10 Great Books to Read this Summer

Cat

Summertime is that wonderful season when everything slows down just a tad. It’s when all the bookworms come out of the woodwork –– to grab that enticing novel, inspiring non-fiction or juicy biography that they finally have the time to read. Work attire is hurriedly replaced by t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops.  And with tall, ice-cold glasses of their favorite libation, they curl up comfortably and begin their summer reads.

These are my (heatherfromthegrove) top picks – all sitting on my bookshelf, waiting to be read. I just poured myself a glass of white wine and grabbed a book I’ve been dying to read: And the Weak Suffer What They Must? – by Yanis Varoufakis. Now, off to my comfy chair on the patio…

Enjoy!

– Heather

(PS – Hover your mouse over the book titles and authors’ names to get the link to the Amazon and Author’s Bio URLs)

FICTION

1birdssky300

 1. All the Birds in the Sky – by Charlie Jane Anders

“Patricia is a witch who can communicate with animals. Laurence is a mad scientist and inventor of the two-second time machine. As teenagers they gravitate towards one another, sharing in the horrors of growing up weird, but their lives take different paths…When they meet again as adults, Laurence is an engineering genius trying to save the world-and live up to his reputation-in near-future San Francisco. Meanwhile, Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the magically gifted, working hard to prove herself to her fellow magicians and secretly repair the earth’s ever growing ailments.As they attempt to save our future, Laurence and Patricia’s shared past pulls them back together. And though they come from different worlds, when they collide, the witch and the scientist will discover that maybe they understand each other better than anyone.”

ManNoShadowJCO_Proper-thumb-300x453-418703

 2. The Man Without a Shadow – by Joyce Carol Oates

“In 1965, neuroscientist Margot Sharpe meets the attractive, charismatic Elihu Hoopes—the “man without a shadow”—whose devastated memory, unable to store new experiences or to retrieve the old, will make him the most famous and most studied amnesiac in history. Over the course of the next thirty years, Margot herself becomes famous for her experiments with E. H.—and inadvertently falls in love with him, despite the ethical ambiguity of their affair, and though he remains forever elusive and mysterious to her, haunted by mysteries of the past….”

TheyMayNot

 3. They May Not Mean To, But They Do – by Cathleen Schine

A “hilarious new novel about aging, family, loneliness, and love.”

“The Bergman clan has always stuck together, growing as it incorporated in-laws, ex-in-laws, and same-sex spouses. But families don’t just grow, they grow old, and the clan’s matriarch, Joy, is not slipping into old age with the quiet grace her children, Molly and Daniel, would have wished. When Joy’s beloved husband dies, Molly and Daniel have no shortage of solutions for their mother’s loneliness and despair, but there is one challenge they did not count on: the reappearance of an ardent suitor from Joy’s college days. And they didn’t count on Joy herself, a mother suddenly as willful and rebellious as their own kids…”

UnspeakableThingsProper-thumb-300x481-421492

 4. Unspeakable Things – by Kathleen Spivack

“A wild, erotic novel—a daring debut—from the much-admired, award-winning poet, author of Flying Inland, A History of Yearning, and With Robert Lowell and His Circle: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Elizabeth Bishop, Stanley Kunitz, and Others. A strange, haunting novel about survival and love in all its forms; about sexual awakenings and dark secrets; about European refugee intellectuals who have fled Hitler’s armies with their dreams intact and who have come to an elusive new (American) “can do, will do” world they cannot seem to find. A novel steeped in surreal storytelling and beautiful music that transports its half-broken souls—and us—to another realm of the senses.”

Shelter

 5. Shelter – by Jung Yum

“You can never know what goes on behind closed doors.

Kyung Cho is a young father burdened by a house he can t afford. For years, he and his wife, Gillian, have lived beyond their means. Now their debts and bad decisions are catching up with them, and Kyung is anxious for his family s future….

… As “Shelter” veers swiftly toward its startling conclusion, Jung Yun leads us through dark and violent territory, where, unexpectedly, the Chos discover hope. “Shelter” is a masterfully crafted debut novel that asks what it means to provide for one’s family and, in answer, delivers a story as riveting as it is profound.”

