Is anyone here really surprised that my favorite reads of the last couple weeks are both written by the incredible C.S. Lewis?
Yesterday I read The Great Divorce, and it was really stunning. A fictitious view of the limbo between heaven and hell and the choices people make there. While reading this one, I was once again struck by that same old thought of how delightfully brilliant Jack Lewis is, and I wish that I could think the way he did. I loved this book, once I got into the flow of it. It's very dialogue-based with very little description (hey, sounds like a book by me!), so I had to just drill in on the conversation, and once I did, I was walloped. I love you, Lewis.
I also zipped through The Last Battle again recently, listening to it while going on walks around South Dakota. For those of you who don't know, The Last Battle is very likely my favorite book (do you like how non-committal I am?). It's the seventh and final book of the Chronicles of Narnia, and it's the absolutely perfect way to conclude the series. I have one question about the theology of the book, but all in all, I adore this book. If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia before, what are you waiting for? You should be ashamed of yourself. :-)
Yesterday I finished The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson, a story about a girl who wakes up from a year-long coma with no memories of her family. That sounds interesting enough, but I was pleased to find that it actually took place in the future--something like 2086. It had lots of secrets and twists in it, and while I was somewhat dissatisfied with the ending, I appreciated the creativity in this book and all the bioethicial questions it brought up.
David Sedaris has a new book out! It's called Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, and it's not really like anything he's ever written before. It's a book of stories about animals but with that hilarious David Sedaris kick to them all. I zipped through this book, and it was good, but it made me really miss Sedaris's laugh-out-loud memoirs. If you could do with a little irreverance and a lot of laughter, go read Me Talk Pretty One Day or Holidays on Ice. Or, well, really anything written by him. He's a comic genius.
I was especially intrigued by Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper because it is based on a TRUE STORY about a girl named Anne who was hanged but then "came alive" on the dissection table. Um ... yeah. I had to give this one a go. Not the greatest writing, but still very, very interesting ...
Finally, I also just read Damage by A.M. Jenkins, a story about a popular kid with depression. It was ... depressing. But a good description of what it feels like to suffer from depression. I suppose if I were going to give a recommendation for a "good depression story" (sounds like an oxymoron, but really, it's not), I'd suggest that people read Ordinary People by Minnesota's own Judith Guest.
