Book Club Worthy
Well I have to admit that I have been a bit desperate lately for a blog post idea. However, the other night I was talking "books" with a group of friends and one of them suggested that I send her a list of books that I have enjoyed and might recommend for her book club. Thus ..... this blog post!
The following is a list of a few books that I have read recently and enjoyed (obviously I have left out the ones that I struggled through or gave away after the first chapter!). As I said, I liked them all but I have added a bit more info to a few.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
This was delightful! The book is written in a series of letters, which at first I thought I would not like but I quickly got used to it. It takes place, for the most part on the Guernsey Island just after WWII. The story is mostly about how the residents of the island coped with the German occupation during the war ... and of course a romantic interest doesn't hurt the plot either! Check out the link below that includes a great little video narrated by one of the authors.
Random House - Guernsey Lit
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Lit Lovers - summary
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Lit Lovers - summary
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Lit Lovers - summary
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Sisters Brothers, I believe won the Man Booker Prize in 2011. It is very different from most titles I choose and has a (believe it or not) a "western" theme! My husband read it and liked it and a female friend also enjoyed it so I thought I'd give it a go. Indeed, I did really enjoy it and actually laughed out loud several times!
Man Booker synopsis of Sisters Brothers
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This is an incredible biography of the childhood and family life of the author. Her and her siblings endured and eventually thrived in spite of the poverty and instability brought on by their good spirited, intelligent, but extremely dysfunctional parents. If you've ever fretted over your parenting skills or feared that your children will be scarred for life if you miss a school event, your parental confidence will be restored after you read this book. ... sad but delightful and funny at the same time!
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong
This is one of my all time favorite books. It is a good read written by a Canadian journalist and human rights activist with a New Brunswick connection. In fact she recently had a speaking engagement this year in Hampton (a community 20 minutes away from my home.) If you are interested in hearing her speak check out the link to a video of her on the National Speakers Bureau.
Charlotte Taylor lived in the front row of history. In 1775, at the young age of twenty, she fled her English country house and boarded a ship to Jamaica with her lover, the family’s black butler. Soon after reaching shore, Charlotte’s lover died of yellow fever, leaving her alone and pregnant in Jamaica. In the sixty-six years that followed, she would find refuge with the Mi’kmaq of what is present-day New Brunswick, have three husbands, nine more children and a lifelong relationship with an aboriginal man. Using a seamless blend of fact and fiction, Charlotte Taylor's great-great-great-granddaughter, Sally Armstrong, reclaims the life of a dauntless and unusual woman and delivers living history with all the drama and sweep of a novel. (copied from Amazon )
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
lawrence hill -summary etc
The Dove Keepers by Alice Hoffman
alice hoffman - synopsis
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Lit Lovers - summary
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
I particularly enjoyed these because of my experience in China, but I think that they would interest anyone else as well. Dreams of Joy is the sequel to Shanghai Girls.
Lit Lovers - summary
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The book is based on the relationship of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson. I was inspired to read this after reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ..... I'm not a big Hemingway fan or anything, but I felt the need to read one of his novels after touring his home in Cuba. The Sun Also Rises, among other things, depicts the lifestyles of expat Americans and Brits living abroad and, in that way shares similarities with The Paris Wife.
The following is a list of a few books that I have read recently and enjoyed (obviously I have left out the ones that I struggled through or gave away after the first chapter!). As I said, I liked them all but I have added a bit more info to a few.
 |
| photo from Good Reads |
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
This was delightful! The book is written in a series of letters, which at first I thought I would not like but I quickly got used to it. It takes place, for the most part on the Guernsey Island just after WWII. The story is mostly about how the residents of the island coped with the German occupation during the war ... and of course a romantic interest doesn't hurt the plot either! Check out the link below that includes a great little video narrated by one of the authors.
Random House - Guernsey Lit
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Lit Lovers - summary
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Lit Lovers - summary
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Lit Lovers - summary
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Sisters Brothers, I believe won the Man Booker Prize in 2011. It is very different from most titles I choose and has a (believe it or not) a "western" theme! My husband read it and liked it and a female friend also enjoyed it so I thought I'd give it a go. Indeed, I did really enjoy it and actually laughed out loud several times!
Man Booker synopsis of Sisters Brothers
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This is an incredible biography of the childhood and family life of the author. Her and her siblings endured and eventually thrived in spite of the poverty and instability brought on by their good spirited, intelligent, but extremely dysfunctional parents. If you've ever fretted over your parenting skills or feared that your children will be scarred for life if you miss a school event, your parental confidence will be restored after you read this book. ... sad but delightful and funny at the same time!
 |
| Photo from Amazon |
The Nine Lives of Charlotte Taylor by Sally Armstrong
This is one of my all time favorite books. It is a good read written by a Canadian journalist and human rights activist with a New Brunswick connection. In fact she recently had a speaking engagement this year in Hampton (a community 20 minutes away from my home.) If you are interested in hearing her speak check out the link to a video of her on the National Speakers Bureau.
Charlotte Taylor lived in the front row of history. In 1775, at the young age of twenty, she fled her English country house and boarded a ship to Jamaica with her lover, the family’s black butler. Soon after reaching shore, Charlotte’s lover died of yellow fever, leaving her alone and pregnant in Jamaica. In the sixty-six years that followed, she would find refuge with the Mi’kmaq of what is present-day New Brunswick, have three husbands, nine more children and a lifelong relationship with an aboriginal man. Using a seamless blend of fact and fiction, Charlotte Taylor's great-great-great-granddaughter, Sally Armstrong, reclaims the life of a dauntless and unusual woman and delivers living history with all the drama and sweep of a novel. (copied from Amazon )
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
lawrence hill -summary etc
The Dove Keepers by Alice Hoffman
alice hoffman - synopsis
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Lit Lovers - summary
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
I particularly enjoyed these because of my experience in China, but I think that they would interest anyone else as well. Dreams of Joy is the sequel to Shanghai Girls.
Lit Lovers - summary
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The book is based on the relationship of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson. I was inspired to read this after reading The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ..... I'm not a big Hemingway fan or anything, but I felt the need to read one of his novels after touring his home in Cuba. The Sun Also Rises, among other things, depicts the lifestyles of expat Americans and Brits living abroad and, in that way shares similarities with The Paris Wife.
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