THE GIFT OF AN ORDINARY DAY * THE GOOD EARTH

The Gift of an Ordinary Day - by Katrina Kenison is a sweet memoir about a family who encounter changes in their lives as their two sons grow up and prepare for college. The author craved a simple life for she and her family, and achieved it with a seeming amount of grace and courage. It's difficult to raise your children then watch them spread their wings for places far away, and this is a great book to read for anyone who is on that journey. For me it was a bit slow going, but I stuck with it for the good message and to see what happened, since there is a bit of suspense toward the end of the book.

The Good Earth - by Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize in 1935. I read this book as an avid grade school reader, and I now see that the whole story was quite over my head. Reading it as an adult was a treat. It started a bit slow for me, as did the lives of the characters; as their lives progress, so does the story. It's an amazing story of a poor chinese farmer, Wang Lung, and all that befalls him in his life. The writing is almost biblical, but it is written with great beauty and sensitivity. I'm so happy that my sister in law gave this book to my son some years ago, and that I discovered it on our shelf and decided to read it once again. I can't wait to see the movie, and just reserved a copy of the DVD at the library.