Monday, July 31, 2006

Bookworm Report: July

I'm having trouble getting Blogger to load photos today (must be a day that ends in "y") so my other posts are stymied. In the meantime, here's a photo-free post. Slow month here on the reading front:

1. Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease..., by Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner. Good basic overview of Lyme, but I hope you never have to read it.

2. Strange Piece of Paradise, by Terri Jentz. I was psyched when I found this at our library, since I'd read several good reviews. A compelling story of a woman who was the victim of random violence; nearly two decades later, she traveled back to the scene of the unsolved crime to investigate it, identify a suspect and put her own emotional issues to rest. Could have used a more aggressive edit, but the story is quite gripping.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Terri's experience happened not too far from here and she has been in town a couple of times to read from her book. I find the story too grim for me so I don't think I'll read it.

However, her story has significance for me because my dad did the TransAmerica trail last year and there was always the feeling that anything could happen to him.

Anonymous said...

Honey dear, after you finish the Lyme book, take it right back to the library.
I once owned a Merck Manual for a while.
It's too easy to become obsessed with your illness.
My doctor told me to get rid of it.
He was so right.
I am far less worried about what COULD happen now.

Unknown said...

I agree with Kath to some degree. However, it's always good to understand what you've got.

I'm reading Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. In the summer, I try to read those classics that I never got around to doing. Henry James is another on my list. Waugh is too much! Great book.

Jay said...

I'm so psyched! I don't have a local book club, so I'm really looking forward to the first episode of ABC new book club show (can't remember what it's called... that's how hyper I got when they advertised it last night!). Now, that news will be totally uninteresting to you as ABC is an Australian channel... just thought I'd share.
Lyme disease... doesn't sound nice.

Carol said...

Kristin - The story of the crime is horribly gruesome, but what fascinated me was the way she wove into her story all these other observations and perspectives: how the community was both deeply shocked by the crime and yet helped facilitate the attacker not getting charged; victim's rights and how your life and psyche change after being the victim of such an attack; the whodunit of figuring out her attacker's identity; the issue of pure evil in our society and how that is addressed (or not) in the criminal justice system; and so on.

Kath & Mar, don't worry, I have no intention of becoming a lymochondriac, but Mar's right - it helps to understand what you're dealing with.

Mar, I love your new South Park photo. Um, but what's the deal with the rifle?! Slovenians driving you over the edge?

Jay - sounds cool! Is it anything like Oprah's book club? (Actually, I hope it's a bit more wide ranging; Oprah's picks were nearly always victimization stories - clitorectomy, stalking, wifebeating - that depressed me.