Open Book Wednesday: What We're Reading

What's this? Three blog posts in as many days? Who am I? (Don't worry, I'm sure I won't keep it up.)

I do have a good excuse for all this over-achieving. Carolyn Astfalk asked me to participate in her new Wednesday Open Book link-up to talk about what we've been reading in a relaxed bloggerly fashion. Since I can't resist talking about what I'm reading even in places where people don't care, of course I was in. :)

I've been reading like crazy since the beginning of the year, because all the books I've had on hold at the library decided to come in at pretty much the same time. And it's been a great reading year so far. I can't remember reading so many books that I thoroughly enjoyed in such a short period. Here are the highlights:

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

Mark and I listened to this audio book together, and it is SO GOOD. Despite some eye-roll-worthy moments of questionable theology and more crude language than I'm totally comfortable with, I found it so important that I'm still going to recommend it to everyone. This message from the end pretty much sums up why I love it so much: Basically, if you were created to do something, be it write, paint, study, heal, raise children, etc., and you don't do it,

"...you shame the angels...you spite the Almighty who created you--and only you--with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God."

Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys.

Ruta Sepetys is a master of taking your heart into her hands, wringing it so hard it resembles a worn dishrag, and then breathing life into it at the last minute so it seems stronger than before. Her newest book was a little difficult to get into; four very different first person narrators and story lines made it hard to follow at first. Advice: KEEP GOING. You have to get through twenty pages or so, and then everything will make sense and you will be totally hooked.

I was kind of disgusted with myself for not knowing about the tragedy at the heart of this book: the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff at the end of WWII. Especially considering some of my not-very-distant relatives probably had their hearts torn to pieces when they heard about it first hand. Apparently American history books don't care what happened to the "enemy," even if thousands of innocents were hurt as well. (The Willy G. was a German boat.)

I'd recommend Salt to the Sea to adults and mature readers (probably 14 and up). There's some sexuality (a character was raped, but nothing is described in a graphic way at all), and a lot of war violence.

Absolutely Truly, by Heather Vogel Frederick.

I read this, loved it, passed it along to Lu, and have scarcely seen my oldest child since. It's a wonderful contemporary story about the middle child of five "military brats." Since that could define my childhood self, I was naturally gripped--and then when it went on to be set in a quiet New England town and a BOOKSTORE. Well.

The main character is obsessed with bird watching, which has opened up a delicious can of worms in this household, involving binoculars and life lists and field guides and bird song CDs. (When Lu did pop up from behind the book, it was to talk about the Melospiza melodia she saw.)

My one warning is that it really isn't a mystery no matter what the cover says. Marketing issues.

Ages 8 and up on this one.

Little Robot, by Ben Hatke.

My little Zo-zo and I gulped this one down. Its beautiful artwork carries the story along nearly wordlessly, but that merely motivated my new reader to figure out the small amounts of text. It's one of the first stories she felt she "owned" because of figuring it all out on her own.

Plus: robots. My girls are obsessed.

Probably ages 4 and up? Though even younger kids enjoy the pictures.


You can see more of what other folks are reading at Carolyn's link-up: http://www.carolynastfalk.com/category/my-scribblers-heart-blog/

What are you reading?

(This post contains affiliate links, so if you purchase any items after clicking through the links, I will receive a tiny percentage of the sale. Better yet, support your local bookstore!)