Bed & Breakfast,
by Lois Battle. This is a light novel
about a woman who owns a B&B and about her daughters and their
relationships. It’s a quick read with a
few interesting ideas along the way. Not
high on my list of recommended reading.
Ford County, by
John Grisham. This is a book of short
stories about people living in Ford County, Mississippi. Some of the stories are pretty raw, about
people who are pretty dysfunctional.
None of the stories are about happy, successful people. Interesting people in interesting
situations. If you like John Grisham,
you’ll like this (I do).
Unbroken, by
Laura Hillenbrand. A non-fiction book
about an Olympic runner whose plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean during World
War II. It’s an interesting story,
well-written and well-researched, but difficult because of the awful cruelty of
most of the Japanese people mentioned. I
have recommended that one friend read it, and that another friend not read
it. People have varying degrees of
tolerance for violence. I’m just saying.
When the Emperor was
Divine, by Julie Otsuka. Boy is this
an intense novel! Profoundly sad. It is about a Japanese-American family taken
to an internment camp during WWII. But,
before they are taken away, the father is arrested as an enemy. No trial, just taken away in the night and
kept locked up throughout the war. Same
with the mother and two children, although they aren’t taken in the night, but
are told to report to a center and sent to a camp in Utah for the
duration. I hate that the U.S. did this
to people who had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. How was it justified? What were we thinking? This book reminds me of Snow Falling on Cedars and several other books that treat the same
subject. It’s not what America is
supposed to be.
A Breath of Snow and
Ashes, by Diana Gabaldon. This is
the sixth book of the Outlander series.
I really love reading these books, both for the historical interest and
the people. In this book the American
Revolutionary War is just starting. Of
course we know the outcome of the war, as does Claire, but we don’t know what
will happen to the various characters we care about. I don’t want to say too much because I don’t
want to spoil anything for anyone reading the series, but of course you know
this isn’t the last installment.
Horses Never Lie
About Love, by Jana Harris, a memoir about a special horse owned by a woman
who lives in Western Washington State.
It’s an okay book, probably better enjoyed by someone who has
horses. Well-written and interesting but
not on my all-time favorites list.
The Horse Whisperer,
by Nicholas Evans. The book is almost
always better than the movie, Robert Redford notwithstanding. However, in this case I may have liked the
movie more. I saw the movie years ago
and don’t remember everything about it but a lot of it is still clearly in my
mind. The book has much more detail,
especially about the characters’ lives before the accident, but I didn’t care
for the book’s ending so much. In fact,
I didn’t care for the love story so much.
I was more interested in Grace and her horse, Pilgrim, and Tom, the
horse whisperer. If you don’t know what
I’m talking about, this book is about a young girl who has a terrible accident
on her horse, and both she and the horse suffer both physical and mental
injuries. It’s a good story and a
worthwhile read, before seeing the movie if possible.
A Hundred Flowers,
by Gail Tsukiyama. I enjoyed this book a
lot. It is a quietly told story about
family misfortunes in China after the Communist takeover. The wife of the family is doing her best to
keep things together after the arrest of her husband for writing a letter
critical of the Communist regime. She
supports the family (her son, father-in-law, and an “aunt”) by selling herbal
cures to her patients while waiting for word of her husband’s condition. Very poignant.
Where We Belong,
by Emily Giffin. This is a nice
fast-paced story about a woman who, when she was eighteen, gave up a baby girl
for adoption. The daughter turns
eighteen and finds her birth mother. The
chapters are divided into first-person narratives by the woman and the
daughter. Not too heavy, but
thought-provoking. I enjoyed it.
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