Book It!
May 21, 2009 — book reviews, Dave Cullen, Elisa Albert, Rachel Howard, reading
To say I love reading is an understatement. Having 55 book boxes at my last move probably means a label like “fiend” is more fitting. I am a reading fiend. And proud of it!
With the upcoming three-day weekend, my thoughts turn to books. However, I’ll be too busy hanging out with my family (including lots of energetic, funny kids) to have reading materials in hand.
So here’s a quick list of books that have recently kept me turning the pages.
*The links below go to the authors’ websites.
The Book of Dahlia by Elisa Albert. Fiction. Love or hate the title character Dahlia Finger, you’ll be compelled to see how her story unfolds. Elisa Albert’s writing is frank, funny and extremely engaging. It’s a powerful, character-driven book. I can’t wait to read more of Albert’s writing.
The Lost Night: A Daughter’s Search for the Truth of Her Father’s Murder by Rachel Howard. Memoir. I could not put this book down. The 1986 murder of Rachel Howard’s father remains unsolved to this day. This excerpt from the New York Times review of the book says it best: “As a detective, Ms. Howard fails. She never learns the identity of her father’s killer. But as a memoirist, she succeeds brilliantly.”
Columbine by Dave Cullen. Non-fiction. The subject, a high school shooting, didn’t initially compel me to read this. It was Cullen’s exploration of how myths became “fact” according to media and how “fact” was a tangled mess as students on cell phones reported back to reporters what they were seeing on TV from inside the classrooms where they were hiding. Meticulously researched and extremely well written. I especially loved the narrative structure, with some strands of the story moving forward in time while others moved backward. It created incredible context.
Your turn! What are you reading? What do you recommend?
