BookList
2003-11-28, 2:55 p.m.
I have a favorite movie and song list, so clearly I need a favorite book list. Especially since I read so much. One diary I read had a �Books I�ve Read List.� I did that, too.
Nimiiwin�s Favorite Books
1. The Red Tent � Anita Diamant. My current absolute favorite. I also listened to it on tape and it was even better. I don�t buy that many books because we have limited space for them but this is on my To Buy List. The author takes a minor biblical character, Dinah, and invents an entire life for her. And her family, among whom is Jacob and �em. All the bible says about Dinah is that she was raped and her brothers (Joseph is one of them) avenges Diamant did a lot of research and included what would have been local customs for the women so the reader gets a clearer picture of what life would have been like to have been a woman in that time. And, a different perspective on the Biblical men we�ve heard such saintly things about.
2. The Runaway Quilt � Jennifer Chiaverini. This is part of an entire series that I like, but thus far, this is the best of them. Sylvia Compson has always been proud of her family history and the stories of how brave, industrious and smart her ancestors were. They were pretty much canonized in family lore. Sylvia comes across a diary of her aunt, of whom she knew very little. On one hand, she was excited to learn more of her family history. On the other, her original perceptions of her ancestors were incorrect and she wasn�t all that happy to learn that they were, in fact, real people. With flaws. At the same time, Sylvia is also tracking down quilts that her mother made. A woman comes up to her at a quilting fair and says she has a quilt that she suspects is somehow related to Sylvia�s home and that it was possibly made by a slave. Sylvia isn�t all that happy to think that one of her ancestors was a slave owner and that one of his/her slaves had made the quilt. As she reads more of the diary, Sylvia begins to suspect that she is right. Her ancestors were part of the underground railroad, though it started inadvertently. One day, a pregnant escaped slave, Joanna, knocks on their door and they take her in. The usual protocol is for the escaped slaves to leave after a day or so to continue on toward Canada. Unfortunately, even though the story takes place in Pennsylvania, it�s still not safe. A law was passed that allowed slave hunters from the south to come into Northern states and take slaves back. It also didn�t stipulate how to �prove- that the black person in question actually was the escaped slave, so free black men and women in the North were sometimes rounded up and taken to the south and sold into slavery. Or just �put- into slavery. In any case, Joanna was pregnant and she stayed. Sylvia�s aunt, Gerda, and Joanna had an interesting relationship and I think they would have been great friends if circumstances had been different. I thought about Joanna for days after reading this book and every so often, I still do. I forget that it�s fiction and she wasn�t real. This particular story didn�t happen but it probably did to someone somewhere.
3. The Harry Potter series. I can�t say which is my favorite, but I love them all. I think J.K. Rowling is an amazing writer. I wish I knew more about all the nonsense the �Christians� are saying so I could refute it, but I haven�t read any of the diatribe.
4. I Wish I Had a Red Dress by Pearl Cleage. First of all, it starts out with the main character telling off some stuffy, racist, sexist senators right here in lovely Michigan. Then, it takes place in Northern Michigan. In a real town. I mean, in a town that truly exists, even if the people do not. Once again, I forgot that it wasn�t real people. I like stories about life, realistic people, realistic problems and solutions. Throw in a little love interest and there we are. In this book, Joyce is a social worker who is trying to improve the lives of several young women she works with. Her frustrations are realistic and so are her relationships. I wish I knew her and I wish I knew her friend the Reverend, whose name I can�t remember. Joyce runs �The Sewing Circus� which is a group for the young women she is trying to help. The �Rules for Being a Free Woman� are valuable.
5. What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage. Once again, this book took place in Michigan, in a town that really exists, which for some reason, I like. I fell in love with the characters. The story was incidental.
6. Cheaper by the Dozen � Frank Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. I�ve read this book probably a dozen times and it cracks me up every time. It�s hilarious. Really. When I first read it, back when I was in junior high school, I didn�t realize that it was a �real- family but it is. There are all kinds of websites out there with info on what became of the children and Mrs. Gilbreth. If you can tolerate a bunch of middle-class, early 1900�s white people, you�ll probably laugh at this book too.
7. What You Owe Me � Bebe Moore Campbell. This book was on par with any of the classic sagas. The story is about Hosanna and Gilda, a black woman and a white immigrant woman in the 40�s who, together, start a cosmetic company. Gilda disappears with all the company�s money and Hosanna is left in debt and starting from scratch again. The biggest part of the story is about Hosanna and her life but then comes Matriece, her daughter. Matriece winds up being a cosmetic company executive, working for Gilda. When Gilda finds out who Matriece is � well, I won�t spoil the story for you in case you decide to read it. It�s a gripping story.
8. Diana Gabaldon�s Outlander series. I�m not sure why I like these books, really. They�re historical romance novels that are about 1000 pages each. They�re filled with straight white people acting badly. However, there is also a great romance between Jamie and Clare. For some reason, I always read Jamie as butch rather than male, though he is, in fact, a bio-man. Which may explain why I like the books. There is great historical details and that�s interesting. Then, my mother�s family is at least nominally Scottish so that�s also part of �my- history. Of course, Diana Gabaldan is just a great writer and the abundance of details never seems like too much.
9. Summer House �Jude Deveraux. These three girls meet in the DMV on their 21st birthdays and they become friends. Then, they lost touch. Leslie married a man she loved and is now ignoring the rumors that he is having an affair with his assistant. Madison left a modeling career to return to her hometown to care for her high school boyfriend who had dumped her but then had a crippling accident. Ellie became a best-selling author but went through an awful divorce that left her reeling. At their 40th birthday, Ellie hosts a reunion in a house she has in Maine. While they are shopping in the little town they�re in, they come across �Madame Zoya� who gives them the opportunity many of us dream about � the chance to go back and do it all over. And they get to keep all the knowledge they�ve gained with them. Once they return, they have to decide if they want to return to their old life or keep the new one and if they want to remember what happened or not. It was not only an interesting premise, but well written.
10. Unity: A Quest for Truth � Eric Butterworth. I just kept saying to myself, �YES! That�s it! That�s exactly how I think.� Butterworth gives the basic tenets of Unity as clearly and simply as possible. Difficult, since it�s a church that has no official dogma.
11. Adopted Jane � Helen Fern Daringer. This was a childhood favorite. The story of Jane, an orphan, who goes out to visit two families and has �adventures.� While she�s at it, she makes great friends and winds up with a family of her own.
12. Skates for Marty � Barbara Clayton. One of those sappy, 50�s books of innocent girls and teenage rivalry that for some reason I really liked. Perhaps because I�ve always loved a good makeover story and this is, essentially, that.
13. That Jones Girl � I can�t remember the author but it took place during WWI. Toward the end, really, since they talk about Armistice Day. Another makeover story where Lizzie Lou Jones learns to really like herself the way she is, once her aunt comes along and helps with nicer clothes and stuff.