books about: literary

books about: literary

books:

Literary

Sarah Vowell

Riverhead Hardcover, 2008

Dancing in History
Sarah Vowell is my type of gal: writer extraordinaire, political guru, and complete and total history nerd. Coming off the success of the off-beat and incredibly likeable Assassination Vacation, Vowell brings to us the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony is her ...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson

Knopf, 2008

Excellent
While it took close to one hundred pages to get into this book, I am so very glad that I stuck with it. Yes, translations can be clunky, yes, the cast of characters was huge, yes, it was long. It was worth every one of those minor faults and more. It took all those ...

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007

3 cups = 5 stars
The book three cups of tea, is a story of monumental dedication and superhuman efforts to build schools for people who had no hope of education. An inspiring story for any age.

Letter to My Daughter

Maya Angelou

Random House, 2008

Absolutely inspiring; I couldn't put it down
"I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian and Spanish-speaking, Native American and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am ...

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Elizabeth Gilbert

Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007

Best Book I've Ever Listened To
I listened to this in traffic for about a week. I actually looked forward to sitting in traffic. Her voice is soothing, the content is inspiring, and I can't imagine why anyone would give it one star. I loved it and was sad when I got to the last cd. Wonderfully ...

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

The Dial Press, 2008

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
It was a little confusing at first, but once you get started reading it you will enjoy it. I felt a side benefit was that it also taught me a history lesson. I REALLY enjoy the book.

Loving Frank: A Novel

Nancy Horan

Ballantine Books, 2008

Loving This
Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park is on a spacious street that boasts several of his houses, two blocks from where I grew up. That street never loses its charm, though I've walked down it many times. Next door to my family lived a Frank Lloyd Wright ...

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)

David Wroblewski

Ecco, 2008

Possibly the best book I've ever read...
I recently took this book on vacation with me after hearing it was an Oprah's pick. I don't get to read a lot but when I do, I expect the book to be excellent. This one exceeded my expectations. I absolutely devoured this book in just a few days, and was begging for ...

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz

Riverhead Trade, 2008

Impressive
This book delves into layers of history, despots, struggle, and the courage of everyday human beings in a less than welcoming world. A masterpiece!

Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace

Back Bay Books, 2006

Great even if you don't get everything
I didn't, like one reviewer here suggested, look up every word I didn't know in the dictionary (and there were a lot. Antinomy?) I didn't even read all the footnotes, because after a while this was, even though it was a great book, one of those books where you start ...

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

Riverhead, 2007

A sad burqa "romance" with a semi-happy ending
I enjoyed the book. Despite having a mostly sad story line, the two female main characters demonstrated courage, love, and hope in an otherwise brutal and oppressive marriage. This book is not for children since it frequently describes sexual encounters in a somewhat ...

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.)

Barbara Kingsolver, Camille Kingsolver, ...

Harper Perennial, 2008

A guide to change your eating
Barbara Kingsolver uses her very readable style to encourage us all on a journey to understand the effects of the standard American diet on our own health as well as the health of the earth. This book is a fun and heart-touching read that also contains great recipes ...

American Wife: A Novel

Curtis Sittenfeld

Random House, 2008

An engaging read, made me think and wonder, but the ending almost ruined it
I was eager to read this novel, as I had read Prep by the same author and liked it a great deal. I also liked this book, but it had a few features that made me like it less. One thing I really enjoy is the author's style. She writes with a very direct and detailed ...

The Secret Life of Bees

Sue Monk Kidd

Penguin (Non-Classics), 2008

Traveling made easy
My husband and I listened to Secret LOB's while traveling. We listened going and returning but didn't get it finished. We spent the next afternoon relaxing and finishing the cd. We both felt it was one of the best Books on cd. Another book on cd for a really long ...

The Road (Oprah's Book Club)

Cormac McCarthy

Vintage Books, 2007

Masterpiece Masterpiece Masterpiece
No hyperbole here: The Road is a Masterpiece of American 21st Century Fiction. A seminal book of Fatherhood, Survival, Post-Apocalyptic Awe and Dread, Post-Consumer-Culture Imagining and Natural, Geographical Description. Terms like "Terribly Excellent," ...