Set in rural North Carolina during World War II, this quirky, heartwarming tale tells the intergenerational story of three strong women through a richly detailed, character-driven, family saga of life and love.
This coming-of-age story is an off-beat, funny, sarcastic and entertainingly realistic look at 2 recent high school graduates' road trip, which balances tender, tearful moments with an ironic tone, and includes complex math problems, historical references, word puzzles, and footnotes.
Julie, thanks for sharing An Abundance of Katherines. I loved The Fault in our Stars so I'll probably read this one too.
ReplyDeleteAll of John Green's books are excellent.
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteHere are some recommendations for you which I gathered from Goodreads and my own reading journal.
ReplyDeleteCharms for the Easy Life:
"Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay" by Beverly Jensen. First don't be discouraged by the cover--really unattractive. It's a wonder that anybody every picked it up. Tale of 2 sisters over a 70 year period. Format is a little unique--chapters are like individual short stories. Really captures the hardship and beauty of the location in Maine and New Brunswick starting in early 1900's. My favorite chapter is entitled "Wake" which is truly memorable and darkly comic. It follows their catastrophic efforts to escort their father's body to his funeral during a blizzard. Wonderful story of family and sisterhood. Author died before this was published--really sad because it is a teaser of what she might have developed into.
You might also want to try Crazy Ladies by Michael Lee West. Multigenerational--6 women over 4 decades. Set in Tennessee. Loves, sorrows, joys. Very quirky characters.
Abundance of Katherines: How about "Into the Wild Nerd Yonder" by Julie Halpern. This is a fun story. Self professed "mathelete" is desperately trying to make new friends in high school. She goes through all the cliques including the Dungeons and Dragons crowd. This reminds me a little of TV show "Big Bang Theory"
Julie, for Charms for the Easy Life, might I recommend Laurie Colwin's 'Goodbye Without Leaving' or 'A Big Storm Knocked It Over'? Both are southern novels with many of the same charms as books by Kaye Gibbons.
ReplyDeleteJulie - for Abundance of Katherines I would recommend A.S. King's Ask the Passengers or Please Ignore Vera Dietz. I think King and Green write some of the best teen dialog out there and they both seem to find just the right balance between the emotional roller coaster and witty sarcasm of teenage life.
ReplyDeleteAs for Charms for the Easy Life, I might suggest Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith. It's a character-driven epistolary novel that traces the life of Ivy Rowe, born in an isolated Appalachian mountain community in Virginia at the turn of the century.