After wanting to read it for a while now, I have finally finished ***Corelli’s Mandolin|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067976397X/qid=1091057930/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-1093109-7623326?v=glance&s=books***, by Louis De Berniernes. I found it to be a very touching story with just the right amount of historical context to be interesting. Beware, however, it caused me to shed many tears!

Having just finished my latest book, ***The Blue Journal|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399148027/qid=1091056631/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/102-1093109-7623326?v=glance&s=books***, I have found myself without a new read. Normally, I’d just go to the Library and walk around until some title catches my eye.

I thought that today I’d see what you, our fine readers, might recommend to me. Leave me a comment and let me know your favorite read, or the most recent thing you read. That way I can go to the library with purpose. And maybe I’ll read somthing that I might not have otherwise 🙂

Oh, and I think that I would relegate my latest read to a list of beach books. It was somewhat enjoyable, but mostly I felt gypped by the ending. It was just a good, mindless, easy read.

Despite the lack of posting, I have actually continued reading. Most recently completed was ***The Last Camel Died at Noon|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446363383/qid=1089336206/sr=8-10/ref=pd_ka_10/002-6457907-6007237?v=glance&s=books&n=507846*** by Elizabeth Peters.

Peters has written numerous adventure novels set in Egypt in the late 1800s. The main characters in this one were Amelia and Reginald Emerson, famous British archaeologists. While studying in Egypt they wind up captured by a rogue group of desert folk… and the drama continues.

I enjoyed reading the book, but I can’t say it was a really gripping novel. Because I love the study of Ancient Egypt the tales of Pyramids and mummies fascinated me, but the story itself sometimes dragged on a bit.

Just before that trip to Egypt I finished my second Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, ***Love in the Time of Cholera|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/140003468X/qid=1089336835/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-6457907-6007237***. I was thoroughly enthralled in the relationships that Marquez draws between people and families in the Carribean. I love how I can leave Beverly behind and jump right in to the world in the author’s head.

There was one passage in Cholera that I thought some gals from Gordon might relate to and so I’ll pass it along: [note, the author is describing the picky eating habits of one main character]

qqq| When it was time to eat, it could not be anything, but just what he wanted, and with no defects… At the mere hint of a doubt, he would push aside his plate and say: “This meal has been prepared without love.” In that sphere he would achieve moments of a fantastic inspiration. Once he tasted some chamomile tea and sent it back, saying only, “this stuff tastes of window.” Both [his wife] and the servants were surprised because they had never heard of anyone who had drunk boiled window, but when they tried the tea in an effort to understand, they understood: it did taste of window. |qqq

Over the Memorial Day weekend I spent a little time reading in my favorite spot. The porch of our house on the Island. I was able to finish up a pleasant little novel called ***The Secret Life of Bees|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142001740/qid=1086826997/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-2218055-7641540*** by Sue Monk Kidd.

I wouldn’t venture to say that this book will go down as a classic, but I enjoyed it. The story was a sweet tale of a teenage girl leaving home to find out about her dead mother’s life. Along the way, and with the help of several thousand bees, she manages to find herself.

I would reccomend it to anyone looking for a nice vacation or beach read this summer. Enjoy!

And now for something completely different… I picked up another book recently that I’ve been meaning to read… ***Who Moved My Cheese|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399144463/qid=1086827760/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-2218055-7641540***.

As someone who is a bit resistant to change, many of the ideas put forth in this short book really hit home. The authors really made me reconsider how I look at change in my life and work situations. I’d say it is a good read for anyone, in business or not.

A while back, late high school or early college, I bought the book, ***Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060987103/qid=1085532950/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/002-5301877-2541663*** by Gregory Maguire,at building 19. I had never heard of it, but it looked interesting. I remember thinking that it was a decent read, despite having some strange bits.

Now that there has been such a huge clammer about Wicked (with the musical on Broadway and all) I thought I would read another novel by Maguire. Because I appreciate the experience of reading varied works of literature, I am glad that I read this book. The story told from the point of view of one of Cinderella’s stepsisters is certainly original, but unfortunately a bit lack luster.

Mr. Maguire, I feel, was more interested in writing side stories about “sensational” things (dwarfs, the Queen of the Hairy Chinned Gypsies) than the actual plot. He weaved in and out of coherency. The alternate view of the Cinderella story sheds light on what the ‘evil Stepmother’s’ motives might have been, and why the girls acted the way they did.

I think that perhaps Maguire was hoping to write a very ‘adult’ fairy tail full of sexual innuendo and magical creatures and events. My humble opinion is that he tried to hard. The plot starts out okay, but I had a very hard time turning pages in the middle I struggled to finish. The story wanders and lacks drive.

