense and Sensibility

3. Diary of Anne Frank

Worth the Effort

These books, in my opinion, take effort to get through. But it's worth it.

1. Brothers Karmozov

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

3. The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

Books for ages 10-14, Especially Boys

Teaching 7th grade English, I was constantly asked for recommendations for boys. Here are some of my top picks---girls will like them, too, of course.

1. The Great Brain Series by Fitzgerald

2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

3. Lemony Snicket series. Kids love the irony in this. Some adults don't get it.

4. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Books for ages 10-14, Especially Girls

If I had to come up with a required reading list for girls, ages 10-14, these would be on my list. I've put an asterisk next to the ones that I think are revisiting well into a woman's adult life.

1. *The Laura Ingalls Wilder Series

2. *Anne of Green Gables Series

3. Shoes Books by Noel Stretfield. Unlike Meg Ryan, Dancing Shoes is my Favorite. After that, I like Theatre Shoes. Skating Shoes was OK.

4. *A Little Princess

5. *The Secret Garden

6. The Great Brain Series by Fitzgerald

7. Daddy Long Legs by Webster

Mystery Series I Like

1. Laurie King's Mary Russell series

2. Number One Ladies Detective Agency

3. Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

I just realize that all of these have strong, intelligent women as their heroines. None of these women focus on food-- (revise)

"Can you recommend a good book?"

Here are my top ten for when people ask, "Can you recommend a good book?"

1. AJ Cronin's Keys of the Kingdom

2. Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

3. Jacques Lusseryan's And There was Light

4. Sue Bender's _____________

5. Olive Ann Burn's Cold Sassy Tree (Not too keen on the sequel. The sequel is dumb. She took the best characters and made them bitter.)

6.