The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

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the-invention-of-wingsI had been struggling to post this recommendation, I couldn’t figure out why, so I thought about this book for a few weeks.  Then the shooting in Charleston took place. Then I really thought about this story. I finally realized my struggle was shallow, I felt like I should be writing about light hearted beach reads. Beach reads are the cool kids right now. I have not been cool a day in my life, so why start now? In the heat of summer, my reccomendation is a high quality book about slavery and two little known abolistionists.  The Invention of Wings is heavy, yet it is an important book, and relevant to the history of Charleston. I will get to my beach reads later.

Sarah turns 11 and is given a girl named ‘Handful’. ‘Handful’ is hers to own, given like a piece of furniture or doll. Sarah attempts to set her free, but an 11 year old cannot change laws with a handwritten piece of paper. Handful is her slave, and the daughter of the best seamstress in Charleston. Handful and her mother are owned by the Grimke’s and keep the family plantation working and profitable.

The story flips back and forth from Handful to Sarah, telling the stories of Handful’s each girls life from childhood to adult. The injustice and cruelty is hard to stomach, but the story is so rich with character development, historically accurate events, and impeccable story-telling.

Sarah Grimke and her sister, Angelina, grew up to be  abolitionists. Sarah and her sister fought for the rights of slaves and the rights of women in a time when white men truly ruled the world with a tightly closed fist. The Grimke sisters were mocked and called spinsters. They are lesser known heroes in the fight against slavery.

Be sure to read the afterward, the Grimke Sisters were fascinating, and Sue Monk Kidd shares her research and methods of writing the story. A good read.

To Order on Amazon, click here:  The Invention of Wings

Off the Beaten Path: 3 Unusual Book Club Picks

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Everyone is reading Girl on a Train, and well, everyone should. It is exceptional.  It is also excpetional to read some random little gems that most have never hearf of, but are though-provoking, odd, and beautiful all at the same time.  Here are three unconventional choices.

My Wish List by Gregoire Delacourt 

my-wish-list-coverWhat if life was finally good, the hard waves had crashed, you got back up, and the calm waters followed? What if the arrival of such peace was so unexpected, so needed, and so relieving, protecting the peace meant keeping out the good? Our heroine lives in a small French town, her sewing shop is doing unexpectedly well thanks to the popularity of her blog. Extreme sadness has come and gone, but life is good. She is happy with her shop, and sharing the magic of arranging fabric, buttons, and ribbons into a new creation. She is happy until her dear friends convince her to purchase a lottery ticket for the mega jack-pot. When the winner is announced and does not come forward, she knows her life will never be the same.This book is exquisitely written, magical in its telling, yet devastating.  What would you do if you finally had all that money cannot buy and all the money in the world was poised to take it right back? I thought about this book, the setting, the quirky charm, and the question of true love and true happiness it raises long after it was over. A good pick if you are looking for something not everyone is reading.

To Purchase on Amazon, click here: My Wish List: A Novel

The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry

untitledA broody, disgruntled librarian finds a man who has been sleeping in her assigned section overnight. She unloads her every thought, desire, and opinion upon him before the library can open and he can escape to freedom. This book is a long rambling rant from a woman you wished you never started a conversation with. However, I found it whimsical and wonderful.  I loved all 93 pages and literally read it in an hour. From this lonely librarian we learn the history of the Dewey Decimal system, her opinion on Napoleon, library politics, her love lost, and her unrequited library love, Martin. Martin reads in her section each day, and our lovable, yet neurotic protagonist has fallen in love with the back of his neck, and pines after this silent reader daily. If you are looking for something completely unusual, quietly comical, with doses of sweet but sad, this is your book. If your book club is over and done reading the beach reads and best sellers, pick up this inventive little gem. If you don’t like it, you only gave less than a day to reading it. However, my bet is you will like it.

