October 2008 booklist
Nov. 2nd, 2008 10:37 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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christianreaderThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
This book is about a woman in Botswana, Africa, who starts the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency--even though she has no experience whatsoever with mysteries/solving crimes. Still, she manages to solve some problems in some very unique ways. I had heard so much about this book/series, but I must admit I found it to be somewhat disappointing. It was still a good, light, fast read, but there wasn't much substance to the story. That is, it's a very sweet, enjoyable people story and sketches of people's lives, but if you're looking for a crime/mystery type book, this wouldn't be it. The other books in the series have nothing to do with this book, right? Each book is a stand-alone? Or do some/all of the characters "move over" into the other books?
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
"Little Dorrit" is the nickname for the youngest Dorrit, Amy, who is quite small in stature, but big in character, and quite mature. She has grown up in the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison, where she takes care of her father. Having read only one other Dickens book to completion, Our Mutual Friend, I found this book to be less confusing, partly because the storyline is much more straightforward, and partly because there aren't quite as many sub-plots going on at the same time. The storyline is wonderful and there are definitely Certain Characters whom you absolutely love and admire at the end of the story. :-) I would highly recommend it--don't be intimidated by its size. (And they're currently playing a mini-series of Little Dorrit on BBC One which looks stunning, but unfortunately, I don't get that channel! :-()
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas
I've been wanting to read a good Wilberforce biography since Amazing Grace (the movie) came out last year/early this year since I am/was woefully ignorant of the subject (although my Atlantic History class last year helped a lot). Wilberforce was an absolutely amazing guy. Very, very normal (well, as normal as one can be when one is born to a noble and very wealthy family in 18th century England). Perhaps he seemed like a "normal" guy because he didn't have a lot of airs and pretenses.. He managed to have a life in politics and very much in the public eye while being Christian; he was brilliantly able to mix the two together without categorizing his faith and his work/politics. However, assuming that what Metaxes wrote to be true, Amazing Grace (the movie) is not quite up to par. Things were much more romanticized in the movie--big surprise. But if you have any interest whatsoever in reading about the man who helped to stop the British slave trade, I would definitely suggest reading this. One tidbit of information I learned, which I thought was fascinating, was that Wilberforce purposefully moved his family close enough to Parliament so that he could save money and walk to the House of Commons. During his walks, he would often recite to himself Psalm 119 (yes, the long one--but an absolutely amazing one, all about keeping His statutes).
Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange
Jane Austen's Emma from Mr. Knightley's point of view. I had never heard for Amanda Grange and her series of diaries (she has one for Knightley, Darcy, Edmund Bertrum, and Captain Wentworth) before, but since I often enjoy other people's parallels or continuations of Austen's works, I thought I'd give these a try. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found it to be clean, amusing, and, for the most part, pretty realistic (meaning she kept Mr. Knightley in his character). There were definitely a few spots that made me laugh out loud. And, of course, knowing the story from the heroine's point of view, it was vastly amusing to see how some of the miscommunication came about. A very fast, easy read, but enjoyable.
The Secret of the Mask created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Ghost in the First Row created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Two more Boxcar books. :-) I should count how many I've read. LOL
In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
Until I took this California History class, I had never read any of Steinbeck's works. I know, bad me. In Dubious Battle takes place in the 1940s in California during the Labor Movement prior to unionization, when agriculture growers were reducing the pay of the pickers and some of the pickers were protesting. I really don't care for labor history, so I didn't find this book to be particularly enjoyable, although it was an easy read and though fictitious, it gives a good picture of what the labor movement was like as well as "life on the ground" for the pickers. This particular book follows Mac and Jim, two guys who help unite the pickers and get them started protesting--some would consider them to be "Reds," that is, Communists. I still don't know what I really think about the Labor Movement, how much I support, what was good or bad, etc.
If He Hollers, Let Him Go by Chester Himes
Another text for my history class, If He Hollers follows four days in the life of Bob Jones, a black man in Los Angeles during World War II when race relations were very tough. Californians treated blacks very differently than the way people in the South treated them. There was a much "cooler" relationship where they weren't flat out racist, but very coolly showed the black people that they were. For instance, one even Bob takes his girlfriend out to dinner at a fancy "white" restaurant. Rather than being turned away outright, they were taken to and out-of-the-way place, served their meal, and then attached to their bill was a small note saying, "please don't come back." However, in the workforce, they did hire blacks to such positions as supervisors (which would not have happened in the South), but there was still a marked difference in treatment. In the four days of Bob Jones' life that this book covers, you can see all the anger (some of which I think was founded and some of which I think was not) built up inside of him. During those four days, Jones is accused of a major crime (which he did not do), and the book ends in a very interesting way...making you see the injustice, but also the grace that was given Jones.
