While on vacation I read the following books:
- Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Miakelson. This book had been on my list of YA books to read for quite some time, but I decided to use it as our summer school text and needed to get with it. It's a really, really good YA book, especially for the more troubled of the lot. The main character, Cole Matthews, has been through the legal system and finally pulls his last straw...severely beating a fellow classmated. His last chance at avoiding jail is to take part in a new program derived from the Native American form of healing called Circle Justice. Cole decided to take part and is banished to a remote Alaskan island where he confonts not only his own ghosts, but a mythical bear called the Spirit Bear.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Honestly, I only selected this title because it was on Oprah's Book Club list (I know...pretty lame!). Usually I am happy with the books she chooses, but not this time. I respect McCarthy as a writer, so I was a bit surprised that I didn't take to this book at all. There were a few good lines ("Each was the other's world entire" -- good writing!) but the tone of the book was just way too dark for me...especially for a vacation read. Father and son survive a nuclear winter and attempt to make their way in a world that is totally foreign to them, attempting to allude other survivors who mean them harm. The ending didn't dissappoint; it was just as dark as the entire tome!
- A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseni. Again, I was anxiously awaiting this book by the author of The Kite Runner. His first book was an Eliot Rosewater nominee and an all-out excellent book. This one lived up to my anticipation, and was, I think, possibly even better than the first book! This is the story of two Afghan women who are both wives of one Afghan man. Their hate for one another turns into friendship and their seemingly diverse and hurtful pasts are woven into one life that, like those of most Afghan women, takes a tragic turn that tests the bonds of their friendship and love.
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. We selected this as our next book club title and I'm really excited for our group to discuss it next week. It's a memoir, and not just any memoir...it's funny. Gotta love that! Alas, most of the humor throughout comes from the insane (literally) antics of the author's parents who, honestly, are just not mentally stable enough to be raising one kid let alone four. From putting the kids in the back of a U-Haul while moving to "checking out" of the hospital by jumping into an ideling car, their parenting skills leave much to be desired. In the end, her parents wind up homeless (but happy), living their eccentric lives with the same passion and flair as always.
