A Few Good Books

About Grace by Anthony Doerr (book #75) is a book that took me two tries to read. I have a very hard time with high-tension segments of either books or movies, and this one had a section that I couldn't get past until the second try. Once I did, though, I was glad I stuck with it.

This book demonstrates how misunderstandings can escalate. It is best not to let that happen.

Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg (book #74) was one I was excited about because I loved her Bee Season so much. This book takes place at the turn of the last century, and has to do with Q-D Soda, a carbonated herbal remedy and also about the Spanish Flu epidemic. It goes back and forth between following the main characters interspersed with advertising for Q-D Soda, some sort of tour being put on by Q-D Soda, and reminiscences by the founder, etc. This is the disconcerting part. Why did she do that? Otherwise, an enjoyable book, but it isn't anywhere near Bee Season.

Malinche by Laura Esquivel (book #73) was one I picked up because of my long standing interest in all things Mexican. The book is a fictionalized account of Malinche, a slave captured by Hernan Cortez to serve as his translator in his overthrow of Montezuma. All of Esquivel's books are moody and dreamlike - and this is no different. A little too fictionalized for my taste, but I still enjoyed it!