photo from www.flickr.com/photos/picturefades/2918904794/I've been reading like a mad woman. It's so much fun! I just finished my "E" book and now have only four letters of the alphabet left! My "E" book was Every Last One: A Novel by Anna Quindlen.
I have now read at least three books by Anna Quindlen. She is really good at character development! Her characters really resonate with me... they seem to ponder and puzzle over some of the same life issues that I do. (Her book Black and Blue, which I read several years ago, caused me to lose sleep as I wrestled with the difficult issues in the book.. to me that means it was a good book. Good books don't avoid the difficulties of life.)
In this E book, it goes along pretty normally. It's about a mom, happily married with three teenagers. Some of the relationship stuff reminds me a lot of my own life, especially regarding my daughter. I felt a real kindship with that. And the mom even remembers as a kid spilling a bottle of perfume on her mother's dresser, and then just leaving it there, hoping no one would notice. I did the same thing! There was a damage to the finish that stayed there until years later when my boyfriend (before I married him) refinished the dresser and fixed the blob in the finish.
But back to the story: after a lot of normal, a horrific tragedy suddenly befalls this mother. I tell you, it was heart wrenching. I don't know how I got through this book without crying. But it was uplifting at the same time, because the characters are so real.
I seem to be in a "difficult books" streak lately.. unhappy characters, tragedies, world crises. Still, these books have been thought-provoking and meaningful, striking a chord within me in various ways and for various reasons.
I love when a book does that. A great book will resonate with my life or my ponderings, and the last several I've read have done just that.
3 comments:
I finished this book about a month ago after my daughter recommended it. I love Anna Quinlen and most anything she writes. The characters are so real. My daughter thought that the relationship between the mother and the daughter reminded her of us. I felt like the book ended on an upbeat.
Good for you! I have been reading my share - but am still missing a few letters of the alphabet. I have a bad habit of reading several books with the same letter when I should be filling in the missing letters on my list. Oh well. The important thing is by participating in this challenge, we all are making time and finding time to read.
I've read quite abit this summer- after school was finished that was really all the energy I had to do- gradually over the summer I have been quilting and cleaning out some corners and such.
I have read some of Anna Quindlen- I loved Black and blue as well as one true thing. I did not get through them without weeping. Jodi Picoult's work is like that too- powerful stories that are thought provoking- not always uplifting but usually very moving.
Happy reading.
Regards,
Anna
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