Friday Book Suggestions: Relationships

This week's book recommendations all deal with relationships-specifically marriage. I found them all to be thought-provoking and insightful, though it very different ways.

Fiction:

Now, of course, I could have picked any number of novels that deal with marriages and relationships, but I chose these because the relationships were complex, and at the center of the plot and characters. I wanted something more that just a good romance.

Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelly Rowley

The charming tale of Quinn, who must find out who she really is, and what she really wants after the dream proposal from the perfect guy.

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield

Although purely fictional, this story may sound familiar if you are at all familiar with Bush family. A young woman falls in love with and marries a man who eventually becomes the President of the United States.

The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller

A young couple move into a town-home adjacent to a retired Senator and his wife. But soon they discover that the older couple's relationship is quite unconventional. Very enthralling.

Nonfiction:

I steered clear of self-help and personal development books here, but rather looked at books that take a more exploratory and analytical approach to the subject.

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert

After meeting her love at the end of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert is perfectly content committing to him forever without the formality of a wedding or marriage vows. In fact, they prefer it that way. But after an immigration incident, the marriage-wary couple is forced to marry or spend their lives apart. Gilbert works through her feelings about the institution by studying the history of marriage across cultures.

The Committment by Dan Savage

As his 10th anniversary with his boyfriend approaches, Savage must field questions advice from family, friends, and their young adopted son about their decision not to wed. Law and politics aside, Savage and his boyfriend examine their relationship, the roles they play in it and the purpose of marriage in the first place.

Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage by Stephanie Coontz

Okay, I have to admit that I haven't finished this one yet. It's a dense, but fascinating look at the history of marriage and how it has come to mean what it does today. Gilbert sites much of Coontz's research in her book, so if you read Committed, you'll get a taste of what Coontz has to offer. However, after reading the first half, I know that there is much more here for those who want to go deeper into the subject.

What marriage and relationship books do you recommend? Has anyone else read these? What do you think?

Friday Book Suggestions: Education

It's Friday again, so I'll be recommending three fiction and three nonfiction books that all touch on a theme. This week, the books all deal with issues of education.

Fiction:

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

Most of you are probably familiar with Little Women (and if you aren't you should be!), but not as many people have read Little Men. It continues the story of the March family and the lives of several children who live and learn at Plumfield, the school run by Jo and her husband Professor Behr. (Also wonderful is the third book about the March family, Jo's Boys.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

An American classic set in a boys' boarding school during World War II. It's an emotional and powerful coming of age story.

The Secret School by Avi

This one is short, and meant for young adults, but the themes are timeless and complex. It's the story of a young girl who must teach her classmates secretly if she wants to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher.

Nonfiction:

Why School: Reclaiming Education for All of Us by Mike Rose

This is a small book with huge ideas. Rose questions and reflects on the reasons for educating our children and ourselves. He offers critiques and powerful solutions to the education problems in our country today. It is as poetic as it is political.

The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell

Made into a movie starring Hillary Swank, this book chronicles the lives of a young teacher and her troubled students as they use writing transform their lives despite desparate circumstances.

School as a Journey by Torin Finser

This book follows Finser, a long-time Waldorf teacher, through eight years with the same classroom of students.

Friday Book Suggestions: Writing

Today, I'm continuing the series I false-started back in November. I'll be sharing three fiction and three nonfiction books that have a common theme.

This weeks theme is writing.

Fiction:

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

A novel about a group of women who overcome huge obstacles and encourage one another to write and find gifts they never knew they had. Spectacular!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Of course, most of you are familiar with this book, but it's interesting to reread the book with an eye especially focused on Jo as a budding and growing writer.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This epistolary novel follows a young British writer after World War II, who discovers a community of readers (and a few writers) on the isolated channel island of Guernsey.

Nonfiction:

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

A beautiful meditation and reflection of the hows and whys of being a writer. Truly inspiring.

Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher

Pipher offers ideas and inspiration for changing the world through all different forms of writing including letters, blogs, novels, essays and more.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

Since I included Little Women in the fiction section above, I felt this biography is a perfect counterpart on the nonfiction side. It demonstrates beautifully how Alcott grew as a writer and the relationship she had with her books and her readers.

Friday Book Suggestions

On Fridays, I'm going to start sharing a few book suggestions. These are books I read recently, or years ago, so I'm not going to give detailed reviews on them (some I may have already reviewed, and I will link to those if that is the case).

I will be sharing three fiction and three nonfiction titles around a certain theme. The books will be diverse and may deal with the issue in different ways, sometimes rather tangentially. I just thought a theme for the week would be a fun way to tie the books together and to bring different perspectives to a particular topic.

Today's topic is issues of race and class.

Fiction:

Them by Nathan McCall- The story of a young white couple who move into an old and historically black neighborhood in Atlanta, GA.

Four Spirits by Sena Jener Naslund-A fictionalized account of the events and people in Birmingham, AL during the Civil Rights movement in 1963.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann-This book contains many stories of the lives of people in New York City who watched a man walk between the Twin Towers on a tight-rope in 1974. They are a broad representation of society, both racially and socio-economically, and their live collide (sometimes literally) in unexpected ways.

Nonfiction:

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz- The true account of a pair of brothers who live with their mother in a run-down housing project in Chicago.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich- A writer tries to support herself for a year with only minimum wage jobs and shares all the details.

A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind- One of my all time favorites. Suskind follows Cedric Jennings through his last two years of high school in a low-performing inner-city DC high school. Despite the fact that Jennings is gifted, but grossly unprepared, he receives a scholarship to Brown University.

I hope you enjoy today's selections. Please share any other titles you think fit into the topic for today, and share ideas for future themes.

Have a great weekend!