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Grace Grits Reads May 2017

May 31, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

May 2017 was an odd month for me as I was preparing for my Iceland trip, writing several freelance articles (deadlines!), and evidently not reading as much as normal. Grace Grits Reads May 2017 totals only three books. Sad! (Three that I can recall as I sit here in Iceland trying to remember, anyway.)

My brain is tired.

Maybe I really read eight. Ha.

American Gods
by Neil Gaiman

I selected this book because author Neil Gaiman was inspired to write it after a trip to Reykjavik, AND I thought it would help immerse me in the culture and mood of Iceland. It did. For the most part, I truly enjoyed this book. At times, I LOVED the story. Once or twice, I almost quit reading. But somehow the author casts a spell, and I couldn’t not finish it. American Gods is as long and deep as the Westfjords (over 700 pages!), and the story is as mystical and poetic as Iceland itself. The basic premise involves a man recently released from prison, his dead wife, and a job he reluctantly accepts because he finds himself a bit untethered. Nothing is ever as it seems. Magic plays a role. Or does it? Underlying forces influence everything. Or do they? If you are offended by sex, penises, and the idea of Norse gods, you won’t like this saga. If you prefer a straightforward, black and white story, move on to something else. If you enjoy a touch of fantasy and remember devouring mythology in junior high, you may just see the magic in Gaiman’s prose.

(Yes, Starz produced a series based on the book, but I always favor the book first.)

This book made me: Think. Look at Iceland differently. Remember the mythology I learned in 7th grade. And FYI, I will never see a taxi / Uber driver the same way again. Never.

My favorite line: “All we have to believe with is our senses.”Continue Reading

Grace Grits Reads: April 2017

April 29, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

Here we are at the end of April. I think these monthly book recaps I’ve begun doing make my days fly by even more quickly! Grace Grits Reads for April took me across the Pyrenees and deep into the “Wood Wide Web”. I visited with old Avonlea friends and sat bedside with Lucy Barton. ♬♪ Do you know the Pee-can man? the Pee-can man? the Pee-can man? ♬♪ I predict soon you will.

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah

This was the first book I read in April, and it was FANTASTIC. I became so engrossed in this tale of two sisters during French occupation of WWII, I had a difficult time accomplishing much of anything other than reading. This was one of those beautifully written stories I didn’t want to end, all the more powerful because the people and events depicted were inspired by truth. When it did end, I had to sit with it for a while before starting another book.

This book made me: reflect, think, worry, weep at the end. I even lost weight because how could I eat when Isabelle was standing in food lines for pitiful rations? Read it if you haven’t already and ponder, what would you do?

My favorite sentence: “What good is safety if she has to grow up in a world where people disappear without a trace because they pray to a different God?”Continue Reading

BOOK REVIEWS: March, 2017

March 31, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

Book Reviews: March 2017

The books I enjoyed in March took me soaring above the clouds, from Prince Edward Island to this side of Paradise, and along dark and filthy alleyways of Argentina. I traveled from the Cold War through those magical days when all the world raced to be first into space. And then on to solve a kooky mystery on Turpentine Lane. I met a quirky boy named Frank who dressed as though he channeled F. Scott Fitzgerald. Or Charles Lindbergh.

I’ve been busy.

And these books taught me things. Opened my eyes. I thought new thoughts because of these books.

Indulge me for a moment while I tell you about a sad, stab-me-in-the-heart, March experience… I recently participated as an author vendor at a craft fair, and for every book I sold, 20 people told me, Oh, I don’t read or I can’t tell you the last time I read a book, or I only read my Bible. And they said it almost with a look of disdain as though I tried to sell them whiskey at church.

Really?
I believe Jesus would want us to read all sorts of books. Not just His.

If I hadn’t read these March books, so much of what I learned or the new ideas I thought would be replaced with what? And yes, there’s plenty to learn when reading fiction. Each book represents a different place to travel and new people to meet, but even more importantly, books turn on the spigot of our minds.

Now, I’ll jump from my soapbox and into the books.Continue Reading