Summer Book Leaguers are writing some great reviews of the books they have read. Here are just a few of them. Maybe you’ll feel inspired to check out something you never would have found on your own! Remember, you can join the book league at any time. Happy Reading!
Andrea Beaumont of Achieving College Excellence reviews The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese by Michael Paterniti
This is a true story of the author’s life inter-twining with his research as he moves his family to Guzman, Spain for a year to learn about the history, culture, and story behind what was deemed the world’s best cheese. Along the way, there is reflection on the fast pace of American culture, Spanish history, and of course, the tale of how the cheese turned into a life-long feud between two former best friends.
Tami Renner of the Office for International Programs reviews The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure
In this book by Wendy McClure, she shares her experiences as she searched for the history of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wendy visits the sites and homes listed in the Little House on the Prairie books and takes us through her experiences. The book is interesting, but a little slow moving. It would be a great read for anyone who has read the LHP books and would like to learn even more about the life and times of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Robert McNees of the College of Arts & Sciences reviews Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Epic space opera? Military science fiction? A meditation on gender and its place in language? It’s all of them! More than a fine debut, Leckie has written one of the best Science Fiction novels of the last few years.
Marjorie Kruvand of the School of Communication reviews Canada by Richard Ford
This is a sweeping and sobering novel of a 15-year-old Dell Parsons, an American boy in the 1980s whose life goes completely awry when his parents rob a bank and end up in prison. Ford, who won a Pulitzer Prize for a previous book, draws a detailed and sympathetic portrait of Dell. After being abandoned as a result of his parents’ imprisonment, Dell’s life goes from bad to worse as he is whisked across the border to Canada by a family friend to begin a new life that is arguably even worse than his old one. But Dell manages to stay afloat with the help of the girlfriend of his boss, and his determination to make something of himself demonstrates the power of the human spirit.
Eric Pittenger of the Office of Registration reviews Everyone in their Place by Maurizio de Giovanni
“The discontentment came from the experience of once again looking out on the inferno of the human soul and the corruption of the passions . . .” In this, the second in Commissario Ricciardi series, our protagonist grapples not only with his visions of the tragically deceased, the crime at hand (the murder of a duchess) but also with the rising tide of his own human emotional needs, as the mysteries of love and suppressed passion which he has always seen as the greatest cause of violence and untimely death.
Submitting a Book Review gets you an automatic 50 pages added to your total page count!
If you have any questions about the Summer Book League or this post please email Sarah Meisch at smeisch1@luc.edu
