On the bookshelf

R says I'm a "mangialibri" or "bookeater" (which sounds nicer in Italian, although anything sounds nicer than "bookworm" in English). I'm the type that'll stay up late to finish a book even though I know I'll be destroyed the next day. While I keep a master Google Doc of everything I read (if you knew me in real life, you would not be at all surprised by this), these are just my most recent favorites. Whenever I upgrade from my windowsill to a bookshelf one day, they'll definitely be included.

Pssst: to see everything I'm reading (and consuming in general), favorite or not, click on over here.

* And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 
Hosseini's third book is just as mesmerizing as his first two. This time the story doesn't just take place in Afghanistan and the Bay Area of San Francisco, but Paris and the Greek island of Tinos, too, enlarging the web of families across even more generations and continents. He's told tales of brothers, of sisters, but this one, of the enduring connection between a brother and his sister deeply affected me (of course, given my own family composition). Hosseini's writing style, which at first reads like seemingly-fragmented short stories (which I do not like) are nothing like it. He always leaves a silken thread that keeps you tethered to the story of what defines a family, love and the moral choices we make, starting with an Afghan fable that foreshadows it all, and will break your heart.



* The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Completely entrancing and heart-wrenching story that jumps between the time periods, countries and perspectives of a woman, her mother and her granddaughter as the woman tries to understand who her parents are and how she arrived alone in Australia from England when she was only 5 years old. Not only is there a family saga (I love a good generational tale), but also a castle/manor and fairy tale authors and illustrators in the mix. Something about the allegories and English cottages and descriptions of gardens nestled under my skin and I couldn't stop thinking about this book until I finished it (and even for a few days after). Have already requested Kate Morton's other books from my local library.

* Calling Me Home by Julie Kilber
Heartbreaking, but oddly redemptive, story of the tortured love between a young white girl and the black son of her family's housekeeper. I don't always love when books shift back and forth in time continuously, but I really liked the flow of this one. As Isabelle, the white woman (now elderly), has to head home to face her past, she asks Dorrie, her black hairstylist who's in her late 30's, to drive her. While in the car, the story shifts from Dorrie's present-day perspective to Isabelle's memories from the 1940's as she tells Dorrie her history. This isn't exactly a happy story (although there are a few funny parts), but a real one that has moments of both beauty and torment.


* Heading out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick
A traumatized man, a worshipful boy and a sheltered, dreamer of a girl thrown together in a time and place that wasn't quite ready for them. Ooof, one of those books that really hits you, but I would never read it again, and I'm not sure if I'd recommend it, but I'm so glad I read it. Make sense?







* The Happiness Project & Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin
I'm not a big reader of self-help books...or at least I wasn't. I mostly read fiction, but I had heard rumblings of these two companion books by Gretchen Rubin on the Internets and so I decided to give these a whirl and hoooboy, I found so many similarities in my behavior and the author's that I zoomed through them both in a day and a half.

She writes about creating your own happiness—and shows exactly how she set out to do that with stories of changes she made and attitudes she developed over the course of a single year (the first) and a single school year (the second). There are times when it gets a wee bit too academic, with lots of quotes and references from Samuel Johnson to Ben Franklin to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

These definitely got me thinking...quite a bit.







* The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
I first read this hefty book almost 3 years ago on our honeymoon and since I loved it so much I figured it was time to reread it. The 2nd read left me a little less enthused (the ending hit me harder and I found Marc Antony more insipid), butif you're into an intense, detailed read of a great woman's reign (which follows fact—not that much fact is available—pretty clearly), you'll enjoy this. I'm not a big history person, but historical fiction? Yes, please.





* The Island by Victoria Hislop
So, here's the thing—I once read a really great book by this woman and was obsessed with reading her other works, but the description of this one seemed to be a little blah to me (the founding of a Greek island of lepers), despite my fondness for said country. But, I decided to just go ahead and download it for our trip and you know what? It was a wonderful, multi-generational story of family, Greek life, overcoming difficulties, love and betrayal that I really enjoyed.


I love love love Daniel Silva. He offers the art + religion + espionage trifecta that I look for when it comes to non-foodie and travel memoirs. As a bonus, his plot lines bounce around Europe, with a special focus in Italy/Vatican City. Gabriel Allon is one of my favorite literary characters (a preference I apparently share with Bill Clinton!). I've been waiting for this, the latest, to arrive at NYPL for months!

5 comments :

  1. J - just downloaded cleopatra...! :) now i don't ingest books like you and alla do, so it might take me a while... but excited to dig in!

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    1. I am SO excited for you, it's a fabulous read, especially if you're as enthralled by Cleopatra as I am. Enjoy and please do let me know how you like it once you start! ;)

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  2. Replies
    1. Ha, detail-oriented lady, aren't you? I made a note at the top that these are just my most recent favorites. My complete list is kept "offline" in Google Docs (along with my rating system--!), but none of the books I read in April were "keepers".

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    2. P.S. More of that list here: http://sparklingly.blogspot.com/p/currently.html

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XOXO,
J.