THE ROAD

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - For some reason, I thought this would be a novel of southern families and disfunction. Instead I found myself reading a novel about love and goodness in a time unimaginable. Is it possible to survive in a post apocalyptic world? How would it be done? What would the dangers be? This novel, another of Peter's high school english reads, attempts to answer those questions. It's written with a richness and thoughtfulness that lends itself to many themes and discussions. Couldn't put it down. 

AMERICAN MYSTERIES

American Mysteries Great American Mystery Stories of the 20th Century - The Franklin Library - This book has been on my shelves for years! It's a beautiful leather bound volume with gold trim, but it's really the words on the pages that make it so good. These short stories are from my favorite era before technology but after cars and telephones - the 1920s - 50s. The stories are simply but richly told and each one is unique and truly ends. If you read it, make sure to read the bio about the author right away either before or after you read his or her story. I didn't know that the bios were there until I finished the book and found them, but they would have enriched the experience even more. I savored this one. I'm trying to choose a favorite story or two, but cannot - they all stand the test of time and great storytelling. 

The Basic Eight

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler - Another and I hope my last for awhile, teen read. Not sure who mentioned it - Laura? - but since I read it you don't have to. Unless you like a San Francisco sophisticated-and-think-themselves-witty high school clique who push the envelope at every turn. Flannery Culp is the narrator and protagonist along with her friend Natasha and the remaining six: Jennifer Rose Something, Lily, Gabriel, Douglas, Kate, V._______ and interlopers Flora and Adam. It's way too long considering the story, so have at it if you still would. 

Doubt  A Parable by John Patrick Shanley - The small cast is composed of two nuns, a priest, and a mother of a catholic school middle school student. This is a disturbing play on many many levels. It's about mistrust and intuition and lying and suspicions. And then on top of that it's about race and religion. I think it's good and it goes fast. At the end, you think you might not be in doubt, but then you think about it and wonder about the shadow of a doubt.  I wish I had read it closer to the time that Peter read it for high school english class. The discussion on this one had to have been impassioned.