Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has to be my favorite book over the last year. Gilbert's writing style was so good and this story even better. It's the story of a woman taking a year trip after a bad divorce so that she spent 4 months in Italy (eating and enjoying all things aesthetic), 4 months in India (praying and meditating at an Ashram) and 4 months in Indonesia (loving!). My favorite was the part in India because of the amount she learned about herself, but I have other girlfriends who have preferred the other parts. I think just about any woman (and probably many men) would love this book, so I highly recommend it.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini was another wonderfully written book that tells an amazing story. Hosseini is the auther of Kite Runner, which I haven't read yet, but which has reached #1 on all the top sellers lists. A Thousand Splendid Suns is the story of two women in Afghanistan who come together under less than desirable circumstances. It tells of the ways that the people in this country have been affected by these wars, both negatively and positively and really makes you think and question some beliefs about the wars that you may currently have. I recommend this book to all women both as a wonderful story of women and the ways that they are able to live through terrible circumstances with love still in their hearts and as the story of what is going on in the Middle East through these recent times.
Jon Krakauer has been getting a lot of publicity lately with his book Into the Wild being made into a movie (which I've heard is great but have yet to see it). I haven't read that one yet, but I finished Into Thin Air a few months back and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's his true story of climbing Mount Everest during one of the deadliest seasons of all times. The way it is written keeps you constantly interested and wanting to know what's going to happen next. Even if you are not into climbing, this is a great and thrilling read.
Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons by Lorna Landvik was one book that I went into thinking that it would be an enjoyable, but pretty thoughtless chick book read. But it was a lot more than that! It's a great story of a group of women who start a book club when they are pretty young and keep it going for 30 years! The stories of these women in their lives with each of their growing and living pains brought out a lot of my own emotions and showed me a lot about my own life. It's written very well and is easy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend this one to any guys, but definitely recommend it to all girls.
AND.... it's inspired me to finally start a book club - I've been wanting to be part of one for a long time, but I'm going to do it for sure this time. So any girls in San Diego that want to be a part of it - let me know! I was thinking of maybe starting with this book since it inspired me! :D
A really good friend of mine convinced me to read Living History by Hillary Clinton and I'm really glad I did. It's not a wonderfully written book and the transitions between one subject and another are not very smooth, but it was good for me to learn about Hillary Clinton. The sections that were full of politics and people were not so interesting to me, but her travels around the world and her own political work were very interesting. I actually didn't realize how qualified that she is to work in politics. She has done a lot, including during her law school years, her time as an attorney, her time while Bill Clinton was in office and her time as a Senator and I was quite impressed with her resume! Of course, the book is going to be written from her point of view and written so that it brings about the most positive view of her, but I was very happy to learn about her and her beliefs and views, etc. A lot of people are super opposed to her and I think you should read this book to open your eyes to what you may not have seen before!
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was a very interesting read and not quite what I expected. It's a simple story about a shepherd boy who travels from his home of Spain into the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the pyramids. The points in the book are pretty hidden and not at all obvious if you are just reading the words, but the point that it does pull out is really a good one. It can help us all see that our lifetime searches for worldly goods may not turn out to be what we expect and will hopefully bring out discoveries of treasures within ourselves. If you like a book with a little more depth and one that will make you think about your life and the reasons you do the things you do, pick this one up.
Darkness Visible by William Styron is a very well written book about depression. The first half of this book was very hard for me to get into, but once I got into it, I very much enjoyed the story of a man who suffered with severe depression. If you have suffered with this terrible disease yourself, this book will show you a story of someone else who has been in the deepest depths and will make you feel like you share an experience, but will also offer you hope for the future. If you know someone else who has suffered from depression, this book can show you perhaps a glimpse of what people feel in these darkest times. I thought this book would be very depressing and would bring me down, but instead, I felt like it offered hope.
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell by John Crawford was a great story from a soldier who was over in the Iraqi war. It's pretty horrific to know what he experienced and how war can forever affect soldiers who are there (Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons visits this subject as well). This is a book that all Americans should read to know truths about Iraq that we don't see on the news or in politics.
2 comments:
I want to be in your book club!!! I would LOVE to read more and think this is a great idea! :-)
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