What We’re Reading

EMILY

Dancing With Mrs. Dalloway by Cecelia Blue Johnson
“It’s a really interesting succinct look into the writing process of people from Garcia Marquez to J.R.R. Tolkien. Johnson talks a lot about the how much creativity can vary from person to person. With some people it takes years for one inspiring sentence to become a book, and for others it’s just a newspaper headline that within weeks is transformed into a novel. It’s amazing to see how the germ of an idea flowers for different people. This book is really encouraging for creative people who might find themselves discouraged somewhere in their process.”

CINDY

Quiet by Susan Cain“This book made me realize just how much of an introvert I am and that that’s okay. Our society really values extroverts and Quiet takes a look at how useful it is to listen to introverts. Many CEO’s are introverts, would Bill Gates be as successful as he is if he was an extrovert? This book provides understanding of why some people have the need to always be talking while others have the need to be quiet. ”

If you’ve read Quiet, join Cindy and Merrilee tonight at 7 when the Stranger Than Fiction Book Club will be discussing it!

MEG

Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
“I grew up going to Galveston in the summers. I’d always heard the myth of the huge storm. On drives down my mom would tell us tales equivalent to ghost stories about how it had swallowed the city. Isaac Cline was the town’s resident meteorologist. He failed to realize the magnitude of the signs of the approaching storm. Larson has gathered Cline’s own telegrams, letters, and reports, along with our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes to build a chronicle of one man’s heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude.”

JULIE

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
“I’m about 100 pages into this powerful, beautifully written novel and I’ll tell you right now, if you were a fan of The Tiger’s Wife, this is your next big read. Marra’s characters live in war-ravaged Chechnya, fearing a wrong step on a landmine or worse – the sound of Russian military footsteps at their door in the dark of night. This is neither an area nor a history I can say I know more about than what I’ve read in headlines over the years, so I’m very much appreciating the opportunity to delve into the region. I wouldn’t enjoy it half as much, though, if Marra’s writing wasn’t so lovely. He has this way of moving inside a character’s whole history in a matter of mere sentences; one moment you’re standing with Akhmed feeling the oil in his hair and the intimidation of standing before a highly trained doctor in a bombed-out hospital, and in the next paragraph, fluid as a toss of the shoulder, you’re behind the doctor’s dried out eyes and inside her exhausted heart, walking with her across a crater that used to be her city. He does this even with characters who are not front and center in the narrative, creating a panoramic view of Chechan lives affected by war. This novel will be available in early May and you really ought to put it on your list now.”

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena will be released on May 7, it is now available for pre-order.