What We’re Reading This Week

~ MARA
Until I Find You by John Irving

“This is my first Irving book, and it definitely stands out in how dark and deep it is. It’s on loan from a friend who suggested I read it. I like it a lot so far. It’s this really big and long book, but it has these luscious, well developed characters and a world you just get lost in. I know I’m going to have a book hangover when I’m done.  As a psychology major, I love digging into the deep subject matter. The book approaches the subject of child molestation and tells it through the perspective of the child and how he grows up and what consequences he has to face because of what happened to him. The process of what someone has to go through to handle something like that is just fascinating. You know it’s going to be dark from the get go when the dedication is to Irving’s son and reads, “I hope none of this ever happens to you.”

~ HELEN
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

“This book is for fans of the The Big Bang Theory. The story is about a man with high functioning Asperger syndrome, similar to the The Big Bang Theory‘s Sheldon, and definitely for those curious about the spectrum of autism. The character undergoes ‘the wife project’ to find a mate. It’s so comical and with a lot of bungling along the way. He makes this detailed questionnaire to determine who is suitable for him and to decrease the amount of time wasted looking for true love because he’s all about compartmentalizing his feelings. But, through various happenstances, he continually runs into Rosie and gets confused about why he’s focusing more on her ‘father project’ than his ‘wife project,’ not admitting to himself that he’s just enjoying spending time with her even though, by the measure of his own standards, she’s completely wrong for him.”

~ TOMMY
The Hotel on Place Vendome by Tilar J. Mazzeo

“This book is about the Hotel Ritz in Paris from 1898 through WWII and covers the history of the building. The owners were allowed to continue running the Hotel once the Nazis invaded because they were Swiss. So, the hotel became a mini Switzerland, with people allowed to come and go. Celebrities like Coco Chanel lived there before and actually during some of the occupation. It’s all just so fascinating. One of the best parts is this was a meeting spot for the Valkyrie operation when they formulated plans to kill the Fuhrer.”

~ CODY
Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen

“Interesting and not just for kids. This works for all ages. I took a class in college on folk tales, and this is just as deeply interesting as that class. Surprising and delightfully disturbing. The best story is the traveling companion. My third grade teacher read that one out loud and didn’t read it through beforehand. There’s a pretty gruesome scene in it, so it was definitely shocking and stuck with me since. I just prefer Hans Christian Andersen. Unlike the Brothers Grimm, he authored all the stories. The Grimm stories were collected and written by anonymous authors.”