Books and Things

A few months ago I listed the books I had read during the summer and asked for recommendations from my blog readers.  Good job, my friends.  I liked every book that I read. In fact, I have tracked down several other books by the authors and they are waiting for my winter read ing session.

Lorrie Grainger Abdo recommended "Stones from the River". It is the story of a small German town during WWII and the people who lived there.  Great characters and intertwining stories kept me reading.

Bonnie Boyle recommended two books.  One was the "Book Thief", again a WWII novel about a young German girl and how she comes to understand what is happening to her friends and family. Good book.

 

Bonnie's 2nd recommendation was a true story called "Devil in the White City.  It is quite a story and more so because it is true.

Next was "Star of the Sea". From the first paragraph I was hooked and liked it to the end.  What a storyteller the author, Joseph O'Connor is. Thank you, Andrea Harchar for recommending this one.

 

Last is "Cutting For Stone". The author is a surgeon and he writes about Ethiopia during the 50s and a Mission Hospital with great, almost gory detail.  

Comments

[Pat P]

I am making note of all of these, they sound great. I can't read as much as I used to-- staring at a computer screen all day is a killer on the eyes ...which is why I will probably never get an electronic reading gadget. I think they are cool and like that they are so portable, but what will happen in the future with electronic books? How will there be author book signings? What will artists "alter"? What will we put on our book shelves? (But I still think they are great gadgets!)

[ginnycartersmallenburg]

Hi Pat, I think the book reading gadgets are great for traveling but I love the smell and the feel of a book. I like putting a book mark in my place. I like the looks of my full bookshelves and having a friend borrow, swap or take one of my books.
John re-reads his books many, many times so he evn gets his money out of them. Thank goodness, too, for Half Price Book stores.

[Barbara]

My daughter (who had to read it for school) and I both enjoyed The Book Thief. My friend also recently read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. I just recently read that a movie is now being made. I look forward to seeing it!

[Stamperino]

I've read (and re-read) Stones fromo the River and recommended it widely. I loved the way it described the feeling of "different-ness" and how as different as we may seem, inside we are all the same. This was an Oprah's Book Club selection, and while I don't worship at the altar of Oprah, probably 95% of her choices were really good. Another one I liked was "I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb. It's long (800 pages) but I loved it. I am such a bookworm, there's really nothing I'd rather do than read.

[ginnycartersmallenburg]

Thanks for the heads up on the Wally Lamb book. I love long books and always read the last 100 pages
s l o w l y so it won't end so fast.