7/1/2019 0 Comments The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage, and a Girl Saved by Bees by Meredith May
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6/26/2019 0 Comments Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
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5/1/2019 0 Comments Milkman by Anna Burns
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4/21/2019 0 Comments Circe by Madeline MillerHow I Found: On a hunt for a bit of mythological allusion, I uncovered this ray of sun. Unlike Miller’s The Song of Achilles, here she takes a lesser-known figure and expands her life from that of a witch who, like others, retains Odysseus on his journey home, but the story begins long before we meet the sea-faring hero we all know. With artistic characterization, Circe becomes relatable despite her being born of Apollo, and we humans find ourselves sympathizing with her immortality, not envying it. Why You Might Read: As Circe grows from a misfit among the beautiful nymphs and gods, she seems to be the only one who can see humans for what we are. In this way she helps us see ourselves in gods as well, “...that is one thing gods and mortals share, when we are young we think ourselves the first to have each feeling in the world.” As she grows, and ages to the best of her ability, her joy is ephemeral, but her pain is enduring. Like Prometheus whom she attempted to help as a child, she shows us that immortality isn’t what we’re after, but for our joys to be as lifelong as our pains and our love to last as long as we do. Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
1/2/2019 0 Comments Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
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How I Found: Recommended with Station 11, I dove in because of my love for its pairing. I wasn't sold at first, probably because I was comparing the two, and I shouldn't have. I am so glad I stuck with it for the interconnected stories whose characters span the Russian Revolution to the end of the universe. Why You Might Read: The connections are beautiful and painful, human. "We imprint our intimacies upon atoms born from an explosion so great it still marks the emptiness of space." From space, to art, to drug use this book points at our potentials and our failures and says, "I told you so." Don't try to compare it to anything. It's incomparable. Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
How I Found: When asked about this book, a bibliophile friend just about jumped out of her seat with enthusiasm for it. Post-apocalyptic or Dystopia, however you want to label this, it defies the tropes of its genre. First, her modern-day setting makes it easily accessible; readers of all ages will ponder their reliance on civilization as we know it. Second, her characters' appreciation of the arts from Shakespeare to comic books fill it with wonder; readers will revel in the language of Mandel's description and insistence that, "Survival is insufficient." Third, her fragmentation is exceptional; readers are transitioned from one scene to the next and back again before they've even realized it was coming. Why You Might Read: This is the type of book that will make you jump out of your seat the next time someone asks you if you've read it. It is also the type of book bibliophiles want to read over again, but accessible enough that a young reader can delve in and appreciate as is. The layers of characterization and symbolism make it an intricate work akin to the frames of a comic or the acts of a play. As soon as you put it down, you'll want to pick it back up again. Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
How I Found: It's been a long time since I've been able to do any world-travel, but what I have done impressed upon me the importance of perspective. So, in a time when it seems the world has gone mad with pressing one's own perspective on another, I was looking for a book that reiterated the dangers of such and took me to another place and time. This is precisely what I found in Things Fall Apart, an apt title for the book and the moments in which we are living. Nigerian author Chinua Achebe tells the story of the Igbo tribe through Okonkwo. In this way, the readers' perspective is his perspective and although he spends the better part of Part I atoning for his father's laziness, the reader comes to see much of the wisdom of the culture of the Igbo as in, "There is no story that is not true . . . The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others." Why You Might Read: If you've ever read In the Heart of Darkness, this is the opposite of that. This brings forth the perspective of the people who suffered Imperialism and Colonization rather than the perspective of the Imperialist and Colonizer. It is a story full of folktales of a part of Africa that reflect the harsh yet strikingly beautiful surroundings in which they were born, but it is also the sad story of what xenophobia can do to both those from within and those from without the nation. If we can all but remember the Umuofia saying "That as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him," we reap what we sow, we might better live and let live than trying to press one perspective upon another. Tell Me: Have you read this book? What did you think?
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S.M.(M).LI am a reader who was brought to the world of books by being read to as a child, a wonderful librarian, scores of dedicated teachers, and the friends who still talk to me about books. This page is dedicated to all readers as a way to help you find books for you and yours as they were found by me. Let their pages turn your life into a world of magic, reality, and possibility. Archives
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