Two very different reads. . .

Time for another book report!  The last two books that I read were both very good, but the way I read them was very different. . .

I read Towelhead by Alicia Erian voraciously.  At night (I read for an hour or two before bed every night) I couldn't wait to open this book back up.  I wanted to know what would happen to this girl!  I sympathized.  I empathized.  I felt like she was real.

Then I read A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka.  I did not gorge myself on this book like I had done on the last.  This was one of those books that unfolds slowly and easily.  I was content to read a couple chapters each night -- why read more quickly?  If I did, it would be finished sooner.  I really enjoyed this book --  I liked the writing style, the characters, the plot, the revelations.  It was a leisurely read that was a perfect follow up Towelhead.

What were these books about?  Well, I'm not sure it matters, but I will tell you that one theme in both is integration into a foreign society.  In Towelhead we have a half Lebanese, half Irish girl living in the US and in A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian there is e a Ukrainian family transplanted in the UK. 

Up next --

Our Napoleon in Rags by Kirby Gann.  Pete just read this one and really enjoyed it, so when I  ended up book-less (gasp!) the other night, he put it on my nightstand. 

And a very important announcement!  Kurt Vonnegut has a new book coming out. . .

Vonnegut is my all time favorite author, with Cat's Cradle being my all time favorite book.  Have you read any of his many book?  If not, stop reading this and go get one!

Comments

[Wanda]

I think I might like to read Towelhead. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Deb]

Being bookless is one of the scariest things, isn't it?? It's one of the reasons I read "off" my bookshelves, not a TBR pile--when I need a book to read, I just browse the stacks--and it's rare that I can't find one to "click" but it does happen and it always drives me nuts! I can't settle down to anything unless I have a book with a bookmark in it somewhere nearby. (And no, just putting a bookmark in a random book isn't good enough--I've tried.)

[michele]

Thanks for the book tips...I love to read almost as much as I love to knit. :)

[Jenny Macc]

I got hooked on Vonnegut when I was 14....Someone left "Hocus Pocus" sitting on the kitchen table and I finished it 3 hours later. I have got my own 14 year old who loves him too. I have to say though, authors change as they get older...Vonnegut seems to be speaking a little louder these days, kinda like "your NOT itgetting people! Listen up!" Do you feel that way?