The Books of June

It's time again for another book post. Aren't you excited?

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. This was one of those books, the kind where I didn’t understand how it was done, and liked it anyway. It was confusing, a bit hard to follow at times, but lovely, beautiful and worthwhile. I would never have written anything like it and perhaps that is the best part. It's hard to even try to describe the plot. Let me just say that it's a story about people, love, loss and plagiarism. Thanks to Kristina for the recommendation!

An Altar in the World by Barbara Taylor Bradford.

I expected to love this book. It was endorsed by Lauren Winner (not that I'm pointing fingers) and I love everything she's written. This book did have some good points, but in general I found it rather broad, meandering and lacking in original insight. All this aside, if you're interested in some thoughts on living life as a spiritual act, you may be able to glean something from it.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

There were several reasons why I didn't want to read this book.

1. It is popular.

2. It's written by a white woman predominantly about black women, attempting to speak their thoughts.

3. It's being made into a movie.

4. It's controversial.

All this said, I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written, (apparently) well researched and made me think.

The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. 

This ends the lovely journey of many years that I have had with the dashing and intrepid detective Lord Peter Wimsey. If you haven't read this series, go ahead and start with the first book: Whose Body? and go from there. This is a mystery series for people who like to think, be challenged, and, perhaps, pick up a few tips (just kidding). I'm all set to start reading them all over again.

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry.

Known for such amazing works as The Giver, I am compelled to say that this is not her best work. However, true to the form of some of her other books (I'm thinking especially of The Birthday Ball which I loved) this one is peppered with dry humor and vocabulary words. The plot is preposterous, and, I think, that's the point.

From my quick foray into the series, I think this will please fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

What are you reading?