NON-FICTION

414Q4ZNUNvL._SX333_BO1,204,203,200_

6. Evicted (Poverty and Profit in the American City) – by Matthew Desmond

“From Harvard sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond, a landmark work of scholarship and reportage that will forever change the way we look at poverty in America.”
 
“In this brilliant, heartbreaking book, Matthew Desmond takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the $20 a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind…”

TheBook 7. The Book – by Keith Houston

“We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages―of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity’s most important―and universal―information technology.”

WhenBreath8. When Breath Becomes Air – by Paul Kalanithi

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. 

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.”

“I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option. . . . Part of this book’s tremendous impact comes from the obvious fact that its author was such a brilliant polymath. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him—passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die—so well. None of it is maudlin. Nothing is exaggerated. As he wrote to a friend: ‘It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.’ And just important enough to be unmissable.”— Janet MaslinThe New York Times

cityofthorns9. City of Thorns (Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp) – by Ben Rawlence

“To the charity workers, Dadaab refugee camp is a humanitarian crisis; to the Kenyan government, it is a ‘nursery for terrorists’; to the western media, it is a dangerous no-go area; but to its half a million residents, it is their last resort.”

“In City of Thorns, Rawlence interweaves the stories of nine individuals to show what life is like in the camp and to sketch the wider political forces that keep the refugees trapped there. Rawlence combines intimate storytelling with broad socio-political investigative journalism, doing for Dadaab what Katherinee Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers did for the Mumbai slums. Lucid, vivid and illuminating, City of Thorns is an urgent human story with deep international repercussions, brought to life through the people who call Dadaab home.”

Varou10. And the Weak Suffer What They Must? (Europe’s Crisis and America’s Economic Future) – by Yanis Varoufakis

“A titanic battle is being waged for Europe’s integrity and soul, with the forces of reason and humanism losing out to growing irrationality, authoritarianism, and malice, promoting inequality and austerity. The whole world has a stake in a victory for rationality, liberty, democracy, and humanism.”

“Varoufakis delivers a fresh look at the history of Europe’s crisis and America’s central role in it. He presents the ultimate case against austerity, proposing concrete policies for Europe that are necessary to address its crisis and avert contagion to America, China, and the rest of the world. With passionate, informative, and at times humorous prose, he warns that the implosion of an admittedly crisis–ridden and deeply irrational European monetary union should, and can, be avoided at all cost.”

Happy reading! 

book-759873_960_720

Cat and Book photos via pixabay.com.

Books That Make You Think

read-369040_1280

If you are in the mood to read a book (or two) that will make you think, give you some new perspective, and maybe even answer some of those existential questions that have been lurking in the corners of your mind…. then you may want to get yourself a copy of any one (or all) of these seven books, listed below.

Caveat:
If you are looking for a light summer read, these will not fit the bill.
They are not fiction. They are not self-help books.
They are, however, very interesting, thought-provoking works of non-fiction.

The Road to Character
by David Brooks

Brooks

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

5

About the Book:
“In The Road to Character, David Brooks focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues” — achieving wealth, fame, and status — and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed.”
About the Author:
David Brooks is a bestselling author and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.  He appears regularly on “PBS NewsHour,” NPR’s “All Things Considered” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He teaches at Yale University and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Theft of Memory
Losing My Father. One Day at a Time.
by Jonathan Kozol

Kozol

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating: 

5

About the Book:
“Jonathan Kozol tells the story of his father’s life and work as a nationally noted specialist in disorders of the brain and his astonishing ability, at the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, to explain the causes of his sickness and then to narrate, step-by-step, his slow descent into dementia.”
About the Author:
Jonathan Kozol is an American writer, educator and activist – best known for his books on public education and his fifty years of work among our nation’s poorest and most vulnerable children.

Them
 Adventures with Extremists
by Jon Ronson

Ronson

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

4 stars

About the Book:
“As a journalist and a Jew, Ronson was often considered one of “Them” but he had no idea if their meetings actually took place. Was he just not invited?  Them takes us across three continents and into the secret room…  Ronson’s investigations, by turns creepy and comical, reveal some alarming things about the looking-glass world of “us” and “them.”  Them is a deep and fascinating look at the lives and minds of extremists.”
About the Author:
Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker and bestselling author of  The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry and So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.

