Spring Break Book Recommendations

A friend texted me over the weekend to ask for a book recommendation. It reminded me that it’s been a few months since I cataloged my reading escapades on the blog. My book reading goal this year is a lofty 50 books, one of which includes the mack-daddy of all books, The Bible. 

I’m doing a 365 day plan through our church and doing pretty well with it. I'm even a few days ahead as of now. Right now I’m sludging through Leviticus which is pretty….detailed…I’m fairly sure I’d never even glanced at this book of the Bible before so I’m glad that I’m getting exposed to new scripture and getting a lot of context and background in terms of the Old Testament. Of course I recommend everyone read The Bible! Other books I’ve read recently that I can recommend are (links included for your convenience) : 

1) The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett. 

 

Ann Patchett is my new favorite author, so chances are if you ask me for a book rec I will respond ‘anything by Ann Patchett'. That being said, The Magician's Assistant didn’t hold a candle to Bel Canto or State of Grace. 

I was told by a friend that when reading Patchett you should start with The Magician’s Assistant first. It’s a perfectly enjoyable and masterfully written novel. It’s just that Bel Canto may be one of the most wonderful books ever written so reading any book after that is going to be a bit of a let down. As it happens, I read State of Wonder first and absolutely raved about it. Had I read Bel Canto beforehand, maybe I wouldn’t have found it so cutting edge? 

Anyhoos, all the aforementioned books get a staff recommendation from me. I never met an Ann Patchett book that I didn't love. The Magician’s Assistant is about a widowed woman who discovers a family of her late husband that she never knew existed. The beauty of Patchett’s novels come in the complexity of relationships and how the most unlikely characters end up inextricably linked. 

2) Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. 

 

Speaking of Ann Patchett, a while back I recommended her memoir Truth and Beauty which archives her relationship with fellow writer Lucy Grealy. This memoir is Grealy’s own work, an introspective look at how childhood cancer which demanded the removal of part of her jaw shaped her self-image of beauty. One of the most beautiful chapters of the book is called Truth and Beauty which is where Patchett’s title came from. I think this is a great pair of books to read together. If anything it shows how differently two people can experience the same period of time, and how one thinks they are viewed by others might be totally inaccurate. 

On a side note, in Patchett’s Truth and Beauty, she visits Grealy in Aberdeen where she is having reconstructive surgeries. Patchett describes Scotland as dreary, dark and depressing. I was pleasantly surprised that Grealy described it as gorgeous and somewhat magical, more in line with my own memory of Aberdeenshire. 

3) What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love by Carole Radziwill. 

 

I’m on a bit of a memoir kick lately. This one is written by Carole Radziwill, the widow of Polish prince, Anthony Radziwll. From humble roots, Carole moves up in the world of journalism, fatefully meeting her husband Anthony in the process. She is introduced to a world of European aristocracy as well as American royalty, since Anthony’s uncle was JFK and his cousin and best friend was John Kennedy. Shortly after they married, Anthony was diagnosed with a slow but terminal cancer. 

This memoir follows her marriage as well as her close relationship with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. It’s a tragic telling of how, as she’s preparing for her husband’s final weeks, the couple loses their closest friends, John and Carolyn, in a plane crash. I’ve never much followed the Kennedy family, so this was an interesting read for me. Not groundbreaking by any means, but certainly enjoyable. Fun Fact: Carole Radziwill was one of the cast of Real Housewives of New York City. 

4) Comeback: A Mother and Daughter’s Journey through Hell and Back by Claire and Mia Fontaine. 

 

Sometimes when I feel myself getting stressed about Forest’s 2 year old antics, I remind myself of the old adage ‘small children, small problems’. Yes potty training power struggles and transitions to a big boy bed are daunting and pressurized, but they are really small potatoes compared to the trouble he could get into as a teenager. This memoir is a terrifying tale of a mother who was losing her 15 year old daughter to drug abuse and how she fought to get her back.   

5) Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris. 

 

Harris is best known for her beloved novel-turned-film Chocolat (which I’m currently reading). I was not a humongous fan of the movie Chocolat (I mean, it was a’ight), so I never felt the need to read it. Somehow I caught wind of Five Quarters of the Orange and the premise sounded right up my alley so I decided to give it a try. It takes place in the French countryside during the German Occupation of WWII. So yea, basically my historical fiction jam right there. The narrator is an elderly Framboise, reflecting back on the summer she was 9 years old and how her mother’s severe migraines and her siblings involvement with German soldiers culminated in disaster. It’s a dark tale but beautifully developed.   

6)Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. 

 

Yet another memoir on the list! Something I can’t seem to get enough of are anthropological books that examine differences in cultural parenting practices. This book shares Chua’s own parenting tactics which she claims fall in line with traditional Chinese child rearing. Her children are expected to be perfect and the highest achievers amongst their peers. With her first daughter, this seems to come easily enough (if you consider hours of piano practice each day starting at age 3 easy) but her experience with her second more-spunky daughter was  humbling and eye opening: not all children can be easily controlled.

Jonathan jokes that I am a bit of a Tiger Mother because my competitive spirit seems to creep out in my parenting of Forest. It’s true that he already knows his letters and what sound they all make, numbers, shapes, colors and is starting to read and spell a few sight words. 

We’ve also been discussing which instrument we will start him on at age 3 since we know that learning music can help significantly with math skills. And don’t even get me started on the swim ribbon issue. If you ask Forest what he needs to do for his final 'SUPER aqua baby' swim ribbon he will repeat: Fall in, Turn around and grab the wall. Now, why he won’t actually dooooo that is another issue....

All that being said, Forest has a lot of freedom and fun in his life too. We go hiking, we have play dates, we go to the park. If he isn’t in the mood for learnin’, we don’t push him. We know he’s the sort that is going to be super motivated to learn what he wants to learn, and super un-motivated to learn things he has no interest in. So basically this book is fascinating and makes me feel a bit better about my negligible tiger mom tendencies, because comparatively I am your typical laid back permissive Western parent. Still, you can’t argue with results: Both of Chua's children became musical prodigies. 

7) Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. 

 

This novel documents the lives of 4 orphans in the year after their parents die in a car accident. The responsibility of caring for the younger two are claimed by the older two brothers who give up their own dreams in the process. It's a complex look into their relationships and poses some very important questions on what it really takes to have an impactful life.   

Alright friends! That should keep you busy for a while. Now, if I’m going to read 50 books this year I’m going to need a few recommendations myself. Hit me!