Bankhead's Blogging Book Club, Baby

Time and again I've thought and chatted with several of you siblings about the need for some sort of book referral service between all of us. I really like to read, and do less that I'd prefer. Part of that is due to my childcare duties (please note Paul's posting on babies and terrorists). Another reason is that I often don't have any ideas on what I'd like to read, and am lazy. And who wants a book recommendation from a stranger who may not have the discerning tastes for which we are known? No no, I think a family referral service is in order.

So I thought I'd post some books I've read in the last year or so that I liked, and hope you all do the same. Perhaps if there is something many of us have read (the life of pi leaps to mind) we can have blogs discussing the book, what we thought, and the like.


Crossing to Saftey - Wallace Stegner

Summary (from borders)

It's deceptively simple: two bright young couples meet during the Depression and form an instant and lifelong friendship. "How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?" Larry Morgan, a successful novelist and the narrator of the story, poses that question many years after he and his wife, Sally, have befriended the vibrant, wealthy, and often troubled Sid and Charity Lang. "Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish?" It's not here. What is here is just as fascinating, just as compelling, as touching, and as tragic.
Crossing to Safety is about loyalty and survival in its most everyday form--the need to create bonds and the urge to tear them apart. Thirty-four years after their first meeting, when Larry and Sally are called back to the Langs' summer home in Vermont, it's as if for a final showdown. How has this friendship defined them? What is its legacy? Stegner offer answers in those small, perfectly rendered moments that make up lives "as quiet as these"--and as familiar as our own. '

Laurie's comments - this is one of my favorites. The books is beautifully written, understated, and sort os sweet. I've read other Stegner books, but in my opinion this is still the best.

Charms for an Easy Life - Kaye Gibbons

Summary (from borders)
Narrator Kate Fleming introduces us to three curious women from the backwoods of North Carolina. Folk healer Charlie Kate; her daughter, Sophia; and granddaughter, Margaret, share the stories of their lives together from the turn of the century through the 1940s. Fleming voices the soulful humor and gumption of these free-thinking, strong-will women. This is a story of mother/daughter relationships, love, daring, and persevering in a time and place when resourcefulness was a necessity.

Laurie - this isn't a heavy hitter, but it is a nice read. Probably a bigger hit for women.


The Working Poor - Invisible in America, by David K. Shipler
Summary

The Working Poor examines the "forgotten America" where "millions live in the shadow of prosperity, in the twilight between poverty and well-being." These are citizens for whom the American Dream is out of reach despite their willingness to work hard. Struggling to simply survive, they live so close to the edge of poverty that a minor obstacle, such as a car breakdown or a temporary illness, can lead to a downward financial spiral that can prove impossible to reverse. David Shipler interviewed many such working people for this book and his profiles offer an intimate look at what it is like to be trapped in a cycle of dead-end jobs without benefits or opportunities for advancement

Laurie's Comments
I thought this book was simply outstanding. Shipler provides what I see as an accurate portrayal of a problem that transcends the bounds of politics. I found the book to be non-partisan, fact based, and moving. This is another book that has changed the way I see the world.


Moral Politics - How Liberals and Conservatives Think - George Lakeoff

Summary
In this classic text, the first full-scale application of cognitive science to politics, George Lakoff analyzes the unconscious and rhetorical worldviews of liberals and conservatives, discovering radically different but remarkably consistent conceptions of morality on both the left and right. For this new edition, Lakoff adds a preface and an afterword extending his observations to major ideological conflicts since the book's original publication, from the impeachment of Bill Clinton to the 2000 presidential election and its aftermath.

Laurie -
As a disclaimer, this book is absolutely biased towards the left/liberals. That said, I think it does a really good job of uncovering the world views and assumptions that drive how people think about politics. The first half of the book is more straightforward; the last few chapters lose me. I recommend the book because it has changed the way I see not just political debates, but any debates. I find his discussions on framings and word choice fascinating.

East of Eden - John Steinbeck
By now you all probably know that this is one of my favorite books of all time. If you haven't read it since high school, it is definitely worth it.

I don't know that these are my favorite books ever, but they are the ones that come to mind tonight. Anyone else want to post theirs?