Why Does the World Exist?
An Existential Detective Story
by Jim Holt

Holt

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

5

About the Book:
“This runaway bestseller, which has captured the imagination of critics and the public alike, traces our latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. Holt adopts the role of cosmological detective, traveling the globe to interview a host of celebrated scientists, philosophers, and writers, “testing the contentions of one against the theories of the other” (Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal).”
About the Author:
Jim Holt is an American philosopher, author and essayist. He has contributed to The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The American Scholar, and Slate.

Gotta Find a Home
Conversations with Street People
Book 1 of 4
by Dennis Cardiff

Cardiff

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

5

About the Book:
“Dennis Cardiff has been involved with street people since 2010, when he began to reach out, on his own, to some of the people without homes who he encountered in his daily life. In his new book, he documents conversations he’s had with them over the past 4 years and, in the process, gives those who are often robbed of their humanity a human face. Written in diary form by month, and including some of Cardiff’s own poetry, the author chronicles the lives of people who are often ignored, feared or reviled.”
About the Author:
Dennis Cardiff is a Canadian writer, author, poet and artist. 

Nickel and Dimed 
On (Not) Getting By in America
by Barbara Ehrenreich

Ehrenreich

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

4.5 stars

About the Book:
“Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job — any job — can be the ticket to a better life. But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered. Moving from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. She lived in trailer parks and crumbling residential motels. Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly “unskilled,” that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort. She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least two if you want to live indoors.”
About the Author:
Barbara Ehrenreich is an American author and political activist.

In Defense of a Liberal Education
by Fareed Zakaria

Zakaria

heatherfromthegrove’s Rating:

4.5 stars

About the Book:
” Fareed Zakaria argues for a renewed commitment to the world’s most valuable educational tradition. Zakaria eloquently expounds on the virtues of a liberal arts education – how to write clearly, how to express yourself convincingly, and how to think analytically. He turns our leaders’ vocational argument on its head. American routine manufacturing jobs continue to get automated or outsourced, and specific vocational knowledge is often outdated within a few years. Engineering is a great profession, but key value-added skills you will also need are creativity, lateral thinking, design, communication, storytelling, and, more than anything, the ability to continually learn and enjoy learning –precisely the gifts of a liberal education.”
About the Author:
Fareed Zakaria is the Emmy-nominated host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, contributing editor for The Atlantic, a columnist for the Washington Post, and best-selling author of The Post-American World and The Future of Freedom.

Relax and Recharge Your Batteries

Relaxing and reading at the beach

“It is both relaxing and invigorating to occasionally set aside the worries of life, seek the company of a friendly book…from the reading of ‘good books’ there comes a richness of life that can be obtained in no other way.” 
― Gordon B. Hinckley

It’s time to turn off the computer and recharge.  What better way to enjoy a summer weekend than to  soak up some sun and relax outdoors with that book you’ve been meaning to read for some time?  For me, it’s been “one of those weeks” and so, I think I’ll heed my own advice.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,

heatherfromthegrove

 

Image via greenallianceblog.org.uk.

 

More summer reading

highres_215549362

“I guess you can call me “old fashioned”. I prefer the book with the pages that you can actually turn. Sure, I may have to lick the tip of my fingers so that the pages don’t stick together when I’m enraptured in a story that I can’t wait to get to the next page. But nothing beats the sound that an actual, physical book makes when you first crack it open or the smell of new, fresh printed words on the creamy white paper of a page turner.” 

― Felicia Johnson 

Well, three weeks of poetry, fiction and non-fiction have come and gone, here at heatherfromthegrove. I hope you found the selections interesting and perhaps even added them to your own summer reading list.

Below, are just a few more for you to consider.  I’ve listed them by genre and category  (only the book title, author and thumbnail book cover). Please scroll slowly, all the way down.

Happy reading!

