Read More Berks

Have I ever mentioned how much I love books?  Oh I have?  Well, dang.  If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that I like to obsess over discuss what I've recently read.  Since I last blogged, I've read four more books.  I know, I know.  I went through a dry spell.  It's called college.  Anyway, four new books.

The Wilder Life

by Wendy McClure

 

This book details McClure's quest to visit every Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead.  She takes the journey that Wilder herself took as a child, documented in her half true, half fiction books.  McClure even slices the fact and fiction from Wilder's book series as she discoveries the truth herself.  It was a very interesting read but one would have to be into the history of Wilder herself to stay tuned.  I was very much hooked and enjoyed the book.

 

All Roads Lead to Austen

by Amy Elizabeth Smith

 

Smith teaches a Jane Austen course at a California college.  Much of her life is dedicated to all things Austen.  Smith decides to travel to six different South American countries and start an Austen reading group in each.  Her goal is to determine if and how Austen translates into each country.  Her countries include Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina.  This book really interested me not only because the Austen-esque writing but because it really helped me have a better understanding of the differences in six South American countries.  Because of that, this book was definitely worth the read.

 

Charlotte Au Chocolat

by Charlotte Silver

 

Silver's mother ran the Pudding, a gourmet restaurant in Harvard Square.  This memoir recounts Silver's favorite childhood hang-out and how it impacted her life as most of her younger years were spent at table A-1 drinking Shirley Temples.  My favorite thing about this book is the beautiful way Silver depicts each scene.  Her words drip with sugar and honey.  She paints a beautiful scene for each page.  I could read this book again and again just to experience one night at the Pudding.

 

Sickened

by Julie Gregory

 

I read this book in one day.  Gregory's story captured my every thought as I read her book.  She suffered from Manchausen by Proxy.  If you aren't familiar with the disorder, her mother created fictional stories of Gregory's health.  She took her to countless doctors and demanded that countless tests be run to prove her daughters disease.  Gregory did not, in fact, have anything wrong with her and was put in danger by her mother's abusive actions.  On top of all this, both of her parents were also emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive.  This story made me want to cry and be a foster parent.  This is definitely and must-read.   

In other words, read these berks.