It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted about books I’m reading a loving, AND I’ve been reading up a storm, so I thought I’d make today’s Five on Friday all about books.
I’m sharing the last five books I’ve read. These were all read in the month of August.
This was hands down the most gripping and my favorite of all the books I’ve read recently. It is a parallel story of two sets of sisters set during the 1800s in Charlestown, South Carolina. Charleston is close to home to me so many of the places mentioned were familiar and added something extra to the reading of this book. The slave “Hetty”, known as Handful, desires a life of freedom and Sarah Grimke, daughter of slave owners, fights against the horrible system she if forced to abide by and live within. The story follows these two and their sisters throughout thirty-five years of life beginning at Sarah’s eleventh birthday when she was presented with Handful as a birthday gift.
It was interesting to read the author, Sue Monk Kidd’s, notes at the end of the book. This story was inspired by the historical figure Sarah Grimke, who fought for abolition and women’s rights and against the establishment of slavery that she grew up experiencing in Charlestown.
Another book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees is set in South Carolina in the 1960’s. This story follows the life of Lily Owens and her blurred memory of her mother who she accidentally killed when she was 4 years old. She runs away from home with her black “stand-in mother” to escape an abusive father and finds acceptance, solace and answers to the deepest questions of her heart while living with a family of black beekeeping sisters.
Centering around the issue of forced adoptions in Austrailia, this is the story of 38 year old Sabina who discovers that she was adopted and seeks out her birth mother. What she learns changes everything for her.
This was probably my slowest read of all of these. It was good, but just slow moving to begin with. This tells the story of twin brothers who have drifted apart, but are brought back together as one brother was injured in an accident and is in a coma. I loved the way each chapter is named using a letter of the NATO phonetic alphabet.
I am a big fan of Lisa Genova and her writing about people with neurological diseases! In this book Genova gives a voice to Anthony, a nonverbal boy with Autism. It is his voice that guides two women in this story to discover universal truths about life and love that connect us all.
What have you been reading lately? I would love to hear some suggestions!
Barbie says
These all sound like great reads. I’m reading 90 Minutes in Heaven currently and just finished Fulfilled.