Cheers,

Heather

POETRY:

living-things-collected-poems-anne-porter-paperback-cover-artLiving Things: Collected Poems (2006), by Anne Porter

0978067943924_500X500

Phenomenal Women:  Four Poems Celebrating Women, by Maya Angelou

FICTION:

englishgirlflat2

The English Girl, by Daniel Silva

the-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane-by-neil-gaiman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

enders_game_book_cover

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

NON-FICTION:

Category – Cookbooks

51GlgWLgjnL._SL500_AA300_

Greek Revival: Cooking for Life, by Patricia Moore-Pastides

51oXmEwmo6L

Jerusalem: A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi

Category – Memoir

fey_bossypants_custom-49b9189561f8ff85fbfaa7c243df72ef282e54b3-s6-c30

Bossypants, by Tina Fey

9780307731715_p0_v1_s260x420

To Heaven and Back: A Doctor’s Extraordinary Account of Her Death, Heaven, Angels, and Life Again: A True Story, by Mary C. Neal, M.D.

Category – History > North America > Canada

51ssUUIShcL._SY300_

Along the Shore: Rediscovering Toronto’s Waterfront Heritage, by  M. Jane Fairburn

Category – Mainstream Political and Economic Commentary  > United States

9780802194619_p0_v1_s260x420

Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent, by Edward Luce

9780393088694_custom-6e6b34e78bbf222100052cd95a5e63cc39ad1c5a-s6-c30
The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future, by Joseph E. Stiglitz

COTRD_Perfect
Casualties of the (Recession) Depression, by Heather Joan Marinos

Category – Mainstream Economic Commentary  > International

BreakoutNations

BreakoutNations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles, by Ruchir Sharma

Image (at the very top) via meetup.com.

heatherfromthegrove’s non-fiction spotlight for today: “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell

♦ ♦ ♦

Monday, July 22 – Saturday, July 27

NON-FICTION

 @ heatherfromthegrove!

Enjoy some good summer reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

 outliers

“Do you see the consequences of the way we have chosen to think about success? Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung…We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play—and by “we” I mean society—in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.”

Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success


True to form, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell (Blink and Tipping Point) takes us on an intellectual expedition into the realm of high achievers – über-successful people like Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the phenomenon known as “The Beatles.”  An “outlier” is, in Gladwell’s own words, “a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience.” In the context of his book, outliers “are the men and women who, for one reason or another, are so accomplished and so extraordinary and so outside of ordinary experience that they are as puzzling to the rest of us as a cold day in August.

Dispelling the notion that extremely successful people attain success because they make it happen –through their own smarts, tenacious drive, willingness to hustle and, good old-fashioned hard work,  Gladwell points out that there are many extremely intelligent, highly gifted, hardworking people for whom success has been an elusive mistress. Therefore, the common dogma of “You are the author of your own destiny. You make your own success.”  does not apply in many cases. In this book, Gladwell asks us to shift our focus from what successful people are like,  to where successful people come from.  He argues that one’s culture, family background and upbringing play a significant role in the makeup of a high achiever.

Clear, witty and intelligent, Outliers offers a new perspective on what it takes to achieve extreme success. Granted, success does rely – to a great extent – on individual effort. However, what should not be ignored is the degree to which outside factors, such as people and circumstances, affect a person’s success or failure.  Therefore, we (as a society) have the ability to help shape people’s lives, and  (if directed in the right way and with the best intentions) for the better.   

heatherfromthegrove’s non-fiction spotlight for today: “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Cain

♦ ♦ ♦

Monday, July 22 – Saturday, July 27

NON-FICTION

 @ heatherfromthegrove!

Enjoy some good summer reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

quiet-final-jacket

“Introverts, in contrast, may have strong social skills and enjoy parties and business meetings, but after a while wish they were home in their pajamas. They prefer to devote their social energies to close friends, colleagues, and family. They listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. They tend to dislike conflict. Many have a horror of small talk, but enjoy deep discussions.”

Susan Cain, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

I love the title of this book. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. Listening to loud, incessant talking gives me a headache. Unfortunately this “noise” is the norm, rather than the exception. Just turn on the television set and watch a few commercials or catch a daytime talk show. Personally, I do not enjoy listening to people as they talk over each other. However, as Susan Cain points out, the “Extrovert Ideal” has indeed “permeated our culture.” Despite the premise that introverts comprise, at the very least, one-third of the people we know, they remain undervalued in American society – much to our detriment.

