Reading “American Wife”

Recently finished this fabulous book by author Curtis Sittenfeld. Now I’m eager to read her others.

“American Wife” is a novel that runs from 1954 through 2007, about a lovely woman named Alice Lindgren. She is from a quintessential middle-American family, an only child raised by a banker and housewife in Wisconsin. The boy she believes would have been the great love of her life is killed in a bizarre accident during their high school years and she dreams of him throughout her life.

Alice is a solid woman, strong in her convictions, happy in her work as a librarian. Her best friend, Dena, grew up in the house across the street from her and they remain friends into their 30s. Then she meets Charlie Blackwell at a barbeque and her life takes a new direction.

The Blackwells are a wealthy, country club family that made their fortune selling meat products. Charlie’s father, Harold, the patriarch of the family, had also served as Wisconsin’s governor and the family is vocal in their Republican political beliefs. Although Alice is a Democrat, she and Charlie marry and they eventually end up in the White House.

This book is a good, long read at 555 pages, the type of saga that covers a gamut of issues from race to gay relationships to the very public visibility of political families. Here is an excerpt from the book, a thought by Alice that I thought summed it up quite well:

I have felt strongly since Charlie entered public office that my foremost duty is to take care of him, to be the one person he sees on a daily basis who’s not paid to agree or disagree with him, who really is just a friend. Is it startling, then, that I wasn’t altogether displeased by an event that would draw attention to my disagreement with his stance on a particular issue without my being the one who’d revealed our conflicting views?

curtis sittenfeld

I love that this young author won the Seventeen magazine fiction writing contest in 1992, at age sixteen. Her work has been published in publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, Salon and Glamour, and featured on public radio’s This American Life.

Visit her website at http://www.curtissittenfeld.com/

Reading “When Crickets Cry”

So it seems the book club I’ve joined is not too serious. Out of 6 of us, only 2 actually read the entire book for this month, 1 had just about finished it and the other 3 didn’t even start it. But we drank 3 excellent bottles of wine (my favorite was Vampire Pinot Noir) and still managed to have a very nice discussion about it using questions from a reading group guide.

November’s selection, “When Crickets Cry” by Charles Martin, was sent to me for my birthday a few years ago by my middle sister. I absolutely loved it when I read it then and so suggested it as a good read. Couldn’t wait to read it again and it was just as good as I remembered it.

This story is about Reese, a man who is hiding from tragic events that occurred a few years earlier. He has remade himself with a carefully crafted but comfortable life and has a few close relationships, mainly his endearing brother-in-law, Charlie. The day he meets 7-year-old Annie, selling lemonade to raise money to help cover her medical bills and pay for a heart transplant, the new existence he’s created begins to slide out of his control.

charles martin

This book is just plain beautiful. Charles Martin always seems to include water in his books and this one is no exception. Set on the Tallulah River and Lake Burton in Georgia, Reese and Charlie refurbish boats and row together in the early morning hours. Martin’s words are so descriptive, you can smell and taste and envision the places and people he writes about. This story is full of medical jargon and some pretty exciting scenes revolving around transplants.

Published in 2006 with 336 pages, a website for a Reading Group Guide is also given that makes this especially good for book clubs. I would give this book 5 stars out of 5 and plan to re-read it many times over. Visit his website at http://charlesmartinbooks.com/

Reading “Speak”

This book nearly leaves me speechless. It brought back to me all the tough parts of high school — anxiety, awkwardness, the yearning to fit in. My high school years were a long time ago so I can’t even imagine how much tougher it’s become on today’s kids.

Melinda is entering her freshman year of high school after calling the cops a few months before, breaking up an end-of-year party. So, of course, everyone is mad at her. All of her friends have abandoned her. And, unfortunately, she can’t bring herself to tell them all what really happened at the party and why she did it.

She finds that introverting and saying as little as possible is the only way to function. Even her family seems to be going through a foundering dysfunctional phase. Finding out what brought all this about and how she drags herself out of the downward spiral it causes makes this a fascinating read. With only 198 pages, it’s also a quick read.

laurie halse anderson

This is a first novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson in 1999. Check out her website at http://writerlady.com. It has won numerous honors and awards and is really an excellent book, especially if you have kids in the middle school/high school age group. Even if you don’t, wrap yourself in a blanket, make yourself a cup of something warm and settle in. It’s like visiting high school again without being afraid you’ll forget your locker combination.

And speaking of reading, I’ve finally joined a book club. Yay! I’ve wanted to do this for years and just recently was invited to join a small group of lovely ladies that I know from a charitable organization I’ve worked with.

They meet once a month, discuss a little reading and drink some wine. One of the members says it’s a wine club and we read a little. 🙂 The first book I’ve read with the group is “The Lost Symbol,” Dan Brown’s latest and greatest. (Mom, I will send it to you eventually.) What a fun discussion. Especially when there are things like religion and politics involved. Woo hoo! Pour another glass of cabernet.