Comments on: Harpy Book Club, January Edition

By: Feminizzle

Feminizzle — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:53:43 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation, ImTheMarigold! I just looked at it on Amazon and it’s on my wish list…

By: romastrega

romastrega — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:18:23 +0000

This month I read Three Cups of Tea (good), Year of the Flood (Atwood, scary and good and fit into Oryx and Crake in a way that made you understand both books better), and I am now reading PopCo by Scarlett Thomas which I picked up on a whim (on sale) and it’s keeping me up at night trying to figure out codes and math problems.
I, too, glanced at Cleaving so good to know to just skip it. After this, Hillary Clinton’s bio (from same sale).

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:28:36 +0000

@SarahMC: The House At Sugar Beach is really good. I highly recommend it.

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:10:54 +0000

I just heard about The House at Sugar Beach on NPR yesterday and thought it sounded neat. Maybe I will check it out.

By: ImTheMarigold

ImTheMarigold — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:37:17 +0000

theorchidthief: i finished that book about 3 days before the quake, and it just devastated me. my office does some work with Paul Farmer and partners in Health, so I was directing everyone and their mother to donate. Reading about liberation theology now, thanks to Paul’s interest in it mentioned in the book. Then on to some of Paul’s written work.

Feminizzle: for a complimentary reading on Liberia, I really recommend The House at Sugar Beach. And I think I’ll add your books to my library hold list!

By: Feminizzle

Feminizzle — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:34:05 +0000

I just finished Wangari Maathai’s book/biography Unbowed, which was incredible. It was so motivating to see how her efforts became enormous and life-changing for so many people. That inspired me to pick up This Child Will Be Great, the autobiography of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She’s the first female President in Africa (President of Liberia.) It’s starting off describing the history of Liberia which is really interesting to me as an American, knowing the hand we played in creating it. I hadn’t realized that the British were also very involved, though. I’ve only just started it, but it looks like it will be good!

By: sarah.of.a.lesser.god

sarah.of.a.lesser.god — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:24:38 +0000

Of course I scheduled this for noon, forgetting I'd be out for the next eight hours and unable to join in the comments! Okay, I'd never consider reading Cleaving. Although I kind of did like Amy Adams' version of Powell. @emilyanne: I may have to buy Game Change. Or, more realistically, nick the copy my mom will inevitably have on her nightstand.

By: emilyanne

emilyanne — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:41:33 +0000

Tall In Heels – I adored Where I was From, it’s my favourite Didion apart from Slouching Towards Bethlehem (I actually had a complete crush on Didion for most of my life and she’s the main reason I became a journalist, well her and crap UK kids drama Press Gang, but that’s a whole different story).

@Shiny Objects – Kate Atkinson is great. I second the brilliance of Behind The Scenes but Case Histories is also excellent, I didn’t like the second book in the Jackson trilogy but the most recent is also great.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:31:24 +0000

@ShinyObjects: Atkinson’s “Behind the Scenes at the Museum” is brilliant.

Has anyone read “The Jade Cat” by by Suzanne Brogger?

By: theorchidthief

theorchidthief — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:17:52 +0000

Just finished Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. Very timely as it is about the formation of Partners in Health which began in Haiti and was extremely important when the earthquake struck there recently. Excellent book! Highly recommend it.