September Delights

SEPTEMBER

1. Matched by Alli Condie
The story takes place in the future where every decision has been made for you by the government. (It totally reminded me of my childhood in a communist country!) Even the decision of whom to marry. Upon their 18th birthday, the young people are perfectly matched by the computer with someone in a different area. The main character receives the picture and the name of her future husband, who is her best friend from her neighborhood, and which is very rare to happen, at the banquet of their 18th birthday celebration. Both families are very excited, until later on that night when Cassia looks up the information sent to her about her future husband learning why they are the perfect match, and for a split second another face shows up, enough time for Cassia to want to know more about this other boy, who also happens to be in the same school and neighborhood, a total shock being matched with two boys from the same area, unheard on both accounts. And so starts a beautiful story of self discovery and love, and yes, love triangle. Is is sounding like another book, presently being filmed for the thousands of young adults out there? Yes, it sounds a lot like Hunger Games, but it is better written, less gruesome stuff occur, and it has the chance of not becoming a preaching-against-war series like Hunger Games became. It is more of a self discovery book questioning what the society teaches us to believe. So, here is to Alli in wishing her a better series than Hunger Games! (Her second book of the series, Crossed, is coming out on November 1, 2011, and sounds very exciting. I can't wait!)

2. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
This has taken forever to read to my kids, and they were asking so many questions, that I went ahead and read it on my own so at least I would remember what happens and explain it to them as we go. Now, when I read it to the kids and they ask what happens to this or that character, I'm well acquainted. I'm impressed how beautifully this book is written. It's very different for sure, and the children had a hard time understanding it at first, especially since Stevenson uses a whole sentence to describe something that a word on its own could have explained. I think that's why I like it. The language is superb, and no wonder our forefathers who read similar books when they were young were so well spoken and full of knowledge.

3. Mount Vernon Love Story by Mary Higgins Clark
This was an interesting historical fiction about George Washington's life and the love he had for his wife. Realizing that it was written by Mary Higgins Clark, I didn't have high expectations about the writing and the plot management, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story itself. Written very tenderly and with honesty, Mrs. Clark did a good job presenting a different side of the great man George Washington became.

4. Sarah's Key by Taliana de Rosnay
The main theme of this book was the story of the many Jews living in Paris during the time the Nazis starting invading France and their encampment. This story itself had a lot of promise, since we have rarely heard of the thousands of Jewish children born and raised in Paris being taken away from their families by the French police, and then after a harsh encampment being burned in the Auschwitz furnaces. However, the author entangles it with other silly narrative with very badly developed characters and events, that I just wanted to be done with the book as soon as possible. I learned a lot about the Jews in France, but I wasn't impressed with the book itself.

5. A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
Loved, loved this book. It's a compilation of Hemingway's memories of his time in Paris. I devoured it as he spoke of streets and cafes he had frequented, which I did too this summer. He writes about his loving relationship with his first wife, the birth of their first child, the hard work as a sports journalist, and later as he struggled to make ends meet with his stories, as well as his success as a writer of a different caliber that established him as the first modern American writer. He speaks of his relationships with various ex-patriots at that time which made me truly very jealous. I wish I had met Joyce, Stein, Pound,Fitzgerald, and of course Hemingway himself. The first book I read in the English language was by Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises, because his grammar was perfect, his style smooth and flowing, his language unforgettable. A must read book for any Hemingway fan!


6. Shakespeare and Company by Sylvia Beach
After reading A Moveable Feast of Hemingway recounting his experiences in Paris, and as I have been looking through my journal and pictures of my own experience there, I decided to revisit the book Shakespeare and Company. This book is beautifully written in a conversational style by Sylvia Beach, the owner of the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore during the early 1900's when most of the great American and British authors were visiting and living in Paris. Ms Beach shares her observations and her personal experiences with all of the ex-patriots, and how much of an influence her little bookstore that sold books in the English language had on the careers of many writers, painters, musicians, and many more. I visited the bookstore while in Paris, actually right on the first day I went out. It still stands where it once stood and where all of the great minds went to discuss and read and share their writings. I saw their pictures all over the walls, touched the books that they once touched and read, and felt special to sit where they once sat. I know you might think me a bit crazy for feeling so nostalgic about people I have never met, but if you had read all of their books and read their personal stories and experiences you would know how I've come very close getting to know them, and since I revere their genius, it's no wonder I feel as I do.

On to October! I have a great list of books to attack. What fun!

Happy reading to you all as well!