Anyway, I would recommend this book if you like to keep up on ‘popular novels’ but I is not something I pass on to others for pleasure reading. If you’ve read it let me know what you thought. I love to hear other’s opinions!

Every once and a while I really enjoy reading a book that I don’t get right away. A book that reads well on one level, but has such deep undertones that it isn’t until weeks, months or years later that you actually understand what the author was trying to say. I am always intrigued by the way that authors layer meaing in their works, and how those ideas come back to me later on and suddenly make sense.

My studies in Education have led me to believe that this is really how we learn anything. Step one: read or hear a bit of new information. Step two: tuck it away in your mind. Step three: many years later, remember and make a meaningful connection to your current situation.

I have just finished reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel ***One Hundred Years of Solitude|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060740450/*** and I would love to say that I completely understand it. The story of a fictitious Latin American town and the family that founded it was fascinating. The characters were complex and confusing. I found the plot to be, at times, extreem and unbelievable. But that is the nature of novels. 10th Grade English class is full of lessons on the Hyperbole and its use as a literary tool.

The tale of the six generations of the Buendia family was a captivating one and I can’t wait for the day that it all comes clear.

Have I ever mentioned to you how much I love Amy Tan? I do. Her novels based on Chinese-American immigrant families (especially mothers and daughters) always lure me in.

You may have met Amy the way I did, through her Book, The Joy Luck Club, or the movie of the same name. My latest read of hers was The Bonesetter’s Daughter.

Throughout the book we jump back and forth between life stories of a Chinese immigrant (LiuLang) and her Chinese-American Daughter, Ruth. Tan takes the reader on a journey that travels from present-day San Francisco to the early 20th century China and back again.

Although Amy Tan writes about a Chinese mother/daughter relationship, there are universal connections to every reader; dealing with Alzheimer’s, romantic relationships, and much more. I find Tan’s novels to be engaging to read and offer insight into the Chinese-American culture that I would not find elsewhere.

Sometimes it is good to be a follower. Jennifer read a book and said it was good. So now, months later, I have finally read it.

WithThe Quarterlife Crisis, Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner have written a thought provoking book about “The unique challenges of life in your twenties.” They pose the idea that although the ‘midlife crisis’ is well known and accepted in our society there is also a panic crisis that affects people in their 20’s.

It was interesting to read about the causes and effects of this crisis through the stories of college grads who are dealing with post-grad life. These stories give a thorough look at how twentysomethings adjust to life on their own after college. Thier struggles and eventual epiphanies bring to life the sometimes not so easy job of being in your twenties.

I found this book to be interesting in the theoretical sense. As a twentysomething myself I found myself comiserating with many of the ‘case studies’. However, the authors asked alot of questions, but did little in the way of answering them. I also thought that the authors (young, female) could have done a little more to make their book a bit more professional. The language and ‘voice’ of the narrative was often juvenile.

Even with some reservations I would still reccomend reading The Quarterlife Crisis to anyone in their twenties or quickly approaching. It offers another view of the life of a college grad; in sharp contrast to what we see on tv and in the movies.

Let me know what you think about it.

On the recommendation of a friend I checked out ***”Batavia’s Graveyard (The true story of the mad heretic who led history’s bloodiest mutiny”)|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0609807161/qid=1082132840/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-1737192-3980660?v=glance&s=books***

The verbose title should be a warning for the story that is to follow. Mike Dash explores the true and harrowing tale of shipwreck, mutiny, and massacre that took place off the Western Coast of Austrailia in 1629. The story is by all means exciting, enthralling and macabre. I found myself longing to find out what would happen. Dash gives such detailed histories of the main players that it is statisfying to read the Epilogue that attempts to follow up with them at the end of the story.

Although I found the combining of Dutch history and the story of the ship “Batavia” very cumbersome to read I appreciated the history lesson. In most good American public school history classes the early 17th century is dedicated to the voyage and plight of the Pilgrims and puritan settlers in Massachusetts. There is passing mention of the Dutch and English East India Companies, but only in reference to the slave, rum and molassas trades.

Mike Dash fills in the blanks for those of us on this side of the pond. Detailed accounts and descriptions of the Dutch spice trade in the East Indies and the voyages of many of their “Indiamen” ships. The historian in me loves the facts and dates and such and the detail that Dash goes into to really gives the whole story.

Long story short, It was an interesting story, lots of history and my new favorite Dutch word… predikant–preacher.