Bookshelf ABC - G

Ghosts of Grandeur captures the disappearing antebellum homes, people and places of the American antebellum South, specifically the state of Georgia. The primary purpose of this coffee table tome is to preserve the history and memory of antebellum structures that time has left behind since the Civil War.

As an extra treat, the pages are filled with  stories about the people who called these gracious buildings home and the places now transformed by their absence. No matter how you feel about the pre Civil War South, you'll appreciate the architecture of the lives and homes of the people who occupied it.

 

What G title have you read lately (or ever)?

Bookshelf ABC - F

Fahrenheit 451, by the master of science fiction, Ray Bradbury, is a throwback classic. I gave it to my oldest son to read last summer. He never opened it. When will accept that anything I suggest to my children will be automatically rejected? One would think I'd be more savvy by now.

In summary, this book is about the unthinkable prospect of the extinction of the book and the rise of the television as the predominant form of entertainment. Who says science fiction is stranger than real life?

Wow me with your own suggested F title.

Bookshelf ABC - E

Eat, Love, Pray, it seems like a cliche to list this book in my April A to Z alphabetical bookshelf. After all of the hype and the movie, who hasn't read it, right? But, still. Put it on your bookshelf.

Some friends at work gave it to me as a going away gift during a huge turning point in my life. I was leaving a job that I was conflicted about to embark on uncertainty. Though I wasn't going on a grand adventure in the fashion of Elizabeth Gilbert and I'm not into meditation, I did relate to the low point in her life that catapulted her on a year of discovery. And I related to her as a writer.

Eat, Love, Pray is for every person who wonders if her path in life can change.

Now, scan your bookshelf for the best book you know with a title that starts with E. Please type it into the comments. Selfishly, I'm trying to build my reading list, too.

Bookshelf ABC - D

The Dirty Life is not quite what the title implies. This is the classic tale of New York City girl meets organic boy, falls in love and throws away modern conveniences to follow a dream. At times she and her beau seem cracked and at other times they seem like the best friends we all wish we had. If you need some fresh air or you're craving milk in the raw, this is a good read.

Please return the favor and suggest a D list book for me.

Bookshelf ABC - C

Cutting for Stone is a book my mother loaned to me after a friend loaned it to her. My mother didn't read it. She said it's not her kind of book. The book's narrator is the offspring of a missionary nun who has an illicit affair with the doctor with whom she works. He explores the characters of his mother and father, but more than that he lays out the consequences, both good and bad, of decisions made before he was ever born.

I raced through the first half of this book. I couldn't put it down. Though I didn't find the second half as compelling, it was just as fascinating.

What C titles are on your bookshelf?

Bookshelf ABC - B

The Beast of Blue Mountain creeps down its mountain at night. Hearing it crunch through the leaves and swish through the river, campers, fishermen and stargazers ask, "What was that?"

This picture book tale of a mysterious nighttime creature offers the perfect balance between the thrill of being a little bit scared and the fun of sharing a big laugh. Geared for preschool through elementary ages, The Beast of Blue Mountain teaches kids that noises in the night aren't always something to fear.

Take time to read and turn the pages with a child. It will take no time at all to slip into the world of a book together.

Can you think of children's literature titles that start with a B? Which ones do you recommend?

Bookshelf ABC - A

A Time to Kill by John Grisham is on par with To Kill A Mockingbird. Because I read this book first, nothing he has written since has ever measured up for me.Beautifully composed and powerfully thought provoking, it opens with the brutal murder of young black girl by two white men. The wounds of the racial divide in a southern town reopen with a fury and an attorney finds himself in the storm.

I haven't yet read Sycamore Row, Grisham's novel inspired by A Time to Kill, so I can't comment on its quality. Yet, despite my disappointment in his works that have followed A Time to Kill, I'm  tempted to read it.

What are the best A novels (titles begin with the letter A) you've read? Return the favor and help me with my reading list.