Deanna’s Bookshelf

November 29, 2009

I just finished Margaret Atwood’s  The Year of the Flood, which is in parallel to Oryx and Crake. Wow! There’s just no other word for this outstanding classic work of art. Though The Year of the Flood can be read as a stand-alone, you should first read Oryx and Crake to truly appreciate the feeling of The Year of the Flood. Oryx and Crake gives us the blueprint of this dystopian future while The Year of the Flood delves deep into the marrow of the God’s Gardeners, “a religion devoted to the melding of science, religion, and nature”. Ms. Atwood is simply a brilliant author with an insight into the future of our earth unlike any before her. Visit the website, The Year of the Flood, and discover the wonder for yourself. You won’t be sorry!

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November 1, 2009

I am currently reading every book by Margaret Atwood I can get my hands on. I recently finished Oryx and Crake, and The Handmaid’s Tale and am now almost finished with The Blind Assassin. Margaret Atwood is one of the finest writers of our time. She tells classic tales of many genres, most recently speculative fiction. Her stories will make you drop your mouth wide open, thinking “Wow, this could really happen”, but at the same time the concepts seem so far removed from real life that you feel you have truly landed in another world.

If you haven’t read anything by Margaret Atwood yet, I suggest you get thee to the bookstore or the library and obtain every one you can.

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Favorite modern authors

Who are some of your favorite authors of today? Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites. She writes with such riveting insight and her characters are so real. I just finished Handle With Care a couple of weeks ago. A page-turner from beginning to end, this novel is engrossing and heart-wrenching. One sentence, just six words long, made me burst into tears, (a true feat). If you like a character-driven book, with ethical questions scattered throughout, then this is the one for you.

I’ve enjoyed all of Ms. Picoult’s books, but some of my favorites were Nineteen Minutes, (if you have kids in school, you might want to wait until they graduate to read this one), Second Glance, a fabulous ghost story, and My Sister’s Keeper.

Another favorite is Adriana Trigiani, especially her Big Stone Gap series. Adriana’s characters are just that – characters in and of themselves. Quite a few are absolutely hilarious. Adriana grew up just a few hours from where I did, (and live now), so it was fun to read her descriptions of places I’ve known all my life. She nails it. Though tackling hard-life subjects, her novels are light-hearted. She has a new trilogy in the works, Very Valentine the first, and out now. I can’t wait to read this one. Adriana is a joy to read!