"West of the Night" was truly the best read of the week. It is the autobiography of Beryl Markham, the first woman to fly East to West across the Atlantic. She also grew up in Africa during the same time frame as "Out of Africa" (In the book this is 'Blixen's wife) and "The Flame Trees of Thika". It took me a few chapters to get into her rhythm of writing but once I caught on it was a book I could not put down. It was published originally in 1942 with the forward written by Ernest Hemingway. Beryl Clutterbuck was born 1902 in England and died in Nairobi, Kenya in 1986. Her Wikipedia entry is as fascinating as the book.
"Talk of the Town" was fun because it takes place in Daily, Texas, just outside of Austin. The storyline is about a girl that is on a show similar to 'American Idol' and what they go through for her final '5' show. But more than that it is a story of community supporting one of their own. It starts out a bit slow but then I couldn't put it down.
"Becca By the Book" is written by Lauren Jensen Walker, the same author of "Daring Chloe." As with "Daring Chloe", I highly recommend the book. It is the Christian genre but it makes you think about what kind of Christian you are. Are you a 'showy' Christian or do you quietly practice what you know Christ would want us to do? Thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh, by the way, I probably have as little as I could possibly have in common with the protagonist except she was in a cast for a couple of months.
"Marjorie Morningstar" is a coming of age story of a young Jewish woman written by Herman Wouk. I have decided that Herman Wouk is not one of my favorite authors. Others I have spoken with LOVE his writing but I find him wordy and just not my cup of tea.
This is a 'book at at time blog' so that I can take some of these books back to the library as soon as I finish them. It basically starts with the bottom entry being the first book I read and the top entry the last. Below you will see my review of "The Photograph" by Virginia Ellis. In "A Day in Mossy Creek" written a few years later, they dedicated the book to her memory. I am quite saddened to know that those will be the only books I will read by her. I think there are some other paperbacks out there by her but she was not much older than me. Anyway, "A Day in Mossy Creek' is another wonderful collection of short stories. Since I had the stomach flu this week - it was perfect book to pick up and put down because there was no long plot line to have to remember. As always I highly recommend it.
I really enjoy Virginia Ellis' writing. I have come to love her in Mossy Creek. Her writing is sweet and family oriented. This book takes place in WWII. It takes you through every emotion. I laughed, I cried, I was even angry - but she resolves the book beautifully. It is not totally unexpected but it is a sweet story. I recommend it.
"From The Mixed-Up Files Of Mrs. Basil F. Frankweiler" by E. L. Konigsberg is a book that the girls and I read years ago and even saw an after school special on or a movie about sometime in the late 80's or early 90's. I have decided I enjoy E. L. Konigsberg's books because she has such a childlike innocence with her juvenile characters but her adult characters are still adults - if this makes sense. For example - Claudia and Jamie left home but Claudia knew in her own mind that her parents weren't going to worry if she simply sent a letter home telling them that she and her little brother were OK. Well of course her parents were frantic but the children were having an adventure. This also goes against what I usually read. I guess because no one actually told the children NOT to do what they were doing and they were trying to be respectful was the only reason I could read this book and not read some of the other books where people are told not to do something and they keep on doing it anyway. Maybe it was E.L. Konigsberg's spin on it - I don't know. Interesting bit of trivia. E.L. Konigsberg was the first author to win both the Newbery Award (for this book) and a Newbery Honor Award in the same year (for the first first 2 books she ever published!). She also holds the record for going to longest time between Newberry Awards - 30 years. It was 30 years between this book and "A View From Saturday".
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