I mentioned earlier in the week that I returned from the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing with a suitcase full of books. On that subject, I thought it might be fun to share book lists.
I’ll start.
What I just finished reading
The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr — I heard Mary Karr interviewed at the Calvin Festival and she is a spunky spitfire. I loved her instantly. As I was reading this book, a memoir of the early years of her traumatic childhood, I could not believe the detail of her memory and I was hoping someone would ask her about at the Festival. Someone did. I think she might have a photographic memory, though she didn’t get that specific with terms. She said that one of the side effects of PTSD is a very vivid sense of your most traumatizing memories. Maybe that explains it. The book is painful, poignant, and her voice is unforgettable. I’m 50 pages into Lit now (her 3rd memoir about coming to faith), and I’m sure I’ll go back and read Cherry (her 2nd memoir in the “series”) when I’ve finished Lit.
Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert — Don’t you feel for a woman who wrote the most celebrated book in the history of mankind only to have to turn around and produce another one? OK, you’re right, she is a gazillionaire and Julia Roberts is playing her in the upcoming movie based on her book, so maybe we shouldn’t feel too sorry for her. Nonetheless, in this book, I can sense her angst. I feel you, Liz. The blank page is the great equalizer. The book annoyed and angered me at points (as did EPL), but I also found her vulnerability endearing in places. Her final conclusions about marriage (which I won’t ruin the thing by telling you) were challenging and gave me a lot to think about. All in all, worth reading.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin — A slim novella that I first read my sophomore year of college, I have always felt cosmically connected to this work and re-reading it was no different. Chopin’s Edna Pontellier seems to be living some of the very things I’m interested in and thinking about right now, maybe even some of the same things I’m living. I find the story enormously tragic and yet familiar. Haunting.
What I’m reading right now
Lit by Mary Karr — So far, soooooo good. Again, unmatched voice.
The May Queen: Women on Life, Love, Work, and Pulling It All Together in Your 30s — This collection of essays, including one from Jennifer Weiner, has been on my shelf for at least a couple years, but I just recently picked it up. I like how you can absorb it in bite-sized chunks as well as the collection of different voices and different stories.
What I’m reading after I’m done with what I’m reading right now
Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott — Though better known for her non-fiction (in most circles anyway), this is Lamott’s first novel in a long time telling the continued story of her characters from Rosie. I read Rosie, and loved it. Can’t wait for this one. But I hope, for all our sakes, she keeps writing non-fiction. We still need your essays, Anne!!!
The Help by Kathryn Stockett — My mom is engrossed in this novel right now, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. The story is very reminiscent of the way my mom was raised in her own Southern home, and I know I will better understand her history by reading this book.
A Syllable of Water: Twenty Writers of Faith Reflect on Their Art — Another collection of essays. This is one I picked up at the Festival, and I can’t wait to read it. Contributors include Luci Shaw, Philip Yancey, Richard Foster, and Eugene Peterson. I love little more than reading about writers who talk about writing. Honestly, I could read about writing eternally.
Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent — Heard great things about this one. Can’t wait to get into it.
Great with Child: On Becoming a Mother by Debra Rienstra — Also picked this one up at the Festival. The author is a professor at Calvin College. Motherhood is a subject I’m interested in, and I’m equally interested in how others are writing about their experiences.
Your turn . . . what are you reading? Cough it up!
