25 May 2008

Summer Reading

Recently, my commute to work has grown to one hour in each direction. To quiet my potential for road rage and pass the time more pleasantly -- I started listening to books on CD. This past week, I finished Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb who has a degree in social anthropology. Since this has always been a big interest of mine, I was delighted to come across her book on CD at the library.

The story is about a woman named Lilly who has hippie parents and her adventures growing up through becoming a young lady. The story takes place mostly in London but has many references to Africa and her time there. Gibb writes about some very controversial topics -- but she treads on these topics gently. The novel is very international with themes of faith, love, hardships and family. I absolutely love her descriptions - they are incredibly colorful. About two thirds of the way through the book the meaning of the name of the book is revealed. Although I felt a bit melancholy finishing the book, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Other works by this author include;
The Petty Details of So-in-So's Life
Mouthing the Words: A Novel

I will be starting Steve Martin's Shopgirl this next week. What are you reading this summer?

6 comments:

Beat Black said...

my sister did the same thing when when her every day drive became too long. its such a good way to spend the time and the best part is you don't feel like you've wasted it!

Unknown said...

I used to listen to talking books on my way to work (only half and hour each way) and I loved it. I looked forward to the trip and sometimes would arrive at school wiping away tears if it was a sad story.

The only issue I had was two out of the three books I listened to had readers who were not that great. They would put on these very fake sounding US accents (I know what they sound like, when I do one I hear it!) even though I think they were from the US. It was slightly annoying, but I still loved the books.

Bee said...

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog and the encouraging words!

Bee said...

That is a great idea to listen to books on tape. Driving to work , with a good cup of coffee, and a book on tape gives driving to work a whole new experience. Have fun:)

Rosebud Collection said...

I am ashamed of myself..My reading is slipping, since I got into blogging..
This has got to change..Your doing good..

Callooh Callay said...

Sounds like a great book--I took notes. I used to commute and got to where I could be pretty calm about it all, and now if I get out there I go nuts again! Takes practice.

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