Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

This book was sent to me by friend Sufi "just because." And it is wonderful, but it is in three very distinct parts, so I am going to try to write this up after each part.

I still don't know who Elizabeth Gilbert is, but obviously she is a writer, and this is a biographical retelling of a year in her own life, where she searches for herself. I am totally envious of her opportunity to travel to different parts of the world on a spiritual quest. I have a friend leaving for Nepal in a few days for a month in a monastery, so it can be done, and I hope I have a chance for something like this too.

Needing to get away from a failed marriage and unhealthy relationship, Gilbert decides to take a year off and spend four months in Italy, four in India, and the last four in Bali - the last an opportunity that arose out of a work assignment.

Gilbert loves the sound of the Italian language and has started to learn it, and decides to continue her lessons in Italy. This first stage in Italy is the start of her healing process. She takes lessons in Italian, finds partners to talk to in Italian and finds pleasure in food - wonderful Italian food, always asking locals for the best restaurants - not the tourist places, but where real Italians eat. I found a lot of good self analysis. We may have different issues, but I liked her thought process.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (2007)

I know I just read this book this summer, but I had also bought the audio version and wanted to hear Jim Dale's performance. With a couple of trips to Indiana, I had the time to listen to the whole thing. Though I knew the basic storyline, there were so many details I had forgotten, so I paid more attention to Snape and the Deathly Hallows. Dale's performance was incredible, as always. I read somewhere that he had 50 or more voices for all the characters.

Run by Ann Patchett (2007)

I was so glad to see a new book out by Ann Patchett, and it was good. The book covered an intense 24 hour period, where we meet Bernard Doyle, a former major of Boston, and his two adopted black sons Tip and Teddy, at a speech by Jesse Jackson. After the speech Tip almost gets killed by a car, but a woman pushes him out of the way and gets the brunt of the impact. The way Patchett unveils the intertwined lives of these people, Doyle's other son Sullivan and the woman's daughter Kenya is fascinating. I listened to this on audio, and there was a short interview with the author at the end. It was interesting that Patchett thought the book was about politics, as she researched the Kennedy's for Doyle, but she said others thought the story was about family. I felt it was about the intense relationships between parents and children, the dreams we have for our kids, but how they have to find their own way. I am also amazed at how easily, but realistically she portrays interracial relationships. I hope we don't need to wait that long for the next Patchett book .

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (2007)

I am not exactly a Jane Austen fan, so I didn't get all the Austen references, but I did enjoy this book. I really like books that put someone from today's world into a historical setting. This one was a modern time-travel novel, not science fiction. Courtney from LA, who has just broken up with her fiance, wakes up as Jane Mansfield in 19th century England. I loved her descriptions of all of the sensations she feels - the smells - of unwashed folks, but also the taste and smells of great food - which she can now eat in this new body. She has to learn to use a chamber pot, and has poor servants carry water up to her room for frequent baths. Then she has to learn to talk and follow all the crazy social rules and participate in balls and other social gatherings. Jane's mother is trying to set her up with Charles Edgeworth - a rich, good looking guy. This is where it got like a romance novel and she went through the same mental machinations she was having back home, and Jane Austen women have always had. I didn't understand why Courtney didn't think about what Jane would want and I have a hard time with all the thoughts about women not being worth anything without a man. But other than that, it was great fun.

Taft by Ann Patchett (1994)

At one point I bought all of Ann Patchett's books, lent some of the out, read most of them, but this I saved for later. Well later came this summer, and as always, I enjoyed Pathcett's take on life. It's been a while now since I read the book, but there was a black bartender, who misses his kid, and who befriends a lost young white girl he hires at his bar. She looks into people in interesting ways.

The Collectors by David Baldacci (2006)

I picked this up in the grocery, because I recognized the Library of Congress main reading room on the cover - and sure enough, the first murder occurs in the library. I loved all the details about the Rare Book reading room, their vault, how they send books to be repaired, specific rare editions, the eccentric rare book dealer, etc. Plus I was looking for something entertaining to take my mind off my heavy workload at this time of year. I used to like spy thrillers and I got into this one. I like the use of all the new technology. I am wondering whether old spy thrillers would seem quaint, without the Internet, cell phones, and more. As often is the case in these thriller novels, we start out with a set of disparate characters, each in their own dramatic event - Roger Seagraves, the killer; Anabelle and her various con men, Caleb Shaw, the Library of Congress employee, who is friends with Oliver Stone the ex-spy (funny alias for a number of reasons, but I kept visualizing him as the movie director), Reuben and Milton. These four not so young gentlemen are the Camel Club, which I now understand figure in other Baldacci books. Unfortunately there are quite a few deaths along the way, but then we see it on TV too. I'll have try out a few more of Baldacci's books.

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevlier (2007)

Another wonderful period piece by Chevalier. This one is about London, and the historical figure is William Blake, but he is a peripheral character. I would say that since the main characters are children, this could be aimed at the young adult audience, but the sexual realities are too stark, so I don't think it is meant for them. Wonderful tale.

The Summer He Didn't Die by Jim Harrison (2005)

I have never read anything by Jim Harrison, one of Michigan's own, well know by my friends up north. I really enjoyed this, though it was composed of three very different pieces. "The Summer He Didn't Die" was my favorite, about a partial Indian who lives in northern Michigan and raises a couple of kids. Maybe it is not so important what this story is about, but it just gives a rich sense of this man, the people around him, and the environment. I also found it quite funny. "Republican Wives" was about sorority sisters from University of Michigan, who end up unhappy with their husbands, taking lovers, etc. Again, sometimes very good descriptions, other times it grated on me. "Tracking" is in three parts - childhood, young adulthood, and getting older - the life of a writer. Wonder how much is autobiographical? I will have to see what I can find out about him. Again Michigan figures heavily - as his home base, as the place to get away, fish, the cabin in the UP, etc. I will have to read more by Harrison.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2007)

Totally unique kind of book. This is a children's book about a historical figure - Georges Melies, an early filmmaker. The book is very visual and meant to give you a sense of watching a movie, but not like a simple picture book. Of the 530 pages in the book, almost 300 are illustrations. The text pages alone would be a fairly short chapter book. The black and white illustrations are great, you actually feel the boy Hugo running through the train station, you see him slipping away in his hideaways by observing the sole of a shoe in a doorway. The story is again my favorite kind - historical fiction. Hugo is fictional, but Melies, is not and the elaborate wind-up toys are also real. The book is so unique it has it's own website where the author explains his process.

Thursday Next in First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (2007)

This is a book I almost gave up on, as the alternate universe was so complex and the literary references seemed too much, but out of inertia I kept putting new CD's in the player, and it grew on me. It was a pretty neat concept, that there is a whole world of characters behind the scenes waiting to be read in books. A lot of issues that are a part of my daily life in the library were brought up, like the decrease in people reading, especially young people.