This book is about a woman in Botswana, Africa, who starts the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency--even though she has no experience whatsoever with mysteries/solving crimes. Still, she manages to solve some problems in some very unique ways. I had heard so much about this book/series, but I must admit I found it to be somewhat disappointing. It was still a good, light, fast read, but there wasn't much substance to the story. That is, it's a very sweet, enjoyable people story and sketches of people's lives, but if you're looking for a crime/mystery type book, this wouldn't be it. The other books in the series have nothing to do with this book, right? Each book is a stand-alone? Or do some/all of the characters "move over" into the other books?
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
"Little Dorrit" is the nickname for the youngest Dorrit, Amy, who is quite small in stature, but big in character, and quite mature. She has grown up in the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison, where she takes care of her father. Having read only one other Dickens book to completion, Our Mutual Friend, I found this book to be less confusing, partly because the storyline is much more straightforward, and partly because there aren't quite as many sub-plots going on at the same time. The storyline is wonderful and there are definitely Certain Characters whom you absolutely love and admire at the end of the story. :-) I would highly recommend it--don't be intimidated by its size. (And they're currently playing a mini-series of Little Dorrit on BBC One which looks stunning, but unfortunately, I don't get that channel! :-()
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery by Eric Metaxas
I've been wanting to read a good Wilberforce biography since Amazing Grace (the movie) came out last year/early this year since I am/was woefully ignorant of the subject (although my Atlantic History class last year helped a lot). Wilberforce was an absolutely amazing guy. Very, very normal (well, as normal as one can be when one is born to a noble and very wealthy family in 18th century England). Perhaps he seemed like a "normal" guy because he didn't have a lot of airs and pretenses.. He managed to have a life in politics and very much in the public eye while being Christian; he was brilliantly able to mix the two together without categorizing his faith and his work/politics. However, assuming that what Metaxes wrote to be true, Amazing Grace (the movie) is not quite up to par. Things were much more romanticized in the movie--big surprise. But if you have any interest whatsoever in reading about the man who helped to stop the British slave trade, I would definitely suggest reading this. One tidbit of information I learned, which I thought was fascinating, was that Wilberforce purposefully moved his family close enough to Parliament so that he could save money and walk to the House of Commons. During his walks, he would often recite to himself Psalm 119 (yes, the long one--but an absolutely amazing one, all about keeping His statutes).
Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange
Jane Austen's Emma from Mr. Knightley's point of view. I had never heard for Amanda Grange and her series of diaries (she has one for Knightley, Darcy, Edmund Bertrum, and Captain Wentworth) before, but since I often enjoy other people's parallels or continuations of Austen's works, I thought I'd give these a try. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found it to be clean, amusing, and, for the most part, pretty realistic (meaning she kept Mr. Knightley in his character). There were definitely a few spots that made me laugh out loud. And, of course, knowing the story from the heroine's point of view, it was vastly amusing to see how some of the miscommunication came about. A very fast, easy read, but enjoyable.
The Secret of the Mask created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Ghost in the First Row created by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Two more Boxcar books. :-) I should count how many I've read. LOL
In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
Until I took this California History class, I had never read any of Steinbeck's works. I know, bad me. In Dubious Battle takes place in the 1940s in California during the Labor Movement prior to unionization, when agriculture growers were reducing the pay of the pickers and some of the pickers were protesting. I really don't care for labor history, so I didn't find this book to be particularly enjoyable, although it was an easy read and though fictitious, it gives a good picture of what the labor movement was like as well as "life on the ground" for the pickers. This particular book follows Mac and Jim, two guys who help unite the pickers and get them started protesting--some would consider them to be "Reds," that is, Communists. I still don't know what I really think about the Labor Movement, how much I support, what was good or bad, etc.
If He Hollers, Let Him Go by Chester Himes
Another text for my history class, If He Hollers follows four days in the life of Bob Jones, a black man in Los Angeles during World War II when race relations were very tough. Californians treated blacks very differently than the way people in the South treated them. There was a much "cooler" relationship where they weren't flat out racist, but very coolly showed the black people that they were. For instance, one even Bob takes his girlfriend out to dinner at a fancy "white" restaurant. Rather than being turned away outright, they were taken to and out-of-the-way place, served their meal, and then attached to their bill was a small note saying, "please don't come back." However, in the workforce, they did hire blacks to such positions as supervisors (which would not have happened in the South), but there was still a marked difference in treatment. In the four days of Bob Jones' life that this book covers, you can see all the anger (some of which I think was founded and some of which I think was not) built up inside of him. During those four days, Jones is accused of a major crime (which he did not do), and the book ends in a very interesting way...making you see the injustice, but also the grace that was given Jones.
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Date: 2008-11-03 08:33 am (UTC)