The Loom, by Shella Gillus. This book was inspired by a story in the author's family, where an African slave-who had pale skin-escaped and mingled in with the white community, unnoticed. Fascinating, isn't it? The prose style of this book is beautiful, and I loved the language that Gillus used to describe the intensity of slave life on a plantation. The book follows the character Lydia, her loves, her family, and her desire for freedom. It poses questions, like "What am I willing to sacrifice for freedom?" and "What is true freedom?" This book is very allegorical, and the biblical details that the author used to cleverly portray the allegory were quite nice, I thought. I really enjoyed this book, and I loved the romance, adventure, and provoking questions.
The Everlasting Man, by G.K.Chesterton. This is a fantastic book where Chesterton goes through history through the lens of Christ's Incarnation. Chesterton touches on a wide range of topics, but my most favorite part is where he discussed the timelessness of Christ's teachings, especially regarding marriage.
"But Christ in his view of marriage does not in the least suggest the conditions of Palestine of the first century. He does not suggest anything at all, except the sacramental view of marriage as developed long afterwards by the Catholic Church. It was quite as difficult for people then as for people now."This book was difficult for me to follow at times, probably because I haven't read much of Chesterton's non-fiction works, but I am so glad that I read it, and I will definitely re-read it!
Searching for Grace Kelly, by Michael Callahan. I mainly picked up this book because I love 1950s fashion! This story follows a woman named Laura, who moved to New York City in 1955 for a summer job with a leading magazine. She moved into the Barbizon Hotel, a setting that really takes on a life of its own. Following the lives of Laura and her friends, Dolly and Vivian, New York and the Barbizon in the 1950s really came to life. Each of these three women tries to find fulfillment, and ultimately suffers heartbreak from mistakes. However, despite the drama and the problems that these women face, hope still remains at the close of the book. This isn't a heavy read, or an intense read, but a quick, pretty enjoyable book. I would peg this book for high schoolers on up; there is some pretty bad language at parts, a rape scene, and one or two other sex scenes. None of the scenes are explicit, but they're still there.
The Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries, by Kaitlyn Dunnett. These books are fun! They follow the life and adventures of Liss, a young woman who runs a Scottish Emporium in Maine. Inevitably, she winds up solving murder cases, cuddling with her cats, and dealing with small-town drama in each book. I've read books 4-6 and book 8, because I didn't know which order they were in (the order is on the website, I've found), so some of the big plot points weren't a huge surprise, like who Liss marries, but having that "spoiled" wasn't a big deal for me, since it was kind of obvious. These are very entertaining books, which I have really enjoyed, especially during those times when I don't want anything heavy, but just want fluff that's not too fluffy.
William Shakespeare's Star Wars, by Ian Doeshcer. This series combines two things which I greatly love: Shakespearean plays and Star Wars. Really, what could be better than reading R2D2 beep in iambic pentameter? Plus,Yoda only speaks in haikus, which is awesome. Not only are these books wonderful to read for the sake of nerdiness, but they also give good insight into the minds and hearts of different characters of the Star Wars saga, which I really appreciate! I have only read 1 1/2 of the books in the series so far (Verily, a New Hope and I'm halfway through The Empire Striketh Back), but I love them, and I am so excited to continue reading the series!
Thanks for joining me, everyone! I hope you found something that sounds intriguing! As always, if you have any thoughts on these books, or books you want to recommend, feel free to comment below or send me an e-mail!
"Fluff that's not too fluffy" is exactly what I look for from time to time, so I'll keep those books in mind if I *ever* get through the stack that I'm currently in the midst of! Finding time to read is so tricky - at night before bed I just want to sleep, but during the day I feel like time spent reading is time wasted that I should be using more productively... siiigh.
ReplyDeleteOh man, the struggle!!! One of the things I've done is become a reviewer for Catholicfiction.net, because that means I can actually feel quite productive while reading fiction books, because it's all part of the volunteer reviewer process haha. But yeah, finding time to be productive and read other fiction books can be tricky, while still feeling like a responsible human being. I'm probably a terrible person, but I read under the covers at night all the time-my husband always falls asleep before I do, so I figure, "well, might as well read for a while!" Of course, that means I often get less sleep, which means I "need" to drink more coffee and tea, but that isn't all bad, right? :P
Delete