December 2010
What Oakhurst Members Are Reading
A list compiled in June and December and gently edited by Carolyn Copenhaver on behalf of the OBC Library Committee. Style guide: NYTimes.
Co-Chairpersons: Harold Hoffman and Jan Murphy
ADULT FICTION
61 HOURS. By Lee Childs
BAKING CAKES IN KIGALI. By Gaile Parkin
CUTTING FOR STONE. By Abraham Verghese
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. By Stieg Larsson
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST. By Stieg Larsson
THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. By Stieg Larsson
GOING POSTAL. By Terry Pratchett
THE HELP. By Kathryn Stockett[IN OBC LIBRARY]
IN THE WOODS. By Tana French.
THE POSTMISTRESS. By Sarah Blake
HALF BROKE HORSES. By Jeannette Walls
HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET. By Jamie Ford
JAMESTOWN: A NOVEL. By Matthew Sharpe
JULIAN. By Gore Vidal
LIGHT ON SNOW. By Anita Shreve
LOVING FRANK: A NOVEL. By Nancy Horan.
MAN OF THE HOUSE: A NOVEL. By Ad Hudler
MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER. By Robin Oliveira
OLIVE KITTERIDGE. By Elizabeth Strout
PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER. By Stephen Chbosky
PILLARS OF THE EARTH. By Ken Follett
PURGE. By Sofi Oksanen
THE RED TENT. By Anita Diamant. [IN OBC LIBRARY]
ROBINSON CRUSOE. By Daniel Defoe
THE WHITE QUEEN: A NOVEL (COUSINS' WAR). By Philippa Gregory
WOLF HALL. By Hilary Mantel.
ADULT NONFICTION
CELTIC AND ANGLO-SAXON PAINTING. By Carl Nordenfalk
FIRST MOTHERS: THE WOMEN WHO SHAPED THE PRESIDENTS. By Bonnie Angelo
THE FOUNDING FATHERS RECONSIDERED. By R. B Bernstein
THE IMPERIAL CRUISE. By John Bradley
THE MIND’S EYE. By Oliver Sacks [COMING TO LIBRARY IN JANUARY]
THIRTEEN THINGS THAT DON’T MAKE SENSE: THE MOST BAFFLING SCIENTIFIC MYSTERIES OF OUR TIME. By Michael Brooks
WASHINGTON. By Ron Cherrow
MEMOIRS & INSPIRATIONAL
29 GIFTS: HOW A MONTH OF GIVING CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE. By Cami Walker
THE CLOISTER WALK. By Kathleen Norris [IN OBC LIBRARY]
LEAVING CHURCH. By Barbara Brown Taylor[IN OBC LIBRARY]
DAKOTA: A SPIRITUAL GEOGRAPHY. By Kathleen Norris
THE MIDDLE PLACE. By Kelly Korrigan
MY GRANDFATHER’S BLESSINGS: STORIES OF STRENGTH, REFUGE, AND BELONGING. By Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D
MY READING LIFE. By Pat Conroy
MY STROKE OF INSIGHT. By Jill Bolt Taylor[COMING TO LIBRARY IN JANUARY]
PRETTY IN PLAID. By Jen Lancaster
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
THREE CUPS OF TEA: ONE MAN'S MISSION TO PROMOTE PEACE: ONE SCHOOL AT A TIME. By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin [IN OBC LIBRARY]
WALKING WITH THE WIND: A MEMOIR OF THE MOVEMENT. By John Lewis and Michael D'orso
WHEN THE HEART WAITS: SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR LIFE'S SACRED QUESTIONS. BySue Monk Kidd
CHILDREN’S FICTION
OLIVIA by Ian Falconer
SCANIMATION PICTURE BOOKS by Rufus Butler Seder
Readers’ Comments on These Books
Trina Baldwin
Especially for the Divine Feminine Class, I recommend The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. The blurb from the back cover reads: “Told through Dinah’s eloquent voice, this sweeping novel reveals the traditions and turmoil of ancient womanhood. Dinah’s tale begins with the story of her mothers: Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, the four wives of Jacob. Dinah tells us of the world of the red tent, the place where women were sequestered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and illness; of her initiation into the religious and sexual practices of her tribe; of Jacob’s courtship with his four wives; of the mystery and wonder of caravans, farmers, shepherds, and slaves; and of her half-brother Joseph’s rise in Egypt.” Jacob, as you know, is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, grandson of Abraham and Sarah, and brother of Essau. I have this work in an unabridged CD. [This book is in the OBC Library collection—ed.]
Margaret Blevins
I have been auditing a class on Celtic Christianity at Emory this semester. The course covered the development of Christianity from the time of St. Patrick in the 6th century and included the development of theology, history, architecture and art.
