Fiela's Child

Fiela's Child

by Dalene Matthee

This is a beautiful novel about a black woman in nineteenth-century rural South Africa and her white foundling son. After several years, the government takes her son from her and he is sent to live with his supposed natural family in another community. It is a very moving story and is absolutely beautifully written. This book certainly gave me a fresh perspective on South African history and race and class relations. It was also an interesting look at the question of what really makes a family and the bonds between mothers and their children. There is a movie version of this book out there, but it is ghastly. It's dubbed from Dutch or something and does not do the story justice at all. Definitely skip it.

Bleak House

Bleak House

by Charles Dickens

I have a confession to make: it took me 3 tries to get through this book. The first try was in college, the second was about 3 years ago. (In my defense, it is well over 800 pages.) Then I watched the wonderful BBC/Masterpiece Theater adaptation of it on TV last year and recently decided to give it another try. I must admit that I enjoyed the book much, much more after having seen the miniseries! How unusual is that? I think that having a sense of where the story was headed helped me to sort through the vast cast of characters and Dickens' sometimes circuitous writing and to really appreciate the brilliance of this book. It really is wonderful after all!

It is the story of a vast and unwieldy lawsuit and of generations of people that are drawn into its treacherous grasp. In the usual Dickens fashion there are tons of fabulous characters and enough separate storylines to comprise at least a dozen novels, so it's hard to post much of a plot summary here.

I highly recommend this book and the miniseries as well. The miniseries is very true to the novel, yet is not able to include a lot of the side characters or stories, so reading the book after watching the series is certainly not redundant. I also think that Esther is one of the most charming narrators in literature and the book is worth reading simply to hear the story in her voice.

Twilight

Twilight

by Stephanie Meyer

I held out on reading this book for a long time. It just sounded so silly. But then my friend Catherine, who has a master's degree in English, runs her own very cool book review site (http://bookclubpresident.blogspot.com/), and is simply a fabulous person, said she liked it. So of course I finally gave in and read it.

When I started reading I was thinking "I can't believe I am reading a book about vampires in high school!" 50 pages later I thought, "I can't believe I am LOVING a book about vampires in high school!" I really did love this book and couldn't put it down. Certainly it is not great literature and Meyer is not exactly a genius of symbolism or a careful crafter of language or anything like that. But the story and characters are great and it is a surprisingly compelling and entertaining book. Even for those of us who like to think we are so far above such things.

Of course I had to immediately rush out and read the sequels. I didn't enjoy book 2, New Moon, quite as much, but I loved book 3, Eclipse. And I can't wait to read the next one. I also love Stephanie Meyer's story on her website about the writing of this book (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html). Very inspirational for us stay-at-home moms with creative aspirations.

All in all, I highly recommend this book and series. As an added perk, the books so far have been very clean and definitely suitable for teen audiences. I love that!

Tattered Sails

Tattered Sails

by Verla Kay

illustrated by Dan Andreasen

This book tells the story of a pilgrim family coming from England to America. It is based on the experiences of a family that immigrated to Boston in 1635. The story is told in sparse poetry and accompanied by very nice watercolor illustrations. I liked this book because it is difficult to find children's books about this period that go beyond Thanksgiving turkeys. Kay's poem gives some sense of why the pilgrims left England and the dangers and difficulties of the voyage and starting again in America. The Very First Thanksgiving Day by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Susan Gaber would be a good companion to this book when teaching young children about Thanksgiving. To continue a discussion about immigration, I'd suggest When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest and P.J. Lynch, which is an early 20th century story. Or for an even more modern take, I LOVE Yoko's Paper Cranes by Rosemary Wells.

The Princess and the Painter

The Princess and the Painter

by Jane Johnson

This is a gorgeous picture book that tells an imagined story behind Diego Velazquez's masterpiece Las Meninas from the princess Infanta Margarita's perspective. The story isn't particularly fabulous, but does communicate quite a bit about what a Spanish princess's life would have been like in 1656. But who needs a story with illustrations like these? Johnson mimics Velazquez's style fairly effectively and the result is beautiful. This book would be especially great for teaching a princess-obsessed child about what a real princess's life would have been like, or for a child who is interested in art.

The Gift of Pain

The Gift of Pain

by Dr. Paul Brand

This book has the rare distinction of being the only book (besides the scriptures) that my brother Neil has ever voluntarily read multiple times. Now if that isn't a great recommendation, I don't know what is!

It is the memoir of a doctor who worked with lepers in India for several decades. He was a pioneer in the disease and the first person to recognize and demonstrate that leprosy is purely a neurological disease that causes the loss of sensation throughout the body. He found that the most commonly recognized signs of leprosy like like sores, missing fingers, facial abnormalities, etc. are actually a result of injuries caused by painlessness, not the disease itself. The book tells the story of his work and also gives a new and different perspective on pain: gratitude. It's a great story and gave me a lot to think about. I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the book much more than the last section. Lepers in India are just a lot more interesting than diabetics in Louisiana. The last section could be skipped, but the first portion of the book is wonderful!

The Namesake

The Namesake

by Jhumpa Lahiri

This is the story of two Indian immigrants and their son, Gogol as they try to balance tradition and assimilation in becoming Americans. It particularly follows Gogol as he grows up in America and finds a way to define himself. I often don't care for books like this and find them plotless, self-indulgent, and whiney, but Lahiri is such an incredible writer that I really enjoyed the book. It made me wonder about what it is to be an American and what roles "accidents" can play in our lives. It also gave me wicked Indian food cravings. Yum.

Miss Potter

Miss Potter

Ok, so this is a movie and not a book, but it's definitely literature-related, so I thought I'd include it in the blog. I just watched this movie and LOVED it. The plot (loosely) follows Beatrix Potter's life, her career as an author, and the development of her relationships with her publisher and parents. It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but after a few minutes I was very into it and I cried like a baby at one point. Of course, I wept during Sesame Street the other day, so I may not be the best barometer of a film's emotional impact. Still, I thought this movie was a great look at one of my favorite authors. Surprisingly, I even liked Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter; I always like Ewan McGregor as anybody, even with the moustache. The scenery is beautiful as well. Anyone want to visit the Lake Country with me?

The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle

by Jeanette Walls

This is the memoir of a woman who was raised by an alcoholic father and an "excitement addict" mother. She writes about her impoverished, neglected, and transient childhood. Not exactly an upper. However, it is a gripping and fascinating story and I could hardly put it down. I was amazed that Walls could write about her parents with such compassion and understanding. I certainly would like to give them both a good smack. I also enjoyed reading of how she and most of her siblings were able to achieve independent and fulfilling lives despite their troubled childhoods and it gave me a different perspective on homelessness and people who choose to live in poverty. If you're looking for a book that will make you feel like parent of the year, this is a good candidate! Our library put a "teen" label on this one, but I'm not so sure. There is quite a bit of cussing, but I can see it being an inspirational read for a more mature teen.

The Story of Little Babaji

The Story of Little Babaji

by Helen Bannerman

illustrated by Fred Marcellino

This is a gorgeous picture book. The story is a retelling of the classic "Little Black Sambo" story. The story is virtually unchanged, but the characters are given more politically-correct names, and its setting is more transparently Indian. It's a great little story about a boy whose fine clothes are taken by tigers. He then gets them back while the tigers are preoccupied with fighting with one another. There are a few especially choice moments (and corresponding illustrations) when tigers are wearing shoes on their ears or tying umbrellas to their tails. The story is charming and the new illustrations are beautiful. I also really like the small square format of the book. I used this book for my preschool lesson on jungle animals and all the kids loved it and were captivated even though it is slightly longer than my usual picks for that age range.