I just finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on my way in to work this morning. I loved it. If I had a book club I would pick it to share with my friends over mini sandwiches and soup. I don't have a lot of time this week to articulate how I felt about it, but below are some of my favorite (brief) passages.
"Probably you don’t like me any more, but please believe that I spoke for your own good. Someday you’ll remember what I said and you’ll thank me for it.” Francie wished that adults would stop telling her that. Already the load of thanks in the future was weighing her down. She figured she’d have to spend the best years of her womanhood hunting up people to tell them that they were right and to thank them (324).
The spare Tynmore spinsters lay in their hard virginal bed. They groped for each other’s hands. “Did you hear it [the sounds of a woman in labor], Sister?” asked Miss Maggie. “Her time has come,” answered Miss Lizzie.
“That’s why I didn’t marry Harvey – long ago when he asked me. I was afraid of that. So afraid.”
“I don’t know,” Miss Lizzie said. “Sometimes I think it’s better to suffer bitter unhappiness and to fight and to scream out, and even to suffer that terrible pain, than just to be…safe.” She waited until the next scream died away. “At least she knows she’s living.” Miss Maggie had no answer (341)
Francie came away from her first chemistry lecture in a glow. In our hour she had found out that everything was made up of atoms which were in continual motion. She grasped the idea that nothing was ever lost or destroyed. Even if something was burned up or left to rot away, it did not disappear from the face of the earth; it changed into something else – gases, liquids and powders. Everything, decided Francie after that first lecture, was vibrant with life and there was no death in chemistry. She was puzzled as to why learned people didn’t adopt chemistry as a religion (431).
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Now that I'm finished (and especially now that I have a few hours each day devoted to reading), I need some recommendations. What should I read next?
5 comments:
The last books I have read : "What to Expect when Expecting" (of course), "Babies First Year," "The Complete Book on Breast Feeding," and my personal favorite "Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy."
I wish I could help but it looks like I am the one in need of new literature, so please recommend me something!
:) That is no surprise, Kera! I read part of "The Girlfriends Guide" when Elizabeth was pregnant. It is a funny book.
I recommend this book, for sure. My other favorites I have read lately... "Crossing to Safety" (Stegner) and... hmm. I need to go find my "Have Read and Need to Read" List.
Peace Like a River.
The Old Man and the Sea.
The History of Love.
My Name is Asher Lev.
Running in the Family.
I just finished "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands"...I think every wife should read it at least once. I plan to read it every five years, or so, just for a refresher. ;)
What kinds of books do you like? I love talking books...so does heidi, she is usually who I go to for a recommendation. If you want something funny, I would recommend "Bridget Jones' Diary"...even if you've seen the movie, the book is hilarious! If you want a foodie book, try "Garlic and Sapphires"...it's written by a former food critic for the NY Times and is pretty interesting.
Okay- so, some of my other favorites that I've read in the last year or so...
1. The curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Haddon)
2. The Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri)
3. Charms for the Easy Life (Kaye Gibbons)
4. The Other Boleyn Girl
5. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue monk Kidd)
6. Breath, eyes, Memory (Edwidge Danticat)
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