One book which John found for me is Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Painting by Carl Nordenfalk. It has some gorgeous reproductions of art, especially from The Book of Kells. This codex was probably developed on the Isle of Iona, which is a very special place for us. John found this book in a second-hand bookstore in Charlottesville while we were visiting our grandchildren. It was published in 1977, and may not be in print any longer, but I am sure that Amazon could find a copy, if anyone were interested.
Paula Buford
Being a fan of novelist Ad Hudler, I highly recommend Man of the House, a “breezy comic outing,” as one reviewer remarked about Hudler’s previous book, Househusband. To quote a South Carolina newspaper critic, “With self-deprecating humor and adroit expression, Hudler delves deep into the American psyche of gender roles….The dialogue rings with authenticity.” Laugh and enjoy.
Sam Collier
I would like to recommend Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by Congressman John Lewis and Michael D'Orso.
I found it to be a caring history of the Civil Rights Movement, from Lewis' perspective of a young man just off the farm in rural Alabama. He went to seminary in Nashville and immediately got involved in the non-violence trainings that John Lawson was leading, which led to the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis explains how they learned to try to transform the beatings and hatred they received into a transformative experience, forgiving the perpetrator even as the act was being committed. This was a revelatory book for me, for I grew up a bewildered white kid who shared a lot of the fear and confusion whites had about the forces going on in the South during the 1950s and '60s. Hearing his perspective opened me up not only to the tremendous pain in the black community in that era, but also the power of love and the fearlessness they showed. They modeled for us all how to resist what was essentially American terrorism without letting it turn them into terrorists.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to introduce John Lewis as a speaker once, and was very glad to tell him and the audience how very much this book and his life means to me.
Carolyn Copenhaver
One of my “guilty pleasures” are the books of Lee Child, and his finest thriller to date, 61 Hours, now in paperback and on Janet Maslin’s list, “10 Best Books of 2010.” She calls this novel “The craftiest and most highly evolved thriller in Mr. Child’s smashing Jack Reacher series….In the interests of pure gamesmanship, not to mention knuckle-whitening suspense, Mr. Child threw aside his own conventions and did everything differently this time. Thigh-high snowdrifts, precise logistics and a mania for detail made this the robust, he-man version of a closed-town Agatha Christie story.” Amen.
Several months ago Paula Buford responded to my call on behalf of the library for a list of books that influenced members’ faith journeys. Paula listed a 2000 national bestseller, My Grandfather’s Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D, a clinical professor of medicine (and former practicing pediatrician) at UCSF School of Medicine. In Waco last month I found in the back of my mother’s guest room closet a cache of garage-sale books I had bought and forgotten, including this memoir. I read it, loved it, savored its great wisdom, and will joyously pass it on to our son John.
Another book which engaged me, Thirteen Things That Don’t Make Sense: the Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of our time, by prominent English science writer Michael Brooks will go to our son Mark. Published in 2008, this book grapples with “the excitement, messiness, and controversy of the battle over where science is headed.” The back cover blurb reads : “You will be amazed and astonished when you learn that science has been unable to come up with a working definition of life, why death should happen at all, why sex is necessary…” I was amazed, I was astonished—and there were 10 more astonishing chapters to go.
Splurging grandly, I bought The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks, one of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2010. It offers an entire chapter on face-blindness (prosopagnosia), a sometimes embarrassing impairment I have that Sacks claims to be far more common than reported in the medical literature. As one reviewer claims, Sacks here is at his best: “In these graceful essays, the neurologist explores how his patients compensate for the abilities they have lost, and confronts his own ocular cancer.”
Mary Jo Crawford
I recommend three works of adult fiction:Jamestown: A Novel by Matthew Sharpe, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, and The Postmistress by Sarah Blake,
Two books in the category of adult non-fiction that I recommend areThe Founding Fathers Reconsidered by R. B Bernstein, and especially My Reading Life by Pat Conroy, published last November 2. I couldn’t wait to read this; I pre-ordered it. It is wonderful!
I recommend two series of children’s books. The first is Olivia, written and illustratedby Ian Falconer, There are a whole series of Olivia books; this is the first of the series and a Caldecott Honor Book. Yes, this is the Ian Falconer of The New Yorker Magazine fame!
Another series of picture books I highly recommend are the Scanimation Picture Books by Rufus Butler Seder. There are three that I am aware of and all three are huge hits with my preschool nieces: Waddle! Swing! and Gallop! Do you remember how cool those scratch and sniff books were when they first came out? You will feel the same amazement when you experience your first Scanimation book!
Jennifer Dalton
I enjoyedGoing Postal by Terry Pratchett, a book both satirical and humorous.
As one enthusiastic reviewer summarizes: "Arch-swindler Moist Van Lipwig never believed his confidence crimes were hanging offenses - until he found himself with a noose tightly around his neck, dropping through a trapdoor, and falling into...a government job? By all rights, Moist should have met his maker. Instead, it's Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork, who promptly offers him a job.
