2005:

Christmas Break 2004 :

( It's always good to have the chance to read purely for pleasure...! ) A few books I read during our two week break from school were:

School of Dreams, by Edward Hume.  "Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist Edward Humes’ chronicle of a year in the life of a public high school whose existence is justified by superlative academic performance of its students is, quite simply, profound." Click here to read the full review (with which I wholeheartedly agree).

The Way the Crow Flies, by Ann Marie MacDonald. Ethical drama, family saga, mystery....This excellent novel with thoroughly compelling characters will stay with me a long time.

The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler. Another great book by this author; a rich and compelling novel about a mismatched marriage and its consequences, spanning three generations.

A few books I have enjoyed this summer(2004) :

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong,by Nadeau and Barlow .Good picture of the the French; uses an anthropological approach.

My Life, by Bill Clinton. Contrary to many of the reviews, I found this an interesting read - especially the account of Bill's childhood . The former President also has an excellent way of explaining complex policies and ideas in an understandable fashion.

Angels and Demons, By Dan Brown. Excellent , fast moving story... hard to put down!

The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. Ditto to the above review of brown's earlier book!

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger . This is one of the best books I've read in a long time! Part character study, part science fiction, part love story, it is so unusual that I find it difficult to describe in a line or two. Suffice it to say that I could hardly put it down once I began reading and that it cast a special, haunting "spell" during and afterwards!

The Secret life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd

Just One Look, by Harlan Coben. This thriller keeps the reader on edge of chair right up to the very last page. Every time one assumes one has the "answers", a surprise occurs.

American Evita, by Christopher Andersen. This is a tabloid style book that I am almost ashamed to admit that I have read.I do not recommend it, though it was "fun". It paints a very nasty picture of Hillary Clinton and forces one to assume that the author is very "anti" liberal, ambitious women. Many of the sources are not named or not substantiated .
 
 

A few books from last summer's reading:

Good Faith, by Jane Smiley. Depicting a divorced real estate agent (and an assortment of other small town characters) caught up in 1980's style greed, this newest novel by one of my favorite authors was a humorous and "easy read".

The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn.By Diane Ravitch.
Ravitch,who served in the 1990's as U.S.Assistant Secretary of Education, details how pressure groups have taken control of the content of language in textbooks and standardized exams , "often at the expense of the truth (in the case of history), of literary quality (in the case of literature), and of education in general. Educational materials are now governed by an intricate set of rules to screen out language and topics that might be considered controversial or offensive....Ravitch challenges the ridiculous and damaging extremes to which bias guidelines and sensitivity training have been taken by the federal government, the states, and textbook publishers." (quote from Amazon.com).

Texaco, by Patrick Chamoiseau. Historical fiction concerning the island of Martinique. Available in English translation, but the French/Creole version  is beautifully written even if somewhat difficult to read (due to the creole terms and references).The book won France's highest literary award - the PrixGoncourt - several years ago.

How to be Good, by Nick Hornby. The author of this funny yet thought provoking story also wrote the book on which the film "About a Boy" was based.After I got through the first several pages, it became a very "fast read" and produced a few good chuckles. There is an online Reading Guide with some interesting questions.

Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. Atwood has always been one of my favorite authors... This newest title - very different than any of her others -  is a futuristic, apocalyptic tale that feels rather "plausible" . Review and author interview available in this article from the NYTimes.(You may need to register to view this site, but it is free, and a great source of book talks and reviews.)

Living History, by Hillary Rodham Clinton.The media will provide all the commentary anyone should need on this title !  Click here for an interesting online discussion (sponsored by the Washington Post) with author and former advisor to President Clinton, Sidney Blumenthal.

The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker.This is "ongoing" summer reading for me.... I am reading a chapter or so at a time along with other things since the subject of language interests me as a teacher. Others may also be interested in this title, because Pinker, a psycholinguist, explains in detail how babies learn to talk and how people make sense of speech.Current thinking, based on research, pretty much suggests that language is an instinct, an evolutionary adaptation that is partly "hard-wired" into the brain and partly learned.Pinker builds a bridge between "innatists" like MIT linguist Noam Chomsky, who hold that infants are biologically programmed for language, and "social interactionists" who contend that they acquire it largely from the environment. He talks about language centers in the brain, and genes, and "debunks" a lot of myths about language while marveling at the sheer miracle of it.

Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling.I just finished reading this,and it does not disappoint! In fact, I think it's maybe the most appealing of the Harry Potter series ,along with Books 1 and 2.Through her characters,Rowling does a great job of expressing feelings and multilayered human dilemmas which are quite "real". I recommend this series even to adults...The word plays, etc. are excellent , and these are also good "moral tales" in spite of the fact that they are "banned" by certain religious "extremists". (The movie versions don't "hold a candle" to the books, though! Don't bother with them.) For a good review of the Harry Potter books and information about the author, read this article from a recent Time Magazine.

The Dogs of Babel, by Carolyn Parkhurst. Devastated linguist tries to understand his wife's death through communication with their dog. This bizarre sounding title, the novelist's first, is receiving favorable attention from critics, and was the June selection for the Today Show book club. (See discussion).I found it to be suspenseful, poignant, and hard to put down.It speaks  to the subjects of love, the grieving process, and the myriad ways in which we are barred from knowing the inner most thoughts of those dearest to us. Reading Group Guide available.

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides.This title deservedly won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize and is the best book I've read in a long time!  An epic, Greek family history; the story of a gene traveling from the old country to 1970's America. For a review, see "My Big Fat Greek Gender Identity Crisis" (New York Times Book Review). There is also an author interview on Online News Hour.

(The 2002 Pulitzer for fiction - Empire Falls, by Richard Russo, was also excellent, with a cast of rare characters set in a small town environment.I highly recommend it.)

The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides. Compared with the author's newer "Middlesex" (see above), this novel's story line doesn't rate as excellent with me. It is, however, quite well written and compelling in spite of the fact that the reader knows the "outcome" from the very beginning. The story of the Lisbon sisters (who all committed suicide!) is told through the eyes of adolescent neighborhood boys.
 

The Probable Future, by Alice Hoffman. "Magic is once again knitted into the fabric of a Hoffman novel, this one revolving around a New England family living with the legacy of witchcraft." I liked some of her earlier titles better, but one can't go wrong with a Hoffman book.... They somehow make you feel good and are simultaneously " light" and profound.

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden.Fascinating fictional account of the life of a Geisha.
Reading Group Guide available.(This title is scheduled to be used for the Harrison Library Book CLub.)

East of Eden (the new Oprah Bookclub title). This modern day "Cain and Abel" story is my favorite Steinbeck novel.
 

Back to Library Corner