Impeccably researched and beautifully written, this book is replete with interesting stories of real people and we get to meet some highly successful introverts, dispelling the myth that he who shouts loudest gets heard.

This book is a thought-provoking read.  Introverts will be inspired and extroverts will gain some new and interesting perspective.

Quiet has been on the New York Times Bestsellers List (Paperback, Non-fiction) for twenty-four weeks straight and is not likely to fall off the list anytime soon.

heatherfromthegrove’s non-fiction spotlight for today: “Drinking with Men” by Rosie Schaap

♦ ♦ ♦

Monday, July 22 – Saturday, July 27

NON-FICTION

 @ heatherfromthegrove!

Enjoy some good summer reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

 24book "Drinking with Men" by Rosie Schaap.

“But my attraction to bars is less governed by the laws of physics than it is by the rules of romance: I prefer one bar at a time. When it comes to where I drink, I’m a serial monogamist. Still, although loyalty is upheld as a virtue, bar regularhood—the practice of drinking in a particular establishment so often that you become known by, and bond with, both the bartenders and your fellow patrons—is often looked down upon in a culture obsessed with health and work. But despite what we are often told, being a regular isn’t synonymous with being a drunk; regularhood is much more about the camaraderie than the alcohol. Sharing the joys of drink and conversation with friends old and new, in a comfortable and familiar setting, is one of life’s most unheralded pleasures.”

Rosie Schaap, Drinking with Men: A Memoir

I want to nip any and all erroneous assumptions in the bud. This is not the memoir of an alcoholic. Drinking with Men, Rosie Schaap pays homage to all the bars, pubs, and taverns that she ever frequented, the interesting characters who sat with her around the bar, and all the stories (joyous and tragic) that they’ve shared.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book, partly because Schaap is an engaging storyteller who has clearly collected a treasure trove of humorous and poignant anecdotes in her years as a barfly… and also because I can identify with much of what she has experienced. To this day, when faced with the choice of having my meal in a restaurant’s  main dining room or eating at the bar, I always choose the latter.  It’s all about the people and listening to their stories, some of which can be quite compelling.  The wine and spirits are secondary.  It should be noted that many a barfly has been known to sip non-alcoholic drinks like San Pellegrino or Perrier, with a slice of lemon or lime. 

Kudos to Rosie Schaap, who incidentally writes the “Drinks” column for The New York Times Magazine, for she has written a memoir that is as thoughtful as it is witty. It’s the perfect summer read to enjoy, while relaxing by the pool or on the beach, and sipping your favorite libation… whether it be regular iced tea or a  Long Island Iced Tea.  Cheers!

Pick up a good non-fiction for some enlightening summer reading

reading_a_book_wallpaper_6d0dd

“I prefer the company of books. When I’m reading, I’m never alone, I have a conversation with the book. It can be very intimate. Perhaps you know this feeling yourself? The sense that you’re having an intellectual exchange with the author, following his or her train thought and you accompany each other for weeks on end.” 
― Sophie DivrySignatura 400

And now it is time to change gears and delve into the world of non-fiction, a genre that is ideal for summer reading because we have more leisure time to absorb ideas, ponder them and perhaps even learn something unexpected.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of non-fiction week, here at heatherfromthegrove. Each day, from Monday through Saturday, I’ll be spotlighting one book/author. There will be a few surprise selections, a couple of memoirs and some humorous-yet-poignant reality pieces.

I hope that you will find my recommendations helpful and I would love to hear back from you, with some of your own favorites!

Cheers,

Heather

Image via youwall.com.

 

heatherfromthegrove’s story spotlight for today: “South of Broad” by Pat Conroy

♦ ♦ ♦

Monday, July 15 – Saturday, July 20

FICTION

@ heatherfromthegrove!

