A brief summary of what I’m currently reading or have recently finished, why I read it, and whether I’d recommend it. Although really, it’d have to be truly terrible for me to bother writing about a book I wouldn’t recommend……
No Visible Bruises (Rachel Louise Snyder) – don’t pick this up on a lark, but pick it up. Centering around the 2001 murder of a woman and her two children by her husband and their father, who then killed himself, this heartwrenching book digs deeply into the world of domestic violence. Though I no longer recall how I first learned of this book or why I decided to read it, this opened my eyes to the reality of all too many. If nothing else, it gave me a fresh and deeper appreciation for all the families I know who are involved with foster care.
D-Day Girls (Sarah Rose) – the subtitle tells it all: “The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II”. I saw this on a summer reading list compiled by a few staff of The Gospel Coalition, and if I were ever an exact match for the intended audience of a book, it’d be this one. Give me all the capable women who do whatever needs to be done. (Unless it’s dusting, because if you think that actually needs done, you’re wrong.)
The Kitchen House (Kathleen Grissom) – a historical fiction novel set in late 18th-century Virginia, this doesn’t whitewash or idealize the master-slave relationship. (As such, it does contain elements of sexual assault. I hadn’t considered that possibility when I began it, and wish that the thought had at least occurred to me.) It came recommended by a couple different friends whose opinions of books I generally trust, and I wasn’t disappointed.
A Soldier of the Great War (Mark Helprin) – another piece of historical fiction, the first 50 and final 75 pages are set in 1964 and the intervening 700 or so follow one young man’s experiences in Italy in 1914-1920. I don’t typically have the patience for a book of this length and didn’t realize when I requested it from the library that it was this long, but 350 pages have held my interest, so I’ll keep reading.
So there you have it: 4 books I’m reading right now or have recently finished. If you’ve read any of these (or decide to after reading this post), drop me a note and let me know what you thought of them! And let me know what you’re reading right now too.
Hannah, thanks for the tips on the great books. I looked at the Soldier of the Great War and D-Day girls, both peak my interest. I also looked at Mark Helprins website and he has written other books from that timeline. I will look into both books and authors.