The Book Thief

I thought my book club had sworn off reading any more holocaust books, but someone snuck in this one, and I’m glad they did. Markus Zusak has created a memorable and important book with many richly conceived characters (including Death, the narrator). The protagonist, Liesel, is sent to live a with a foster family in Molching, Germany (near Munich) under somewhat unclear circumstances. On the way to Molching, her little brother dies and when he is buried, Liesel steals her first book, The Grave Digger’s Handbook. Throughout the rest of the novel, Liesel learns to read the book (as well as other books she steals) thanks to the tireless and loving guidance of her foster father. And she writes about the interesting people in her life, including her foul-mouthed foster mother, her friend Rudy who imagines himself to be Jesse Owens, the mayor's wife who allows her to steal books, and the Jewish fist fighter that she and her family hide as the Nazis are closing in. The book is a testament to the power of words. Although this book is classified as a YA (young adult) book, it fully deserves to be read by people of all ages.

The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit

Lucette Lagnado was just a child when her charismatic father’s life started to crumble in Cairo. Anti-Jewish sentiment after the Suez war forced their family (and indeed, almost all of Egypt’s Jewish community) to leave everything behind and resettle in the United States, where they had no standing, little money, and no vibrant supportive community to rely on. Lagnado, who is now a reporter for the Wall Street Journal tells this story of cultural upheaval with great love and tenderness for her family, especially her father “The Captain,” The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit.

More great reads

Yikes! I have read a lot of books since my last entry. Now I just have to try to remember what I liked or didn’t like about them.

Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia, raised Muslim (a horrific childhood), emigrated to Holland, and became a member of the Dutch Parliament. Infidel is basically an intellectual memoir of how she came to understand and reject Islam, principally because of its subjugation of women. Fascinating and inspiring.

Pig Candy, by Lise Funderberg
When Lise Funderberg’s cantankerous father was dying of prostate cancer in Philadelphia, he wanted to spend as much time as he could back home on his farm in Georgia. Lise accompanied him on many of these trips, reliving through his stories the experience of being black (albeit light skinned, or “high yellow”) in the Jim Crow south; and also reclaiming the loving community he left behind. To celebrate his return, he purchased a La Caja China, a roasting box sort of like a smoker, in which they would slow cook a pig, resulting in the crispy, sweet, savory bits of skin called pig candy to share with family and friends. There’s a lot of love in this big family story, and the Funderberg tells it with just the right amount of respect, humor, and tenderness.


Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos
A sequel to de los Santos’ earlier book, Loved Walked In, Belong to Me brought back many of the same characters, and introduced a few others. Although almost all of them were a little too smart, clever, and beautiful to be believable, I still fell for and was touched by the story.

Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan
Mamah Borthwick was not only Frank Lloyd Wright's lover but his intellectual peer, which is saying a lot considering that Wright was a genius. Nancy Horan does an amazing job of portraying these fascinating and unconventional, albeit flawed, characters. While there have been volumes written about Wright, creating the Mamah character required a lot more imagination and conjecture, but it comes off as totally believable and an interesting look at feminism in the early 1900s.

The Space Between Us, by Thrity Umrigar
A novel about two women in Bombay and a contemporary view of the caste system. One is a wealthy privileged Parsi and the other her poor Hindu servant. The bond between them is strong despite the class differences, but as women, neither has much control over her life. Great multi-dimensional characters.

Forget Me Not: A Memoir, by Jennifer Lowe-anker
Alex Lowe, one of the world's greatest mountain climbers, was killed in an avalanche in 1999 in Tibet. Here, his amazing story is told by the loving wife he left behind with three kids. Although I loved the descriptions of the wild places they visited, and I appreciate the intense passion with which Alex lived his life, I can't get past the sense of irresponsibility and selfishness that would allow a man with three young children to spend his life climbing mountains that bring a high risk of death. Just a couple of months ago, 9 climbers were killed climbing K2. Jennifer comes across as a person equally passionate about living life to the fullest, and fortunately, she finds a way to do it without sacrificing the needs of her children