Book Choices

The Idiot by Dostoevsky

After spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and a bitlity to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital- from greed, murder and nihilism to passion, vanity and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve....

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Persuasion narrates the emotional journey of its protagonist Anne Elliot, who chances upon Captain Wentworth, a suitor she was persuaded to reject seven years earlier, and is made to reflect on her past decisions and contemplate her marital future......

By Immaculee Ilibagixa,

Immaculee Ilibagixa grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she chiriched. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloddy genocide. Immaculee's family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. Flor 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of deatha and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love-a love so strong she was able to seek out and forgive her family's killers. The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman's journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering and loss.

Some of the books I would like to read.....See you in August

Reading

Lezlie Evans, the author of this cute book (and sister to a good friend of ours) will be reading at the Barnes & Noble in Orem on the 24th and the Orem Library on the 29th if you want to bring your kids and check it out.  I think they would have fun hearing her read.  Here is a link to an article about her from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Here are Three Suggestions...

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer:

Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné. As he becomes involved with the letter’s recipient, his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena, their younger brother leaves school for the stage—and Europe’s unfolding tragedy sends each of their lives into terrifying uncertainty. From the Hungarian village of Konyár to the grand opera houses of Budapest and Paris, from the lonely chill of Andras’s garret to the enduring passion he discovers on the rue de Sévigné, from the despair of a Carpathian winter to an unimaginable life in forced labor camps and beyond, The Invisible Bridge tells the unforgettable story of brothers bound by history and love, of a marriage tested by disaster, of a Jewish family’s struggle against annihilation, and of the dangerous power of art in a time of war.

 Looking For Alaska by John Green:

British Fantasy Award for Top Ten (2006), A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2005)   

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words - and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. Little is as it seems in Larsson's novel, but there is at least one constant: you really don't want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

It's voting time!

So are you enjoying Jane Eyre?   I loved it and had to watch the BBC/ Masterpiece Theater adaptation again.  I know most of you have seen it too -- it sure makes for a great afternoon!




We get to select new books at next month's meeting!

So what have you read that you want all of us to read and discuss?

What is on your "to read" list?

Post your recommendations so we can have a good list to choose from -- I can't wait to dive into some new books!