To Purchase on Amazon, click here: The Library of Unrequited Love

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Fowler

we are all beside ourselvesThe opening of this book gives away nearly nothing.  We know the main character is Rosemary, her sister Fern is long gone, and her brother Lowell has left without a good-bye. Rosemary is struggling through college, a fact unsuccessfully hidden from her academic parents. Everyone is a bit off and doing a complicated dance of denial around something unspeakable. I was told to give this book a chance to about page 80. I will give you the same advice, and I am sorry, I will not give anything away. There is an unexpected twist in the middle. The book is not about a simple family drama as it seems at the beginning.  It is an odd story, yet it is well written.  Read it with a Book Group, as it conjures up interesting topics of conversation. It will leave you to ponder on the blend of ethics and science, animal rights and human responsibility, and the definition of family.

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By Karen Joy Fowler We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Pen/Faulkner Award – Fiction) (F First Edition)

If You Liked ‘The Help’, Here is Your Next Read

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Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

calling me homeDory has washed and set Ms. Isabelle’s hair every week for years. They know each other as most people know their regular stylist, sharing just the surface bits and pieces of their lives. This distance is eradicated, and their cordial friendship is taken to a new level when Isabelle asks Dory to drive her to a funeral across the country. Dory accepts with a bit of hesitation, and so begins a journey of friendship which travels across lines of race, generation, and social standing. The miles and hours pass by, as Isabelle tells Dory of her first love. Dory’s present struggles and Isabelle’s past agony unfold as they drive and share their stories.  Isabelle dredges up the past, bit by bit, and Dory compassionately wades through the memories with her.  Dory is fighting battles of her own, with teenage children and new relationships.  Isabelle pushes Dory to live a courageous life in the present, as she reconciles her past. The story is touching, well told, and a good read.  If you like strong women’s fiction, you will enjoy this book.

To Order this Book on Amazon, click here:

Calling Me Home: A Novel

A Girl From Yamhill by Beverly Cleary

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a girl from yamhillmy own two feet_Reading both of Beverly Cleary’s biographies made me long to time travel back to the 30’s and 40’s. Although these were very hard times, as Ms. Cleary wrote about, they are fascinating times in history. I was nostalgic for some aspects of life we will never know, like riding on street cars, going to dances in ankle socks, and being picked up for a date in a Model T. Ms. Cleary’s life is fascinating; she came of age in a time where very few opportunities existed for young people. However, her dream of becoming a librarian became a reality, with an interesting journey along the way.  A Girl from Yamhill tells her story of childhood from a farm to graduating high school in Portland. My Own Two Feet continues her story into adulthood, through college during the great depression, becoming a librarian, and even running an army library on a military base.  She finally got the courage to write her first book, and the rest is her better known history. Writing award winning books and becoming one of the most beloved authors for children. I don’t read many autobiographies, but these were superb. 

To purchase from Amazon, click here:

A Girl from Yamhill

My Own Two Feet (An Avon Camelot Book)

The Girl on theTrain

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The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

the girl on the trainToday I hoped for heavier traffic so I could finish listening The Girl on theTrain.  If you were a fan of Gone Girl, this is your next read.  Rachel rides the same train every day back and forth; she is lonely, tormented, and desperate.  As she rides the train from her small town to London each day, she gazes at the back gardens of all the homes.  She starts to notice the same people each day, she begins to create caricatures in her mind of who they are, what they might be like.  Then one day she sees something; something disturbing and suspicious, and the story gets very interesting.  Three women’s lives intertwine, each one battling their own demons, each one not quite what she seems.  This book is quietly thrilling because no one is easy to figure out, no one is all good or all bad, but some very bad things happen.  Girl on a Train is not a cuddly feel good story, it is dark and gritty, but the suspense at the end is impeccably written.  The tension will grip you to the core, if you need a plane or beach read, pick it up.  If you are fan of intensity, suspense, and thrillers, you will like it.

To Purchase from Amazon, click here: The Girl on the Train