On the bookshelf: book club reads

I've been slacking lately and haven't read anything other than our book club selections.  But none the less, they were great reads that I wanted to share!

Habibi - The first graphic novel I ever read!  It follows the story of a woman who adopted a young boy, and the love that grows between them.  It encompasses quite a few themes: lust, greed, hope, and the many similarities between Islam and Christianity.  Even if you aren't interested in reading this novel, I would suggest renting it from the library just to marvel over the beautiful leather cover and artistic images inside.  I was pretty knocked off my feet when I picked up my copy.

(My book club buddy, Beth, gave a great little summary here along with many other book recommendations).

The History of Love - A novel that follows the stories of 2 main characters: Leo Gursky, an older man who lives by himself, always recalling the love he lost & Alma, a young woman who is in search of happiness for her mother who lost her husband (Alma's father) to cancer.  The stories of both individuals begin to entwine and they are able to form a bond.  It's quite a sad story, but one with a lot of comic relief to keep the reader moving right along.  I would say our book club was 50/50 on this one - some loved it and some really didn't like it.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - I read this book on our very first girl's trip to Scottsdale and deemed it my "favorite book ever", hand's down.  Mostly, I loved how quirky the characters were and Foer's writing in general. I'm a big fan of Foer.  So, I shared my love with the book club and they all read it this past month, though almost no one liked it!  Whoops!  I didn't re-read it, but now I wish I would've to see what all I missed.  If I have suggested this book to anyone (everyone), be aware, it's not a definite "love it" consensus as I expected. 

Fun fact: The author of The History of Love is married to the author of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close!  They even have "to my love"-like sweet nothings to each other at the beginning of their books. How cute is that?!