Last month I started a new monthly feature for my Sunday Salon posts that will take a look at the books that I read two years ago. It’s interesting to look back and determine if I still feel the same about the books that I did then — if I’d still rate the books the same or if I’d change the rating today.
I only read 5 books in November of 2006:
- A Redbird Christmas – Fannie Flagg (4.5/5)
– Fannie Flagg (4.5/5)- Jayber Crow – Wendell Berry (bookclub pick) (4/5)
– Wendell Berry (bookclub pick) (4/5)- Little Children – Tom Perrotta (3/5)
– Tom Perrotta (3/5)- The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho (5/5)
– Paulo Coelho (5/5)- The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop – Lewis Buzbee (4/5)
– Lewis Buzbee (4/5)——————————————————————
I really loved A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. It’s really a great book to read around the holidays and will definitely get you into the Christmas spirit. My rating today: 4.5.
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When I lived in Kentucky, I lived about 45 minutes from Wendell Berry. He is very well known in Kentucky and should be more well known to everyone. Taken from wikipedia, this is a summary of Wendell Berry’s values and philosophy:
His nonfiction serves as an extended conversation about the life he values. According to Berry, the good life includes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, husbandry, good work, local economics, the miracle of life, fidelity, frugality, reverence, and the interconnectedness of life. The threats Berry finds to this good life include: industrial farming and the industrialization of life, ignorance, hubris, greed, violence against others and against the natural world, the eroding topsoil in the United States, global economics, and environmental destruction.
Although I had read and owned some of Berry’s poetry, short stories, and essays, Jayber Crow was the first novel I read. The book illustrated the above values perfectly. You will like Jayber Crow if you like books like Gilead by Marilynne Robinson or if you just want to read more about a simpler and more idyllic time. My rating today: 4.5.
by Marilynne Robinson or if you just want to read more about a simpler and more idyllic time. My rating today: 4.5.——————————————————————
I read Little Children because I love Kate Winslet and thought I probably would want to see the movie when it came out. I had no clue what it was about. I still haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not sure if I will. I thought about lowering the rating to 2.5, but I know I did like a few things about it so I’ll leave it as it was. My rating today: 3.
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I loved The Alchemist then, and I still feel the same way today. I know there are detractors, but I really love Coelho. My rating today: 5.
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I enjoyed The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop and would probably rate it the same today. I’m always interested in this type of book because I use to want to own a bookstore. I’d still like to work in a bookstore, but I’m probably more interested now in working at the library. My rating today: 4.
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Have a wonderful and restful Sunday, everyone!
