Sharing books with friends....

One of my favorite places to stop in and check out used books is our local Goodwill. I picked up a couple of contemporary classics for my 'third daughter' (Molly's best friend), Katlyn. I think that I piqued her interest with Fahrenheit 451 and Flowers for Algernon ;-)

Molly, on the other hand, has been reading The Rest of Her Life, by Laura Moriarty. I'd picked it up when I went to the author's reading (as well as having a great chat with Laura!) at the Kansas Book Festival this year.

Good friends, Mary Jo and Ervin Grant, invited us over to their home for dinner last weekend and Ervin sent me home with this book. If you can't quite read the subtitle, it says it all about the premis of the book - 'America's century of regime change from Hawaii to Iraq'.

Oprah's new book selection

I was intrigued by Oprah's invitation to join her first-time, online book discussion...live with the author, Eckhart Tolle.

What's Capturing My Attention, of Late.....

Browsing through the stacks of books at Dillon's (I am totally devoted to a grocer who prioritizes books and designates a special spot in the store for showcasing current books!), I came across a couple of books by former members of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints sect in Texas and Arizona. One thing led to another and I was on an independent study of Mormonism, polygamy, and the FLDS. As a book group facilitator, I receive advanced copies each month from various publishing houses. This past spring, The Nineteenth Wife, by David Ebershoff, came in the mail and I've been enthralled with this novel, based on historical facts around early day Mormonism and Brigham Young. In addition, I picked up Escape, by Carolyn Jessop and Stolen Innocence, by Elissa Wall (non-fiction about their experiences as children growing up and in becoming wives in the FLDS sect), Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer, and Red Water, by Janet Freeman. You can read more about them by clicking on the titles above.

In Cold Blood

I just spent a very enjoyable lunch hour discussing this contemporary classic novel with a group up in our campus library. Truman Capote's, In Cold Blood, was chosen by the state of Kansas to be this year's Kansas Reads selection.
I have to admit.....this time, last year, I was less than thrilled to find out that this was their choice. Over thirty years ago, I'd read this as a high school student and vividly remember how deeply disturbed I was by the horror of this family's fate...how sickened I was to realize that psychotic minds plan and carry out such evil.
I wasn't going to participate this year. I couldn't imagine - out of the limited time that I have to choose which book off my towering stacks of books I'm going to read next - re-reading this novel that had made such an impact on me so many years ago.

Nonetheless, as time got closer to the book discussion afternoon...and my friend, Martha, (who was leading the discussion) asked/assumed, "You are coming to the book discussion, aren't you?"...I located my own copy of the original paperback and joined the group.

I'm so glad that I did. Of course, I knew that anything Martha facilitated would be well-worth my time. And, I love sitting in the cozy 'living room' atmosphere of the L.W.Nixon library, with the large, plate-glass window overlooking the campus. So, I settled in for a very nice chat and, certainly, I was not disappointed. Six of us thoroughly enjoyed every tidbit of background and insight that Martha shared about Truman Capote and his experiences writing the book. Each one of us contributed our own reflections...our own connections with the lives of the novel's characters. Once again, I was reminded about how special it is to be literate...to be able to share with others the joy of reading powerful (not necessarily uplifting) literature.