Barbara Feldman: Bridge of Sighs

We liked the content and the article. Worth the time.

I just finished, The Story of A Marriage, by Andrew Greer. It starts in the 1940's and ends in the 90's. It portrays three people trapped by the confines of their era, It's about love and what we know, and don't know about the people we love. In includes the effects of war from a different perspective, how a strangers visit for six months changes Pearlie's life, and forces her to struggle to understand her world. I liked it very much.

Our principal had our whole school including janitors, cooks, secretaries, bus drivers,coaches, etc. read The Anatomy of Peace! What an excellent book. It is very well written. It is a lot about finding peace in your heart and how to be a better person. Our principal is going to focus our year around this book.

I have been wanting to read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and because I didn't know what the book "Lolita" was about I decided to read it first. Wow - not what I expected. It was extremely well crafted, like a mosaic of words each carefully chosen by the writer to paint a picture. Superb use of the English language. Reminded me of John Updike's writing. From that perspective I really enjoyed it. The story itself was to say the least disturbing, I have a daughter of the same age and know what I would have done to Mr. Humbert Humbert had he crossed my path. Well at least I will have a frame of reference when I read "Reading Lolita in Tehran".

I just finished Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. What a touching story - even cat non-lovers love it! Vicki found the 8-week-old starved, near-frozen kitten in the book drop of her Spencer, IA, library. Dewey Readmore Books became a unifying force for the library and the town of Spencer. (see http://spencerlibrary.com/deweybio.htm)
Visitors from around the world made their pilgrimage to meet the famous cat who loved everyone and became the library's resident cat and ambassador for nearly 19 years.

I just finished the Master and Commander series by Patrick O'Brian which I've been chipping away at for a long time. I'm currently reading A Primate's Memoir by Robert M. Sapolsky. He writes about studying baboons and the people he meets living in Kenya. I'm not too far into it yet but am finding it a fun read. I like to keep track of the books I'm reading, the ones my friends are reading, and the ones I want to read at http://www.goodreads.com/

The best book I read this summer is The Book Thief. It would be a great read for a book club because there is a lot to discuss. The book's narrator is Death and the protagonist is a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany during WWII. It addresses universal themes and has very complex characters.
It is considered a YA book, but it is not a book I would give to anyone under 15.

I'm reading "Ideas", by Peter Watson, a sweeping survey of the history of Western thought. I have enjoyed it enormously and have valued the way the writing brings to focus and condenses educational experiences I have had in history and economics as well as the arts in my 40 plus years. It's not a typical read for summer but I have enjoyed every chapter as some enjoy a new episode of a sit-com.