Summer Reading – The following materials can be found in your local library!
As many of you know, I try to alternate fiction and non-fiction books. I am always looking for new ways to stimulate my mind and not get caught up in the fiction world. Not that a really good fiction book can’t be stimulating, but if I didn’t restrict myself- that would be all I would read!
Girl in Translation written by Jean Kwok. Published in 2010. This is a coming of age story. I remember hearing about this book but didn’t have time to read it when it first came out, so when it came across my desk recently, I grabbed it. I really enjoyed the story and I especially like the setting of the clothing factories (sweatshops) in Chinatown paying dirt cheap wages to all of its employees. One cent per skirt is a difficult way to pay bills or get out of debt. The conditions in the factories are deplorable, as well as the apartment Kimberly and her mother have to live in. Cockroaches and rats everywhere, no heat in the winter months, and windows missing the glass-covered only with plastic. New York winters are extremely cold and I’m amazed these two Chinese immigrants didn’t freeze to death.
The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne, a Michigan author. This story is suspenseful and will keep you wanting more. Can you say Hunger Games set in Michigan? I loved this book. I found the plot compelling, characters well defined, and the setting remarkable. We meet Helena as a young wife and mother. She begins to tell her story only because her father has escaped from jail, otherwise we would never be privy to her private thoughts. She has never even shared her story with her husband…until now. When the police are at her door asking her lots of questions about her past life, she must confess. Her story is one of violence, betrayal, and mental cruelty. She is being hunted by her own father and she must assist the police in capturing him. It pains her to go back, back to a dark place that she has tried hard to forget. We find out so much of her pain as we travel back in time through her memories. The Marsh King’s Daughter is entertaining and thrilling. This is a really well written novel that will make it to the big screen one day. I talked about it so much that Dave is now reading it 🙂
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller. Swimming Lessons is realistic fiction. Ingrid Colman writes letters to her husband. She writes because she has lost her voice, not literally. She is not being heard. She has tried to explain her feelings to her husband but he doesn’t listen, so she takes pen to paper and writes her thoughts in letters. She describes their marriage and how she feels about it. She describes how she feels when he has long absences. She describes her thoughts about being a young mother and quitting school when she found out she was pregnant. She writes hundreds of letters but never gives them to Gil, her husband. Instead, she hides them in his overflowing library of books. She hides them in books that somehow relate to the theme of the letter. She knows one day he will find them and read them. She anticipates that day will come soon. When she is done with the last letter, her final thoughts, she leaves. She leaves and she never comes back. Gil is left only with her letters which he is frantically trying to find so he can piece together a reason for her leaving him. This is an amazing story of young love between a college student and her professor. But don’t mistake-this is not a love story. 
A Simple Favor by Darcy Bell. Another psychological thriller-I just can’t get enough of these types of stories. I originally found this book appealing because the main character, Stephanie, is a blogger. She speaks in blog talk. I loved that part of the book. She is mom to a five-year old boy and her blog focuses on being a “good” mommy. Her son has a friend at school and after a few play dates the moms get to be friends as well. This is when the story takes off. One day Emily asks Stephanie to pick up her son after school and keep him till she can pick him up later in the evening. Problem is- she never comes to pick him up. Days go by and she still doesn’t come to pick him up. A missing person’s police report reveals Emily is dead. Was Emily murdered? Did Emily commit suicide? What secret was Emily hiding? Did Stephanie really know her new friend at all? This story has somewhat of a believable plot, it moves along quickly and I really enjoyed the writing style- the blog posts. It’s a good read.
Still on my bookshelf:
I just need the time to sit and read!
What’s on your night stand?
What’s on your night stand?
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