My latest reads

It's about time for another book post, and I squeezed in a little pleasure reading a few weeks ago on our Johnson family trip. Many thanks to my friend Andrew for letting me borrow from his oh-so-quality library. Here's what I've been reading:

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
Since high school, I have been both fascinated and sickened by the Holocaust, so when this movie came out a couple of years ago, I really wanted to see it. I'm glad I didn't, though, because I like to read books first and this book was beautifully written. It's a quick read (I read it in a couple of hours), but the story runs deep with friendship, heartache, innocence, intuition, and creativity. For those who don't know the story, Boyne creates a fictional story about a childhood friendship between a German boy and a Jewish boy who is in a concentration camp. The most moving part of the story is the innocence that both boys maintain in the midst of what we know to be such a tragic genocide.


The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
by James McBride

My non-fiction for the week. I saw this book years ago at Barnes and Noble and had heard wonderful things about it  (it's a NYTimes Bestseller), but ended up not buying it. So, when I saw this on Andrew's shelf I knew I needed to read it, and I wasn't disappointed. As the subtitle suggests, James McBride tells his story, but also the story of his mother, interspersing actual conversations he had with his mother in the writing of the book. He tells of how she bore twelve children, all of whom went on to college and most of whom went on to earn other advanced degrees. He tells of her challenge being white woman in a black culture and of his own identity challenges being biracial. He tells of his family's poverty, his mother's unmoving trust in God and education, and of his own transformation from rebellion to what is now his livelihood (music and writing). It's a powerful story, and even more so because it's true.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie
I read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven when I was in college and was drawn to Alexie's unique writing style. So, when Andrew recommended The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to me, I was in. It's Alexie's first young adult novel (although there are parts that I wouldn't want too young of an adolescent to read), and it was a quick read, complete with funny pictures that give it that diary feel--similar to Diary of a Wimpy Kid but aimed at an older audience. Not only was the story clever and full of emotion, but it was also beautifully written. Alexie has a way of writing phrases and sentences that I have never heard before, and I love that kind of ingenuity. He tells the semi-autobiographical story of Arnold Spirit, a goofy, made-fun-of 9th grader  who struggles with finding his identity, struggles with friendships, struggles with his culture, struggles with girls, and struggles to be both part of his people and to distinguish himself from them. A great read!

Books I've barely started that are sitting on my bedside table and that I hope to read before the beginning of the school year:

The Discomfort Zone
by Jonathan Franzen
Really can't tell you much about this yet, but it's a non-fiction book that was given to me by a friend and the first chapter is interesting so far!

Jayber Crow
by Wendell Berry
I've become a huge Wendell Berry fan after reading Hannah Coulter last semester for one of my classes. He writes brilliantly, and I recommend any of his books for a book club because they always spark good discussion. I got this book from my sweet sister-in-law, Kari, for my birthday and began reading it back in May. However, after just a couple of days, I was derailed by school and moving and had to put it down until this week. So, because I can't remember anything about it, I'll be starting it over this week and can't wait! I'll write about it again when I'm finished reading it.