Old South Recommendations for your Summer Reading List

Editor: we asked the OSC e-mail forum for recommendations (and kept our ears open in the narthex) so we could provide you with this guide for books to pack with you as you go off on your summer holidays. Happy Reading!

Ed Cutler: Harvey Cox's recent book Fire From Heaven is a really good read if you are at all interested in learning about the Pentecostal (Experiential) churches in America and throughout the world. This is a thoughtful, insightful, and loving analysis that includes comments on some of our Boston area Christian neighbors. And for you Barbara Kingsolver fans (The Bean Tree etc.) she has a new collection of essays that are easy to read and put down -- you're not locked into it for the whole day/night. It's called High Tide in Tucson: some funny, some sad, some political, some biological (she has an MS in biology!). Enjoy."

Martha Byington: "I loved Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. Based on the number of reader reviews in "amazon.com" [an online bookstore] -- the most I've seen for any book; I may have been among the last to read it. I laughed out loud at Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island (travels around Great Britain), but found his Lost Continent (travels around the US) snide and mean-spirited (which probably says more about me than about Mr. Bryson.) I finally got to read My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by Abraham Verghese, about an Indian doctor treating AIDS patients in the mountains of Tennessee. I haven't been able to get it out of my mind."

Joan Arnold: "I have read a number of really good books over the last several months, but one that perhaps might have escaped the attention of most people is a little gem written in 1994 and published by Penguin Press. It is called, Rocking the Babies and is written by Linda Raymond. I found it at Waterstone's a few months ago. I don't know if it is still there but I'm sure any bookseller would order it if asked to do so. It is the charming and poignant story of two African-American women who volunteer in the neonatal intensive care ward in a hospital. As they sit and rock these babies who, in some cases, would not survive without them, they tell each other the stories of their lives. It is a delight and I highly recommend it."

Eleanor Jensen & Steve Silver both recommend Longitude by Dawn Sobel: "This was a great read" they say. [Note: also see JWC's comments below.]

Pam Roberts on six by Jane Austen: "Several recent movies have brought a resurgence in Miss Austen's popularity. A couple of summers ago, I decided to revisit six of her novels, one after the other -- it was delightful. If it has been a while since you have taken a good, strong walk with Elizabeth Barrett, or suffered through a boring society evening with Amanda Root, then by all means, do so this summer with Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park."

Shirley Blanchard & John Stainton both recommend: An American Requiem: God, My Father and the War that Came Between Us by James Carroll. "An autobiographical account of the conflicts between generations around the love of God and country" says Shirley. "An excellent biography about becoming a priest, then leaving the church" adds John.

Annamarie Ross Shu recommends: At Home at Mitford by Jan Karon. "Mitford is a town reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon. The main character is an Episcopalian priest who is actually shown doing ministry. The other main characters live out their faith as the author tells a charming story about life in this idyllic town. (First book of a series that should be read in order.)"

Elisa Blanchard recommends Quaker Testimony by Irene Allen: "a local mystery with a faith-based undercurrent."

Steve Silver: "If in the market for a mindless but entertaining novel, Nelson DeMille's latest offering Plum Island is a good read. Those looking for more substantial fare might turn to Gladstone by Roy Jenkins. Witty writing and the tale of a true political giant show that the biographer's art is alive and well. And one can never go wrong with any of the Patrick O'Brian 'Aubrey and Maturin' novels. Best read in order of course, these wonderful stories featuring Capt. Jack Aubrey, his friend Doctor Stephen Maturin (naval surgeon and omni-talented spy) and their adventures in the Royal Naval during the Napoleonic Wars are epic in scope & beautifully written."

Ric Thonander recommends Clergy Killers by Lloyd Reddecker about "explorations for seeking eternal truths amidst dysfuncationality."

Evan Shu recommends The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. "This page-turner starts out like this year's version of Bridges of Madison County but the second half turns instead into a heartwarming testament to the power of long term marital love and commitment -- a two-handkerchief read."

Charlotte Thompson (librarian at Wakefield) recommends Desert Queen: Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell by Janet Wallach. "I want to start a campaign to get Gertrude Bell more well-known. This amazing woman, adventurer, advisor to Kings, ally of Lawrence of Arabia, was instrumental in the shaping of the Middle East as we know it today."

Many Old Southers are recommending Peter Gomes' The Good Book. See Steve Silver's book review, also this issue.

"First of all, a couple of 'oldies but goodies.' Our Christmas book last year to some friends and our kids was Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild. I reported on it last fall as a compelling read. It deals with the power and lure of nature, centering on the figure of Chris McCandless who gives up trust funds and educational credentials to head off into that great American mythological wilderness. His story ends in McKinley Park Alaska. It's a peach, filled with drama, excellently researched as an 'open road' story, touched with family drama and personal poignancy. You will remember this guy!"

"Secondly, another of last summer's pleasures: Longitude by Dava Sobel. This is an absolutely revelatory book about a global measurement which began as 'the greatest scientific problem of its time.' Something we now take for granted was, while the world was ignorant of it, the absolute bane of navigation and caused the collapse of many an imperial navy. The solution to Longitude is a fascinating scientific discovery story pitting sovereign against sovereign, scientist against scientist, in a grueling and no holds barred contest for military advantage and a ton of money."

"Now, a couple of new ones: Jon Krakauer's book, Into Thin Air. The story of last year's catastrophic trip up Everest. After reading his Into the Wild last summer, I couldn't wait to get at this one, so read it a month or so ago. Another memorable and exciting story of the best, the worst, the surprising and inspiring in human nature. And, over Memorial Day, I read, John Grisham's new novel, The Partner. It's totally without redeeming social value except as an entertainment. It does not help to understand how juries are chosen, how death penalty appeals are processed, how the tobacco industry tends to deceive us -- it simply begins with a horrendous crime, depicting both murder and grand larceny. By the end of the story, the crime dissipates and dissolves into a million tributaries -- though the last page and a half offers the longed for Maupassant twist. Enjoy!"