Recent Reads

It's soooo nice to be back in a good reading streak.  I've read some terrific stories recently, and I'm whittling down my stack of checked out books.  While the previous two books mentioned on this blog were excellent, these next two books kept me up way past my bedtime.

One Dog and His Boy


One Dog and His Boy will be a bittersweet read for Eva Ibbotson fans, for it's her final posthumous novel.  Fortunately, it's bursting with her trademark (and sarcastic) humor, odd secondary characters, and a genuinely appealing hero.  Ten year old Hal has everything a young boy would want--tons of toys, the latest in electronics, the whole nine yards. Except for a dog, which his mother won't allow due to the mess and noise it would cause.  When his parents discover a shady operation called Easy Pets, which rents out purebred dogs for people who want the prestige and attention that comes with a rare purebred but none of the upkeep required to own one, they decide that renting a dog for the weekend will likely cure Hal of wanting a dog.  They fail to mention, until the very last minute, that the dog is only temporary, leading Hal on a madcap race to reunite with Fleck, his beloved dog.  This is a must read for dog fans; they will adore the dogs of Easy Pets and cheer them (and Hal and friends) on their wild journeys throughout the book.

I Am Forbidden


Completely switching gears, we turn to I Am Forbidden. This book--wow. Not sure how to describe it, because I don't want to give anything away. It's a compelling, mysterious, almost ethereal, and ultimately heartbreaking story of a Hasidic (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) family from World War II Romania to present day New York.  Anouk Markovits grew up in a Hasidic family, which makes her writing that much more authentic and immediate.  It's a fascinating and empathetic look at two Hasidic girls, brought up as sisters, who chose two very different paths in their adulthood.