more books in paradise

As usual, books were a top priority item on my vacation packing list (I don't know what else one does at the beach - go in the ocean?!) for my last trip. I love a good novel on the beach - something fun or a page turner - but sometimes I also do some heavier reading, finding it can be easier to get through some sad or depressing stuff when the sun's shining... Here are the four I read on my Florida spring break, in order of my personal enjoyment:

#1: A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson - I don't really like buying hardcover books, but Joshilyn's are always an exception because I don't want to wait for paperback to get to read them. Lucky for me my mom bought this newest one and let me read it first on vacation... And I loved it. It had all the elements I've loved about her other books - generations of strong, funny female characters with quirky names, an element of mystery in unraveling a family secret, crazy small southern towns. A completely enjoyable and compelling story to read, and it makes you think about family bonds, redemption/second chances, and other good stuff to boot. 

#2: The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace - a short one (I read the whole thing on my two short flights/layover on the trip down) and a rather captivating little story. It's based on the story of the typewriter's invention in nineteenth century Italy; young contessa Carolina is going blind and no one understands except her longtime friend Turri, who builds her a machine so she can still write letters. The book is partly about their love story, and I thought the writing, especially about being blind, was quite lovely too.

#3: Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza - one of my book clubs chose this for April; it was also a really quick read, if not a great literary work (I have a little complaint about the number of exclamation points used, amongst other things). It was kind of an inspiring story though, of Immaculee's hiding in a small bathroom with several other women for several months to escape the Rwandan genocide. And of course it's never pleasant to read about such terrible events, but good to learn more about this history. I found it so interesting that she remembered thinking that after the Holocaust, surely this sort of thing wouldn't happen again, and also, surely the rich countries like America would come to help - you expect that these days things like this wouldn't happen, but they do (though I am so insulated from such things, I can't imagine living through them).

#4: Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang - a novel about three generations of Chinese women; I thought the relationships of the mothers and daughters were interesting (and felt glad I don't live in a culture in which women are valued for their ability to produce sons... it makes for some sad stories. And makes ladies a little nutty), but I didn't find this a very satisfying read. The way it was written, I kept feeling like the real story was still to come. And I didn't feel like I really knew any of the characters, though maybe that was intentional as none of the characters seemed to really understand each other!

And now that I'm back to real life, I'm on to some less exciting, required (in that I am being paid to edit it) nonfiction reading.