Last Month in Books

 These is my Words by Nancy Turner

I first read this book just after I’d moved to Arizona.  I loved it then, but I’d forgotten how much I loved it and why.  It got chosen for our Book Club Book this month and so I hunted far and wide to get the audio version of this book, but it was not to be found!  So, I ordered a paper copy from Amazon and set it aside until I had time to read.  I ended up taking it with me to Science Camp.  It made for a great distraction on the bus and I read it by headlamp at night when I needed something to help me until I got super sleepy.  Once I got home, I couldn’t do anything without picking this book up and reading it some more.  I hate it when that happens, especially since I already knew how it ended… you’d think I could have spread it out a bit more.  But it is that captivating, and was even more so the second time around.  I would love to see a movie version of this book!  It’s a fictional diary of a girl living in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800’s.  I haven’t talked to many people who didn’t like this book. 

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I can’t decide what to write about this book.  It’s a “coming of age” book set in turn of the century Brooklyn.  It follows the life of Francie Nolan and all her relations as they work through tough times and extreme poverity.  You get a real feel for how it was to live in New York when most of it’s residents were still considered immigrants.  The descriptions of Brooklyn are detailed and interesting.  Each family member has it’s own unique personality and I think the family dynamics were pretty true to life of what it would have been like.  But on a whole I had a really hard time getting through this book.  I would almost call it drudgery.  Almost.  The only thing that kept me sane and coming back for more was the narrator (this one was audio, thank goodness.)  I’d have never finished it in paper, for sure.  Being from California, I don’t consider myself having an accent.  (Maybe East Coasters think we have one, but I’ve always been fascinated with east coast accents.)  The narrator does a wonderful job of nailing all the accents.  In all honesty, it’s the only reason I finished it.  I’ve decided that I’m just not a big fan of the “coming of age” story.  I can’t decide why, but I’m not.  Here is the proof:  I didn’t really like A Painted House by John Grisham.  I thought The Secret Life of Bees was just okay.  I felt like the ending to this book was really disappointing and quite sad.  I know that’s how life is, and that’s what makes it such a moving story, but I just can’t get into these types of novels.