The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

I've never been a seventh grade boy, but I'd have to say that reading Gary Schmidt's Wednesday Wars gave me as clear a picture as I could get about being twelve in the late 1960's. Issues such as the Vietnam War, family relationships, and disillusionment with childhood heroes mingle with the typical challenges a kid in junior high faces: conflict with bullies, middle school romance, and the all-important reputation. Tying them all together? Shakespeare.
Holling Hoodhood is convinced that his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates his guts. On Wednesday afternoons, while his Jewish classmates attend Hebrew study and his Catholic classmates attend Catechism, Holling, the lone Presbyterian, is left to suffer his teacher's scrutiny as well as her chores. Somewhere along the way, Mrs. Baker decides that reading Shakespeare together will be a far more worthwhile use of their afternoons together. While initially intrigued only by Shakespeare's colorful curses and insults, Holling comes to genuinely enjoy the Bard's tales and beyond that, finds life application as he navigates junior high.
This book had me both laughing and crying, by turns. Which is absolutely my favorite kind of book to read.
BOTTOM LINE: A southwest blow on ye and blister you all o'er if you choose never to read this book. It would make you pied ninny.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

Living in Chicagoland I'm particularly aware of Frank Lloyd Wright and his brilliant architecture. Many a time I've driven through Oak Park where his work abounds. Never before have I been interested in the man's personal life, until our most recent book club pick was a work of fiction based on him and his seven-plus year affair with a married woman. While a fictional piece, the book is based on facts, and the author dug into these facts as well, drawing from newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, and the like. The love affair of these two people and their quests to find their true selves brings them Westward, overseas, to the heart of Chicago as well as the countryside of Wisconsin. Woven throughout the tale is heartbreak as the families of Mamah (Wright's lover) and Frank are brought under public scrutiny, children are left in the lurch, and Wright's career is nearly derailed due to the scandal. Most tragic is the abrupt end to their affair (is that too much of a spoiler?). In the midst of it all is the story of Wright's genius in architecture and his artistic process.
BOTTOM LINE: I found myself by turns cheering for and condemning Frank and Mamah. I also found myself spending long hours Googling images of the amazing buildings Wright designed.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

When I picked up this very. large. book it was mainly because I had, ambitiously, joined our library's summer reading club. One requirement for said club was to read a book along the lines of this year's theme, which was something medievalish - I don't remember the clever title they gave it. Anyhoo, this book was there amidst the suggested titles, and I picked it up. It's kind of your age-old tale of good versus evil, with good looking like it's doing pretty well until evil comes along with one of its evil-type schemes and proceeds to smash and burn good, after which good rises from the ashes and begins to rebuild, prompting evil to rape and pillage and steal, to which good counteracts with a clever plan, at which point evil gets desperate and swoops in with an under-handed plot, causing good only to rally harder and triumph in the end. Basically.
The story takes place in the middle of the 12th century and centers on the fictional town of Kingsbridge in England. Tom the stonemason, homeless, penniless, and with his family in tow, desperately searches for work, always hoping to realize his dream of building a beautiful cathedral. He comes upon Kingsbridge and its monastary, where he and the prior, Philip, join forces to build a cathedral that will glorify God and turn the world's eye to their humble village in the process. Countless forces work against them, time and again nearly dashing their vision and seeking to take their very lives, but their perseverance along with Philip's vigilance in following the Lord's will with their actions (and counteractions) lead to ultimate victory.
BOTTOM LINE: I know - a book about building a church? With lots of architectural terms to wade through? And raping and pillaging thrown in there? I don't necessarily understand why to this day, but I found myself drawn into the story and its characters and had to continue to the end. I'm glad I did. Because (spoiler) good triumphs.

Stealing Faces by Michael Prescott

When we got our fancy-dancy new phones last year, I promptly downloaded the Kindle app, thrilled that I could now have books with me wherever I went. It's certainly convenient to always have reading material on hand. I also love the plethora of books to choose from and the fact that they're cheaper than purchasing them from the store. However, the level of thrill does not compare, for me, to how I feel coming home from the library with a big pile of books (that I know will never get plowed through before the due date) or to the satisfaction of turning page after page. BUT - I digress. The best part of the Kindle are the free classics you can download as well as the cheapity-cheap fiction that can be found. Case in point - Stealing Faces by Michael Prescott. This was a 99-center and sounded interesting enough for me to drop a buck, so I promptly downloaded. If you are a fan of thrillers (serial killers, games of cat-and-mouse, and the like) this one's up your alley. The twist in this book is that you are given the story from two points of view: that of the hunter (whose identity you know all along) and the hunted. I found it difficult to put this story to the side as you are always wondering who will stay one step ahead. The victim in this story is one whose story is often not believed, which adds to the suspense as time and again the criminal closes in on victory.
BOTTOM LINE: Looking for a quick, end-of-summer read? I'd definitely pick this one up.

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

I will sheepishly admit that I picked this one only after seeing the movie previews. I decided it was a chick flick that I would most likely see (even if I only do so after it comes to Netflix, deeming it not quite worthy enough of theater pricing). The book certainly delivered as the summer read I was looking for.
The narrative in the story is that of Rachel, who spent her childhood in Indiana and now her adulthood in New York living in the shadow of her best friend, Darcy. When a drunken birthday slip-up with Darcy's fiancee shows potential for something more, Rachel grapples with dueling loves and loyalties. Her choice? Abandon one relationship and leave it broken or abandon the other and leave herself broken.
BOTTOM LINE: While not 100% wholesome in its handling of certain moral issues and definitely along the lines of "chick lit", I couldn't put it down. Had to know...who gets the guy?!

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Author Lisa Genova brings to her first novel both her personal and professional expertise in regard to Alzheimers' disease. Watching her grandmother deteriorate from this wretched illness prompted her to ponder what exactly was happening inside her grandma's brain as she became increasingly lost within herself. Genova now has a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard and using the knowledge accumulated through her profession, penned Still Alice, about a fifty-year-old Harvard professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers'. The story, told throughout from Alice's perspective, fleshes out the affects of this disease on the afflicted (namely, Alice) and her husband, children, career. It is a heartbreaking and true-ringing portrait of a life and family nearly stopped in its tracks. Filled with both clear scientific information and characters whom you can't help but love (or be disgusted by), it is a beautiful work of fiction.

BOTTOM LINE: Expect a few tears and expect to take stock of your life, newly cherishing every healthy, aware moment with which you've been blessed.

A Reading Momma's Proud Heart

From the first turn of a picture book page with Jeran when he was a baby, I've been anxiously awaiting the day when we (and now Ben and Grayson too) would cuddle together and lose ourselves in chapter books. In my head I always pictured it at bedtime. We'd wrap up a section and I'd close the book, leaving my kids in suspense, begging for "just one more chapter". While on our vacation in the DR, my mom-in-law kicked off this new era of reading adventures with Jeran by reading "Charlotte's Web" with him. I was surprised and thrilled when Jeran and Grandma told me they had been reading it together. And I even got a little choked up at bedtime that evening when James, his parents, and I sat around the living room, and Jeran cuddled up in my lap, handing me the book and granting me the honor of reading the last two chapters. My little boy is growing up. For one thing, he can finally (just barely) sit still long enough to make it through a chapter or two. But also, he's retaining the story and can stay involved in it night after night. We've moved on to The Boxcar Children and have involved Ben as well (he is maybe not quite so much ready. His involvement is basically interrupting with a plethora of irrelevant questions. But I still find myself glad to share this with him). It's the thrill I always pictured it to be, sharing this passion for reading with my kids.