I enjoy books that do historical fiction so well that you don't even stop to think that it's historical fiction. In 1938 San Francisco, Grace, Helen and Ruby are Chinese-American girls who work as no-no girls. As with any threesome friendship, there is always one girl who isn't as close as the other two. Grace has come to San Francisco, running from her abusive father, and finds kinship with two more experienced girls. Ruby is running from her past and from the present. Helen lives with her parents and extended family in a compound in Chinatown and is running from the expectations placed upon her. Together and sometimes apart, the girls try to find their way in a world in turmoil as WWII begins.
Station Eleven: A novel
Sometimes dystopia is frustrating because you learn about the world immediately after a collapse, then it ends when things are just starting to seem okay. Station Eleven goes beyond that, interspersing 20 years after a new world began with the moments before the old world ended and the years afterward. It skips around from past to present and from person-to-person but did so fluidly and was a very enjoyable book. I did not want it to end.
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
As the mother of a child who asks a LOT of questions, this book was perfect for our house. Answering some inane questions like "What would happen if everyone in the earth shined a laser pointer at the moon at the same time?" to some serious questions "What happens if the sun dies?" Although some of the questions had very involved scientific answers, they were still enjoyable to read and answered some questions that I've wondered about before myself!
What are you reading?
8 comments:
Finally finished California...eh...not too impressed.
Just started Ken Follet's latest novel in his third book of the Century Trilogy. I must have pre-ordered it because there it was on my Kindle one day and I was super excited. It is also super long, so if I keep reading at my current pace, I should have it done at the end of Thanksgiving break.
I'm reading "All My Puny Sorrows" by Miriam Toews (Canadian writer). It's sad. And the fact that it's based on the author's own life makes it sadder still. But I am enjoying it.
My reading has taken a serious nose dive in the past week. But I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and felt inspired to focus on a few new things in our food lifestyle.
I'm almost done with Jennifer Egan's Look at Me - should finish it tonight so I'll include that on my list for this week. I'm kind of 'meh' on this book - the characters have some messed up priorities.
I haven't read anything note worthy this week. I did just get a notice that Queen of the Zombie Hearts (3rd in the White Rabbit Chronicles) is ready for pick up at the library, so I'll be starting that one tomorrow. That's one that my niece and I are reading together, so it's a good series for us to bond over.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/books/miriam-toews-former-winner-of-writers-trust-fiction-prize-on-short-list-again-277751801.html?cx_navSource=d-more-news
I just read this article. It mentions:
1. the book I'm currently reading
as well as
2. that runner book I emailed you guys about a week or so ago.
How timely!
I started a book that was recommended to me by a friend - part 1 of a 3 book series by Michelle Miller called From The Wreckage - the main reason I got it was because it was free to download on Kindle - wasn't expecting much from a freebook...but I was wrong. Monday...I finished the 3rd book. I could not put it down. It was a YA Coming of Age/Romance between two seniors in Tyler, Texas who bond after a horrific tornado rips their town apart,and leaves them with deep scars. It is moving, and you fall in love with the characters (or I did anyway). The second book is Out of Ruins, and the third is All That Remains. Will be reading a Grief Memoir written by Anna Whiston Douglas called Rare Bird, which was her story of coming to terms after the sudden and tragic death of her 11 year old son, Jack - I follow her blog, so if you haven't yet check out "An Inch of Gray" - she's an amazing writer - very raw, very real, and at times very funny. I am expecting a lot of tears reading this book...but she is so full of grace, I know it will be amazing!
I finished Whistling Past the Graveyard. Loved it. The narrator was great....a spunky, sassy, smart 9 year old girl.
China Dolls was great!! It started my book kick of the summer where I read a whole bunch of books despite all the work I needed to be doing.
I'm reading nothing for fun. Thanks grad school. (I am reading Adolescent Girls in Crisis, which is fascinating and clinically relevant for me, and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy)
Post a Comment