Wednesday, June 29, 2011

From My Book Shelf

It seems like ages since I've blogged--
written a post or read any.
Sometimes, life just gets in the way!
I have done a little reading though.


WEST OF HERE by Jonathan Evison is a good read.
However, I don't feel as though I did the book justice.
I read it while my mother was visiting,
so there were too many times when I put the book
down for long periods. 
Then when I got back to it,
I couldn't always remember who was who.
There ARE a lot of characters in this book.
It's actually two stories intermixed.
One is the story of Washington state and
the Pacific Coast during the 1890s and how
it came to be explored and developed by early settlers.
Intermixed with that is a present day story of
those settler's ancestors.
This book explores our connections to our past.
I'd like to think I'll someday reread this book
and really explore everything there,
but considering all the books on my
"To Read" list,
it's probably not going to happen.


THE TIGER'S WIFE by Tea Obreht has gotten
outstanding reviews and awards.
It's a debut novel and the author was only
twenty five when she wrote it.
Quite an accomplishment.
Obreht's family left the former
Republic of Yugoslavia during
the 1990's Balkan War.
This is not light reading.
However, it is beautifully written.
It moves back and forth from realism to
Balkan mythology and  folklore.
It's the story of Natalia, a young doctor
who learns of her beloved grandfather's death 
while she is on a trip "over the border"
to treat orphans of the war.
While Natalia tries to explore the
circumstances of her grandfather's death,
she remembers stories he has told her
and the book becomes very surreal.
I'm glad I read this book, but
I'm also glad I'm finished with it.

2 comments:

Tanna said...

I have read NOTHING this summer!! Sad. Sad. thank you for these two suggestions for when I hit read-mode again! blessings ~ tanna

Unknown said...

They both seem to be interesting reads, I'll have to add them to my list. Thanks for suggesting. Hugs!

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