June, 2008

We asked our editors and columnists to look in their book bags and on their night stands to tell us what they’re currently reading. We hope our readers find titles to add to their own “Now Reading” lists and then spread the joy! Download the list here and bring it to your favorite mama-friendly bookstore or library!

The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer drew Blog Editor Amy S. Mercer “in the very first line: ‘We think we know the ones we love.’ Pearlie Cook is a mother and housewife living in San Francisco in 1953 who turns her home into a sanctuary of silence for her husband’s fragile heart. The Story of a Marriage is a moving tale of repression, secrets, war, race, and what it means to be a family.”

Fiction Co-Editor Suzanne Kamata is reading The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Social Change. “Edited by LM’s own Shari MacDonald Strong, this collection of impassioned essays by women includes writing by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former president of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, novelist Barbara Kingsolver, and feminist Rebecca Walker. If I were not already a registered voter, this book would certainly motivate me to become one!”

Kristina Riggle, also Fiction Co-editor, suggests National Book Award winner A Free Life by Ha Jin. “This graceful, simply-told story of the Wu family’s immigration to America in the 1990s is poignant and vividly real, and at the same time, beautifully subtle.”

Kathy Moran, Literary Reflections Co-Editor, just finished reading March, Geraldine Brooks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. “Drawing details from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and research about Alcott’s father, Brooks fleshes out the March family’s patriarch who is serving as a chaplain to the Union troops. Not a children’s story, March is crafted with sometimes graphic historical detail and beautifully written prose. Having read Little Women enriches the character development but is not absolutely necessary for the enjoyment of this engaging novel.”