Book Recs

Over Christmas I tried to catch up on reading, but also get ahead on my Appalachian Environmental Literature class (yes, you read that right), which requires me to read 9 novels this semester, roughly one a week. So, here's what I've been reading lately, and I have to say that they are qual-i-tay.

Letters to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

I'm not always a Maya Angelou fan (although much of her writing is admittedly brilliant), but this book is excellent. It's short with short chapters, offering life advice to the daughter she never had and consequently to all women. You'll finish the book in less than 2 hours, but her insights and wisdom stay with you much longer.

Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner

I heard Lauren Winner speak last year in Birmingham to a group of teenage girls, so my expectation was that teenagers were her audience. But then my friend recommended this book of hers to me--Winner's memoir--and I haven't been able to put it down. Through honest, experienced, accessible writing, Winner tells her story of conversion from Judaism to Christianity. She's becoming one of the writers I most respect and want to emulate and I recommend this book without reservations.

The rest are books I've read for class:

Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake

First of all, how could you not like a book by an author with the last name Pancake? I mean, it tempts me to change my last name. If you had the last name Pancake, you would most certainly be famous...or at least memorable. Anyway, Ann Pancake's book is about coal mining in West Virginia, which lead to mass floods and destruction of that area. It tells the story of Lace, a woman who marries at 18 and bears her husband (3 years younger) four children. The book follows their life of hardship, disaster, survival, and love of their place. An excellent read.

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith

Lee Smith is one of the heavyweights of Appalachian literature, but unfortunately, I didn't love her book as much as others (including my professor) did. The book is written as a series of letters from the protagonist, Ivy Rowe, a woman growing up at the turn of the century in rural Virginia. It is a fascinating concept that we can learn a person's life story by reading letters they've written, and I've often thought that writing letters (ahem, snail mail) is one of the best ways to write an autobiography. Ivy is a writer, poor, but bright, often impetuous, and always writing. The books is written in the jargon and accent of the Appalachian people, so that takes some getting used to, but also adds authenticity and insights that I otherwise would have missed. I can't say that I didn't like this book, but for me, it was more laborious than others I've read. That being said, I have the utmost respect for Lee Smith and her high place in Appalachian literature and history.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver is a name many of you will recognize since she has written over 15 books. Kingsolver lives what she writes, living very "green" and writing, not surprisingly, this book with an environmental bent. However, unlike some other environmental books I've read, this one doesn't have such an overt "green" agenda. She writes more about balance in the ecosystem and in our lives, not differentiating between the two. The story is told through three main story lines, reflected in three rotating chapter titles. It follows the lives of a Deanna who lives in the mountains alone as a park ranger, Lusa, who is widowed after her husband's untimely death, and Garnett, a crotchety old man who picks quarrels with his neighbor. This book offers significant insights into the dangers and dissatisfaction of living alone, and promotes community and unity. This is another one I highly recommend--especially to book clubs who can take time to explore the deeper themes of the book. Fair warning: this has been called Kingsolver's "sex book," but it's handled very delicately.

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

Told from the point of view of Hannah Coulter, the book begins with an overview of her life. But somehow, telling her story before she tells it doesn't kill it, but makes the reader curious. After the first overview chapter, Hannah Coulter slows down, telling each detail of her life and how it fits into the bigger picture of what we already know. The writing is brilliant, and Wendell Berry (male) perfectly captures the voice of a woman. There were so many sentences that I read and wished I could remember forever. Reading as a writer and as a reader, I absolutely loved this book.

A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House

This book is a page-turner. I stayed up until 1 a.m. one night finishing it because it was that good. For those of you book clubbers out there, this might need to go in the consideration list. It tells the story of Vine, a Cherokee woman who marries an Appalachian man. Every character who enters the scene is a bit odd--they have a strange look about them, or are more butch than most women, or waspier than most women...or they're just downright creepy. About a third of the way through the book, an event happens that speeds up the page turning, an event that leaves you hanging until the very last page. I know I haven't done the book justice, but I don't want to give too much of it away here. One thing that amazes me, though, is that a male author could so perfectly write in the voice of a female protagonist. Brilliant.

Lost Mountain by Eric Reese

A non-fiction book with an agenda, but rightly so. Eric Reese climbs the same mountain, ironically named Lost Mountain, every month for one year, documenting the devastating changes that happen to it in the process of mountain top removal (a coal mining tactic that involves blasting off the tops of mountains in order to gain fast access to the coal beneath). The book is a narrative, but also includes statistics and stories about the people Reese encounters. The anti-coal company agenda was clear and Reese makes no qualms about it, and while that was annoying at times, it was also enlightening, and mountain top removal is now an issue I can't have the bliss of ignorance about anymore. Oh, and I'm a sucker for true stories, so this book was an easy read for me.