Enjoy some good summer reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

pat-conroy-south-of-broad-img

“Nothing happens by accident. I learned this the hard way, long before I knew that the hard way was the only path to true, certain knowledge. Early in my life, I came to fear the power of strange conveyances. Though I thought I always chose the safest path. I found myself powerless to avoid the small treacheries of fate. Because I was a timid boy, I grew up fearful and knew deep in my heart the world was out to get me. Before the summer of my senior year in high school, the real life I was always meant to lead lay coiled and ready to spring in the hot Charleston days that followed.” – from South of Broad, by Pat Conroy

I became a fan of Pat Conroy after reading Beach Music in 1995. In every novel, he masterfully weaves an intricate web of tales with southern charm and lyrical description ― exploring the fragility of the human mind and soul, the searing pain of tragedy and the healing  power of unexpected joy. For Conroy, all roads lead to home.  South Carolina.  Set against the lush backdrop of Charleston, South of Broad unravels an unforgettable tale of  families haunted and broken by tragedy, their closely guarded secrets that  become exposed, and the everpresent menace of racism and class division looming beneath the surface. Conroy’s protagonist and narrator is Leopold (Leo) Bloom King, the unassuming ringleader of a group of high school outcasts who sustain each other in good times and in bad, more the latter than the former. Their stories intertwine over a period of two decades, at the end of which they face their most daunting challenge which is the ultimate test of their friendship.

South of Broad is an exquisite, eloquently written ode, both to Conroy’s beloved hometown of Charleston and to the gift of lifelong friendships born and nurtured from these southern roots.

I was enchanted from beginning to end and read the book in one sitting. If you haven’t read any Pat Conroy’s novels, I would heartily recommend this as your first taste of this very gifted storyteller.

Other books by Pat Conroy:

* adapted into a film (1991) by the same name, directed by Barbra Streisand (she also starred in it), Nick Nolte and Blythe Danner.

** adapted into a feature film (1983) by the same name, starring David Keith.

*** adapted into a film (1979) by the same name, starring Robert Duvall.

**** adapted into the 1974 feature film, titled Conrack, starring Jon Voight and then later (in 2006) adapted into a TV movie, under the book’s original title, and starring Jeff Hephner.

 

heatherfromthegrove’s story spotlight for today: “Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness” by Alexandra Fuller

♦ ♦ ♦

Monday, July 15 – Saturday, July 20

FICTION

@  heatherfromthegrove!

Enjoy some good summer reading.

♦ ♦ ♦

51sA8lMYYIL

“My mother has no patience with questions that begin, ”What if.” But I spend a great deal of my time circling that insensible eddy. What if we had been thinking straight? What if the setting of our lives had been more ordinary? What if we’d tempered passion with caution? “What-ifs are boring and pointless,” Mum says. Because however close to irreparably deep madness my mother had gone in her life, she does not now live in a ruined, regretful, Miss Havisham world and she doesn’t wish any of her life away, even the awful, painful, damaging parts. “What-ifs are the worst kind of post-mortem,” she says. “And I hate postmortems. Much better to face the truth, pull up your socks and get on with whatever comes next.”       

 — from Cocktail Hour Under The Tree of Forgetfulness, by Alexandra Fuller

The title of this book lured me in … and I was not disappointed.  This is a love story — a daughter’s ode to her mother.  It’s a real-life account of  a family’s resilience and loyalty, love wrought with pain and hardship, passion for land and country, a near descent into madness and the uphill struggle to regain some semblance of sanity — all told against a rich, vibrant canvas that was and is the untamed beauty and brutal violence of Central and Southern Africa.

Alexandra Fuller writes this candid and insightful family memoir from the perspective of both observer and participant.  She is a gifted storyteller whose beautifully crafted words and wry sense of humor caused me to tango between bouts of laughter and tears, as I read this book in one sitting.

As a writer, I admire this author’s talent and unabashed honesty. 

As a reader, I was enraptured from page 1. 

I intend to read this book a few more times, just to savour it.  I have also gone on to read what Nicola Fuller of Central Africa refers to as her daughter’s “Awful Book.”  (Note: You’ll have to read  “Cocktail Hour …” to  know what I’m referring to!!)

This book is a must-read. 

Other books by Alexandra Fuller: