What are you reading?

[Kätzchen]

The past week or so, I've been reading from 3 books, which I've nearly finished all three: Strange Justice (it's a dry read, bit there's fascinating information concerning key players in the Anita Hill story which covered little known facts about her case against Clarence Thomas), The Girl Who Wrote in Silk (it's is an fairly good read), and of course, Love in the Time of Cholera, which I like this book so very much. I'd recommend LITTOC as an very good book to read!).

Today, I got a couple of articles in the mail from a good friend which one else article was a book review on two books: 1) Celeste Ng --- Little Fires Everywhere, and 2) The Italian Teacher, by Tom Rachman. Both look like good stories to read. I'm particularly interested in the Rachman book for its take on redemption (family relational issues). Also, they clipped am great news article from The Seattle Times on foods that lower blood sugars, so that was very interesting and gave me some great alternative ideas for meals (breakfast, lunch and supper).

I might find myself taking a break from reading new books and just read from an big collection of books I've got here at home, if I feel led to read from a good book I've enjoyed before.

This week I had an serious spinal exam, so I'll be waiting to read the test results from three different doctor's specializing in Orthopedic medicine and Neurology. I've got my fingers crossed for the best outcome possible.

[homoe]

by Mitchell Leaska & John Phillips

After just posting in one of the many movie threads about a movie being released concerning the affair between Woolf and Vita I came across this book. I've just started it and although it was hard getting through the lengthy introduction, once the letters start they are fascinating!


More than a decade before her love affair with Virginia Woolf, English author Vita Sackville-West fell in love with another woman, the writer and socialite Violet Keppel. The two embarked upon one of the most intense and turbulent affairs in literary history. The exquisite epistolary records of their relationship, which was later fictionalized in Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking novel Orlando, span more than a decade and are captured in Violet to Vita. The letters are preserved at Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. They bare some of the most urgently, breathtakingly passionate uses of the English language.

[cinnamongrrl]

I'm reading Song Yet Sung by James McBride. It's a book for school but I have previously enjoyed a book by the same author, The Color of Water. That book was more auto biographical, and it has been my experience that a great biographer isn't necessarily a great author. Mr. McBride very adeptly leaves my theory in the dust.

synopsis:

In the days before the Civil War, a runaway slave named Liz Spocott breaks free from her captors and escapes into the labyrinthine swamps of Maryland’s eastern shore, setting loose a drama of violence and hope among slave catchers, plantation owners, watermen, runaway slaves, and free blacks. Liz is near death, wracked by disturbing visions of the future, and armed with “the Code,” a fiercely guarded cryptic means of communication for slaves on the run. Liz’s flight and her dreams of tomorrow will thrust all those near her toward a mysterious, redemptive fate.

Filled with rich, true details—much of the story is drawn from historical events—and told in McBride’s signature lyrical style, Song Yet Sung is a story of tragic triumph, violent decisions, and unexpected kindness.

[Fancy]

Shakespeare: The World as Stage
By Bill Bryson


First, I enjoy Bill Bryson’s writing style, storytelling ability, and how he draws humor out of massive amounts of information (I.e. A Short History of Nearly Everything).

Second, as a theatre nerd, fact or fiction or anything in debate about Shakespeare draws my attention.

This fun little romp of a book does not disappoint. :-)

[Kobi]

Former U.S. secretary of labor (1993-97) Reich examines what he sees as a divided America. His takeoff point is the call made 50 years ago by President John F. Kennedy for Americans to contribute individually for the common good. Reich despairs that instead Americans have become increasingly selfish. He harshly criticizes the freebooting of CEOs, the self-first philosophy of Ayn Rand, and the divisive presidency of Donald Trump. He chronicles societal changes that he says have resulted in national disunity, distrust, and hopelessness. Reich concludes that pulling together as a society is the only strategy for longterm mutual prosperity and that leaders must act as trustees for the common good. That those who do the right thing should be honored, and those who gain by underhanded means shamed, that fact-based truth must be demanded, and citizens must be both educated and engaged. Very timely with discussion of the sexual harassment scandal in Hollywood and NFL kneeling protests, Reich's work is an important call for reform that should appeal to a wide audience disaffected with the status quo.