This month’s selections ran the gamut from writing handbooks to young adult bestsellers thanks to the libraries of friends, public libraries, and some gifts.
I put off reading this acclaimed memoir for a while because I knew it would be powerful and frankly I didn’t feel like having my heart torn out. It was as powerful as I expected, and once again I marveled at her ability to let description do the emotional work of story telling. She clearly got an “A” the day they taught “show, don’t tell” in writing school.
What I found most courageous was that the book simply encompasses the year it advertises on the cover. Nothing is tied up or resolved at the end, there is no punctuation mark on her grieving. She just takes us along for a year, and drops us off at the end.
From time to time I read the YA novels my students have read. From time to time one of the English teachers will leave a book on my desk. That is exactly what happened with Hunger Games, so I took it home and read it in two nights.
I would have been annoyed with myself if I’d given it any more than two nights of my life. The plot was engaging but the writing painfully clunky. At some point I’ll read the other two.
The Slaves Have Names: Ancestors of My Home
This warm, informative book from Andi Cumbo-Floyd recounts the history of the slaves that lived and worked on the land she now occupies. Working with limited resources in the historical record, Andi weaves her imagination, her history with the area, and historical fact to fill out the story of a place.
The Memoir Project, Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir
These two were next to each other on the shelf at the library so I grabbed them both. Memoir Project in brief: Interesting, helpful, engagingly written, short. Shimmering Images in brief: buzzwordy, gimmicky, short (made shorter by the fact that I didn’t finish it).
This was the third short book I read this month and I was starting to feel like a cheat, stacking my list with easy reads. Vinita Hampton Wright combines artistic advice with practical tips for working with publishers and editors, all in a clear, direct way. I highly recommend this book.
My final recommendation is The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev, a special feature that ran in the Boston Globe during December. The thoroughly researched and marvelously written profile of the brothers who carried out the Marathon Bombing doesn’t necessarily give any answers as to why this tragedy took place, but it paints an enlightening picture of an immigrant family unraveling. This made me tear up, cringe, and be thankful that this kind of writing still has a home in the modern newspaper.
Now I’m on to a novel by Joyce Maynard, and have a stack I hope to conquer before winter break ends. Did you get any good books for Christmas? What did you read in December?
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I was sick for a bit, busy, and moving (again). I’ve been creeping through The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in my lucid moments. I’ve been poking at The Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross and The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Àvila.
The one book I did finish was Solomon Northrup’s Twelve Years a Slave. I know why a movie about slavery would be R-rated, so I know I won’t see it because I can’t handle the graphic imagery. The story interested me though, and it’s well told and worth reading. I got the Overdrive e-audiobook from the library’s Overdrive database, and I liked it very much — it’s read by Louis Gossett Jr., and is compellingly read.
Hope you had a lovely Christmas, and Happy New Year! 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear that you have been sick! I hope you’re feeling better and are back to reading soon. Happy New Year!
I just finished reading the Divergent Series which I enjoyed. I did not like the last book as much as the first two. I think she could continue it is she wanted too. I noticed they have a movie coming out next year on the first book.
Glad to hear you liked those books. Those are on the “YA books I ought to read” list, but I have to pace myself with that stuff 🙂