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American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - When I saw Laura Bush on Oprah, I couldn't help but like her, even though I wasn't a fan of her husband. More than halfway through this book, I realized that this was a fictionalized account of how an interesting intelligent woman could end up married to someone like George Bush. I still don't understand how he became president and then how he hoodwinked enough people with fear mongering and lies so that America would go to war. She isn't the first woman who followed and stayed with her man in the wake of his disastrous decisions, and unfortunately she won't be the last. The book is good, if long and much in Alice's head. That's part of the problem - when you're married to someone who's all out there with his personality, and you're the quiet one, you have this whole other life that's happening in your head, and in Alice's case (mine too) between the covers of the book you're reading at that moment.
Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee - The now famous best selling follow up to To Kill A Mockingbird is thought-provoking to say the least. It's about Scout, and in her thoughts but not in the first person. She returns to Maycomb, Alabama for her annual visit in the mid 1950s. She's 26 years old now, still fiercely conscientious and righteous, and she's been living in New York City for five years. Halfway through we finally find out what this book is going to be about, and basically, Scout, now known as Jean Louise, gets some new news about her family and their southern views at the dawn of the Civil Rights movement. I'm left with more questions than answers: Why wasn't this book published when it was written? Was Harper Lee a recluse because she was embarrassed at the hypocrisy of life as a white person in a southern town? Did she feel powerless? Could she have been more vocal for change? Would that have made a difference? Are white men still the ultimate arbiters of power? Will women ever be arbiters of power in a way that doesn't have to reflect the male way? This is certainly no To Kill A Mockingbird, but worth the read as insight into Harper Lee as a writer and chronicler of a certain southern history at a specific time and place.
Grey by E.L. James - Oh, that E.L. is clever - she's as smart as Christian Grey with this new twist on the same story. I feel like it's a shameless money grab, but I also know that women like reading this stuff. It's Fifty Shades of Grey all over again, only this time "as told by Christian". Which means it's very grey; Christian wants Ana under his terms only, and his viewpoint is all male, if you know what I mean. Ana's story was flowery and emotional and had ups and downs. So is Christian's story only without the flowery language. For some crazy reason, it's readable - even though you know the story, you've read the emails between Ana and Christian, and you know exactly what's going to happen, you still read it! Go figure.
The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant - This is the best book I've read in ages! I enjoyed reading every word and flew through it in two days. It's about Addie Baum who came from a one room apartment and had to travel up and down three flights of dirty slippery stairs to use the outhouse. It was America in the early 1900s, however, and Addie was able to find her way to women who would be in her corner and lead her to opportunities to improve her life. If you've ever been passionate about any of my favorite books, read The Boston Girl as soon as you can. It's by Anita Diamant who wrote The Red Tent (which was a another favorite.)
Trainwreck - And then we have Trainwreck. Opposite in all ways of The Boston Girl in that it's the modern story of a young woman living a wild life of drinking and sex while working for one of the most insane bosses on screen since Ricky Gervais in The Office. And then she falls for a guy. I love when inappropriate is sweet, and Amy Schumer gets it just right from the story to the casting to the dialogue to some really funny scenes.
The Ice Cream Maker An Inspiring Tale About Making Quality The Key Ingredient In Everything You Do by Subir Chowdhury - One of Peter's professors loaned this to him as summer reading. Of course he hadn't started it, and I found it and read it this morning. The secondary title says it all, and it goes along with who I've always been before I lost my way around here. Which was someone always striving for perfection, and someone who would sweat the small stuff in that perfection pursuit. The pursuit of, and acquiring of quality leads to happiness and success. I'm newly inspired. I'd given up on the notion that the pursuit of perfection was important, but it is, especially to me.
