Recent Reads

Nicaragua is a great place to get some reading done, it turns out. They don't tell you that in brochures. Since temperatures in the afternoon often reach the mid-90s, and there's very little refuge to seek in cool places, most days I would seek whatever shade I could find and read until the sun went down. Here are some of the more notable books I've read so far this year: 

A Time to Kill, John Grisham

We've all seen the movie, or parts of the movie, with Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson, about the lawyer who defends an African American man in Mississippi who murders the two white men who raped and beat his daughter. It's a compelling story, but I liked the movie better. The book was good and moved along quickly, but there was a lot of buildup and not very much pay off in the book. At least in the movie, we get that great closing statement from Matthew in the courtroom.

A Painted House, John Grisham

My second Grisham novel of the year, this one is absent any lawyers or courtrooms. The Painted House is set on a farm in rural Arkansas and follows a seven year old kid throughout the summer and into the fall as he picks cotton with his parents and grandparents. They hire a couple other families to help, and there is inevitably some drama. As the little boy narrates, characteristics of small-town life begin to unfold before the reader's eyes, and I was drawn into Luke's life and the terrible and wonderful things he witnesses.

Devil in the White City, Erik Larson

I was taken aback by the sheer amount of research that had to have gone into this book. Larson writes with so much authority, it almost reads like a novel. In the 1890s, Chicago hosted the World Fair, and the architects and builders struggled to top the Parisian World Fair after it revealed the Eiffel Tower a few years earlier. Meanwhile, a charming, slippery, and absolutely crazy murderer lived and worked just a few miles away. This guy, H.H. Holmes, ran a hotel that allowed him to employ young women and then kill them in disturbing ways. It's not a book for the easily-nauseated, but it is pretty fascinating how he managed to do everything he did without getting caught. I also loved getting to picture in my mind the World's Fair, and what the head architect, Daniel Burnham, accomplished. Larson recently wrote another book about the Lusitania that I may have to read.

Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline

This is a novel about a girl from Ireland who came to America with her family, then suddenly finds herself orphaned and shipped out West by train to find a new family. Set at the beginning of the Depression in the 1930s, the book describes takes us through her harrowing experiences with lots of families before she finally settles. I won't spoil it by saying how. Her story is intertwined with another girl's, but this one is 70 years later in Michigan. It's a really good book and I recommend it for a cross-country flight or a quiet weekend at home.

Born Standing Up, Steve Martin

I love Steve Martin. You love Steve Martin. We all love Father of the Bride. That's why I thought this book would be as great as he is. He is a good writer and kept me engaged, but it wasn't as laugh-out-loud hilarious as I thought it was going to be. Martin writes about his stand up career before going into movies, and it was somewhat difficult for me to connect because I know literally nothing about stand-up. However, it's always fun to see behind the curtain (literally) of a celebrity's life and certainly worth a gander if you're into memoirs of famous people.

Go Ask Alice, Anonymous

I read this well-known book, that's had some controversy over the years, in an afternoon. It was promoted as a real-life diary in the 1970s, but has since come out as complete fiction. It is sad to watch this girl's downfall, but what's most interesting to me is that teenage girls are going through the exact same thing as they were in the 70s. Besides all the drugs, Alice pretty accurately describes a lot of the thoughts and feelings girls have in those good ol' teen years.

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins

This is a great new novel. As Rachel commutes into London by train every day, she becomes obsessed with a couple living in one of the track houses that she can see from the train. Then one day she sees the wife doing something she shouldn't be doing, and Rachel gets caught up in the whole thing. Come to find out her ex-husband lives just down the street and comes back into the fold in the worst possible way. I had to pry myself away from it, and I think you'll love it.

Utopia, Thomas More

I bought this at my favorite book store on Capitol Hill and am getting through it slowly. It's surprisingly readable considering it was written in the early 1500s and translated from Latin. It does have a lot of comments about social constructs and politics and is surprisingly relevant to today. I'll have more to report once I finish it. 

Happy reading!!