Thursday, January 21, 2010

Wading Through My Wishlist



Recent additions to the Great Monstrosity that is my wishlist....

~ Found at Passages to the Past ~

 What if the old maid of Amherst wasn’t an old maid at all? Her older brother, Austin, spoke of Emily as his “wild sister.” Jerome Charyn, continuing his exploration of American history through fiction, has written a startling novel about Emily Dickinson in her own voice, with all its characteristic modulations that he learned from her letters and poems. The poet dons a hundred veils, alternately playing wounded lover, penitent, and female devil. We meet the significant characters of her life, including her tempestuous sister-in-law, Susan Gilbert; her brooding father, Edward; and the Reverend Charles Wadsworth, who may have inspired some of her greatest letters and poems.


~ Found at Book Nut ~

In The Year My Son and I Were Born, Soper takes us along on her personal journey through Thomas’s tumultuous first year—as she strives to balance the loss of the child she thought she would have with loyalty for the baby she actually holds in her arms. Can she love Thomas for himself? Can she protect him from the world’s insensitivity—andfrom her own doubts?
Ultimately, Soper escaped her downward spiral of despair and emerged with newfound peace. Antidepressant therapy restored her equilibrium, and interactions with friends and family brought needed perspective. But the most profound change came through her growing relationship with Thomas. His radiant presence shone through her outer layers of self, where fear and guilt festered, and reached the center of her very being—where love, acceptance, and gratitude blossomed in abundance.



For his 65th birthday, acclaimed novelist Michael Mewshaw took a 4,000-mile overland trip across North Africa. Arriving in Egypt during food riots, he heads west into Libya, where billions in oil money have produced little except citizens eager to flee to Europe or join the jihad in Iraq. In Tunis, Mewshaw visits an abandoned Star Wars movie set where Al Qaeda has just kidnapped two tourists.
Ignoring U.S. Embassy warnings he crosses into Algeria, traveling through mountain towns and seething metropolises where 200,000 people have died during more than a decade of sectarian violence. Searching for the tombs of seven monks murdered by Islamic fundamentalists, he reaches a village where six more people have been beheaded the day before. When he interviews a repentant terrorist responsible for 5,000 deaths,  In the end, the reader, like the author, is immersed in a fascinating adventure that’s sometimes tragic, often funny, occasionally terrifying and always a revelation of a strange place and its people.

Your turn, readers: Sound good? Bad? Have you read any of these already?

8 comments:

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

I have to say, I love the sound of Between Terror and Tourism. It sounds like an excellent read :)

Nina said...

I havent read any of the above books, but the first one sounds nice. Great picks for your wishlist. :)

Gerbera Daisy Diaries said...

I've granted you an award!
Enjoy!

http://gerberadaisydiaries.blogspot.com/2010/01/one-lovely-blog-award.html

Marie Cloutier said...

THE SECRET LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON looks like a great read :-)

Anonymous said...

Secret Life of Emily Dickinson - I always suspected she was wild!

Amused said...

Wow those all look great to me! Good picks!

Veens said...

I know it is not good to read this feature on your blog and similar feature of Passage to the Past blog!

I am so afraid to add any more books to my wishlist...but the 1st one sounde real good.

Sandra said...

In different ways, they all sound like good reads. I love Dickenson and think anything approaching her life with that kind of dedication would be a good reading experience. Mewshaw sounds a little like modern day Marco Polo, going where life is very different from what he's known-and potentially very dangerous. I think we should read it just to know what goes on in places in today's world we will never get to. Soper's story would, at the very least, teach us empathy, even if we don't have children. That's my two cents anyway. Great choices. I look forward to your thoughts on those you choose to read. Enjoy.

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