Summer Books

NOTE: After wading through this brief intro, just know that I'll come and revisit this post as I finish another book and I'll share my measly two cents about them... So come back every once in awhile :)

My household is slowly disintegrating. An out of commission dishwasher, renegade ants in the kitchen, and a home that must be scrubbed top to bottom... Let's just say, I'll be lucky to get myself and my boys out of our pajamas today.

In lieu of another day in the life of Kelly rant (which I don't seem to have the energy, inspiration, or brain cells for today), I'm posting a list of books I've been reading this summer. The list is by no means extensive...I don't have many moments to steal away and lose myself in a great book. But, I've been trying to read more, just to be more inspired as a writer. I'm happy to say, I seem to have chosen my reading wisely, because I'd recommend any of these books to you.

So....

Down Came the Rain, Brooke Shields
Now, she isn't the most literary of authors, which I wasn't expecting. And anyone who hasn't been pregnant probably wouldn't appreciate this book. But, she has a lot of guts to come forward with her story of extreme postpartum depression. She calls it the big elephant in the room, that everyone sees but nobody wants to talk about. She lays it all on the table and the emotions are raw and disturbing and real. I have more respect for her as a person since reading it.

Gods in Alabama, Joshilyn Jackson
The author is a fellow momwriter (a writing group I belong to) and this is her first novel. I had no idea what I was getting into when I checked this out at the library. A magazine I edit is holding a meet with the author chat at the end of August, so I figured I should know my stuff.

I absolutely love this kind of book. Part mystery, part thriller. It's about a southern girl who flees her hometown for the big city to leave a dark secret behind. When she does finally return, all the truths she thinks she knows begin to unravel. I love books that keep me guessing until the very end. With twenty pages left, I was convinced I had it completely figured out. But, I didn't, and the author effectively toyed with my mind.

Gift from the Sea, Anne Morrow-Lindbergh
This was a total accidental read. A friend of my husband's left it here and I happened to pick it up one day. It is a meditation on life and its many beautiful phases that she likens to the many shells she finds on her solitary vacation by the sea. According to her, I'm plunged in the oyster bed with my family.

She writes: "It is an oyster, with small shells clinging to its humped back. Sprawling and uneven, it has the irregularity of something growing. It looks rather like the house of a big family, pushing out one addition after another to hold its teeming life--here a sleeping porch for the children, and there a veranda for the play pen; here a garage for the extra car and there a shed for the bicycles. It amuses me because it seems so much like my life at the moment, like most women's lives in the middle years of marriage. It is untidy, spread out in all directions, heavily encrusted with accumulations and, in its living state--this one is empty and cast up by the sea--firmly embedded on its rock."

After absorbing this little book I had the aha! moment that I somehow didn't get until reading the author bio...she was married to Charles Lindbergh, the famous pilot, and their first son was tragically kidnapped when he was just a baby. Duh, Kelly.

Automatic Wealth, Michael Masterson
My quest continues to bring in some extra income for the family. This one took awhile to get through and I probably won't use a lot of his suggestions. But it was worth reading just for the first few chapters on goal setting and rethinking the way we view wealth and our spending habits.

Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott
Awesome, funny, sarcastic, and genuine writer. I'd been wanting to read this one for a long time now. It is basically her journal of her first year as a mother, a single mother at that, and she really captures the chaos, uncertainty, and wonders of motherhood.

Waiting for Birdy, Catherine Newman
One of my new writing heroes. This is another memoir type book of her second pregnancy and how her life is transformed when her daughter is born while her son is just a toddler. How she manages to crank out a first novel, have a weekly column for Babycenter.com and contribute several articles a month to Family Fun is beyond me.

I'll post more books to his page as I devour them. (Next one to come: Down Came the Rain, By Brooke Shields) Everyone have a fabulous week.