For the full review go to:
Lynn Donham
The Imperial Cruise by John Bradley, author of Flyboys, isan absolutely eye-opening book about Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft (Governor of the Philippines and later Secretary of War), and a fact-finding cruise that used the President’s 21-yr-old daughter Alice to help "sell" the "benevolent", murderous occupation of the Philippines after the US purchased the islands from Spain. Bradley shows how the policy that encouraged Japan's takeover of Korea opened the door to Japan imperialism that would result in World War II.
Filipino natives were regarded the same as American Negroes at that time, but the policy toward them was patterned after the policy toward Native Americans. This is a strong documentation of the Aryan myth and the racism that apparently pervaded that time, up to the halls of Harvard and Columbia Universities. This important book, highly readable with interesting photos of the major figures of the time, sadly shows that water-boarding and mass executions were condoned by the U.S. in the Philippines long before the Nazis got started. Despite the tragic topic, I learned a great deal from this book, including how ancient the rhetoric is that justifies war.
I also highly recommend a nonfiction book, My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolt Taylor. The book is a first-person account by a 37 year old Harvard neuoroanatomy researcher has had a stroke that shuts down her left brain. Her transformative spiritual experiences in the days with no memories and her amazing recovery is a sometimes tough but powerful read. Her insight into recovery is a must for anyone connected to someone who has or is suffering a brain impairment.
Becky Drysdale
Among my favorite books this year was the Steig LarsonTrilogy(The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, and In the Woods by Tana French.
The New York Times lists The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nestamong the 100 best books of 2010: “In the third installment of the pulse-racing trilogy featuring Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, the pair are threatened by an adversary from deep within the very government that should be protecting them.”
Wolf Hallwas a 2009 New York Times Notable Book: “Tolerant, passionate and humane, Thomas Cromwell is cast as the picaresque hero of this Man Booker Prize-winning novel of Henry VIII’s turbulent court.”
In the Woodswon the 2007 Edgar Award for best first mystery novel. One reviewer notes that this Irish author “expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut,” which also won a coveted “starred review” from Booklist.
Martha England
Among the books I enjoyed this year are the three Steig Larson internationalbest-selling thrillers. I also read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin, Light on Snow by Anita Shreve, and Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan.
Finally, I recommend Purge by Sofi Oksanen, winner of theNordic Council Literature Prize 2010. From Kirkus Reviews: "This wonderfully subtle thriller...captures both the tragic consequences of one of Europe's biggest conflicts and the universal horrors that war inflicts on women. With a tone somewhere between Ian McEwan's Atonement and the best of the current crop of European crime novelists, this bitter gem promises great things from the talented Oksanen."
Carolyn Hall
I enjoyed Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Part of the novel is set in Ethiopia and part in New York City. It is a deeply moving story concerning surgeons and their mentors and patients, revolution, exile, the power of love and forgiveness. At the end of the book the main character must put his life in the hands of the two men he thought he trusted least in the world.
Elaine Hoffman
I enjoyedMy Name is Mary Sutterby Robin Oliveira. This great historical novel set in the Civil War is about a young woman who fights to try and become a surgeon in a time when women were only beginning to be accepted as nurses. This very well written first novel contains good historical detail.
Walker Knight
I have recently read and appreciated Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. The writer, author of the classic WWII thriller Eye of the Needle, shows great understanding of the Middle Ages in England.
Washington by Ron Cherrow is a great study of the entire life of a man I knew little about. According to the NYTimes, “Chernow draws on newly unearthed papers and other material to amplify and reshape perceptions of this leader…” For an excellent and illuminating review,Dusting Off an Elusive President’s Dull Image by Janet Maslin, published on September 27, 2010, go to Frank Maddox
I just finished Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The book was in my house growing up and I tried many times, unsuccessfully, to read it through. Now in my mid-fifties I picked it up and became engrossed, not by the island adventures, but by the protagonist’s more compelling inner struggles with self and with God. I can’t stop thinking about it. [This compiler was inspired to immediately download a free edition of this 1808 novel to her new Kindle. Thanks Frank. CC.]
Katelyn Murphy-McCarthy
My many book loves this year include Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. This is a memoir but also a guilty pleasure.
I was surprised to enjoy the novel The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. I hadn't read her books before, and had low expectations. It really held my interest.
I listened to Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. The reader was fantastic. I'm actually going to read this novel myself now, and see if I like it as much as when it was read to me. It's a coming of age story set in western PA, and I loved the PA references (being from Wilkes-Barre and all).
I just finished 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life by Cami Walker.
Walker is a very earnest sort of “self-help” author. She's a recovering addict diagnosed with MS, and she is spiraling down until she takes her spiritual advisor's suggestion to give something away every day for 29 days. This book is worth reading and easy to get through in short snatches of time. Publisher’s Weekly: “Glimpses into Walker's day-to-day difficulties…crop up among the stories of her daily gifts, grounding the work in personal details…An admirable reworking of The Secret (in that it should actually help someone, at least gift recipients).”