The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was shocked by how wonderful this book is because I'd actually read it before as a teenager and I didn't remember it being this phenomenal. I think as a teen, I was so mired down in the horror and sadness of the beginning that that's what stood out for me the most. Plus, having no life or significant literary reading experience, I failed to get most of the brilliance of the book. But what a beautiful perfect book. Amazing characters, amazing sentences, amazing everything. Favorite favorite.

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On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is pretty short and it's beautifully written. I don't like grouping books like this as "romance" because it is so much more than that, but let's just say it's not for group-audiobook-listening.

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Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler

Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a beautiful and at times subtle book. It's literary science fiction, ala Le Guin. It's the love story between parents and children, and between childhood friends, and about the closest adult friends.

It's a story about a fully independent woman and why she's so independent, and how her life is full of everything that matters.

And it's about time, and how the real physics of time is so magical-seeming, and how our time in an important relationship is just a touch between two people's very separate time on earth. It's about how our era defines and intimately impact us. It's also about a love of science in general, which I definitely share.

Also, as someone who lost my father whom I had a very close relationship with, I could relate so much to the grief, and I could relate also to the beauty in that grief. Swyler conveyed that in such an evocative way.

A gorgeous book overall.

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A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Miss Bartlett, in deed, though not in word, had taught the girl that this our life contains nothing satisfactory. Lucy though she disliked the teacher regarded the teaching as profound, and applied it to her lover.”

This is the thesis that this book seeks to tear down, and it does so in the most delightful way.

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You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett

You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent collection. Almost all the stories are about mental illness with a few exceptions. I especially appreciated “Notes to My Biographer,” “The Good Doctor,” “The Beginnings of Grief,” and “Devotion” (one of the few in the collection not about mental illness). After the first four the stories were harder for me to get through, but still very good.

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few authors sit down to try to say something about the experience of life and some try to capture a little bit of what God is in their writing. For me, very few succeed in both endeavors. So far, I've only found The End of the Affair, Gilead, and The Road. (My other favorite book is The Death of Ivan Ilyich, but it's not about God.) Please let me know if you know of other books in this class.

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