Bear with me. This is going to be a book review, or rather a review of several books. Having been a reader all my life, I have read lots of good books; these I want you to read too. The best read this summer and for many, many people around the world is “Theo of Golden.” It has a good plot, a surprise or two, and is full of ever so much simple goodness.
This is a first novel by Allen Levi, an older man who is a native of Augusta, Georgia, a graduate of the University of Georgia, and an attorney and a musician. The book has a number of interesting characters woven together without much fanfare. By that I mean we don’t have to learn all about their miserable childhood and what they ate for breakfast. I really think this book will become a classic much like “To Kill a Mockingbird.” If you can’t tell, I am secretly in love with Theo! He is so wonderful, unassuming and easy on the nerves. I hope it becomes a movie, but where is Gregory Peck when you need him?
“The Quiet Librarian” by Allen Eskens helped me get through the hot days, stretched out in air conditioning, reading. It beautifully goes back and forth between our librarian’s quiet current life and the life-threatening experiences she had during the Bosnian Serbian conflict. She was a heroic warrior and had to become one again in her new life in order to solve her friend’s murder. Very good!
Another book I liked is “The Jackal’s Mistress” by Chris Bohjalian. It is set in the Civil War times and is about a Southern lady who rescues an injured Yankee Captain who was left to die. It shows the hardships of the women left alone when the men went to war. Scarlett O’Hara was not the only one! Nor was she the only one to find love.
“The Kitchen House” by Kathleen Grissom was another very good read about the Civil War.
This is very much like “Gone With the Wind” but gives a picture of plantation life from the slaves viewpoint. Survival after the War was hard for everybody.
Just to show I like all kinds of books, I can recommend “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. A family is living on Shearwater, a tiny island near Antarctica. Other than almost freezing to death every day, there are mysteries, adventures, love interests, and family conflict. Very well written!
If you want to learn more about the Australian outback, read “A Far-Flung Life” by M. L. Stedman. The sheep farms are on a million acres rented from the government. The sheep are rounded up and moved from pasture to pasture by Sheep Dogs and men on motorcycles. This book is about a sad, intriguing family saga that I was drawn right into. However, a better book by the same author is “The Light Between Oceans.” about life in an isolated light house. Get yourself a big candy bar and read them both!
To celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our country you might want to read a personalized story about the Revolutionary War based on true facts by historian Stuart Bennett of Charleston. I can’t say I loved it, but it gave me a picture of the war I never knew of. The title is “The Charleston Gambit.” Chess is never mentioned!
Now for a man’s book, I recommend “Horse: A Novel” by Geraldine Brooks. A black man trained a wonderful successful race horse that he sadly never owned. He followed the horse through a number of owners in Tennessee and Kentucky. Great story to me …and I don’t know anything about horses or horse racing.
Sorry, if this is too much like showing you my boring vacation pictures, but good books are a blessing to the soul, and I can’t resist wanting others to read my favorites.
Jeanette Smith, 95, a Blythewood resident, has been active in the community’s civic affairs for over 50 years.