I've spent this first part of summer (and really, the last three weeks of school as well) reading as much as I possibly could. I've got a list of books a mile long that I've been wanting to read for a while, and every so often people tell me "You have to read this book" or "I read a book you'll love" and the list gets even longer. The down side to this of course is that the list keeps growing and I never really get ahead. But the bright side is that there's always something else I want to read waiting for me, and that every book I finish is another great adventure had!
This past Monday I finished the book Summer at Tiffany. When I first picked up the book I was drawn to it for a coupe of reasons. First of all, I really like history. I particularly like history that happened to specific people (whether I know/knew them or not) because it's an individual story rather than a blanket outline of an event. Second, I loved that the author was from Iowa. I think it's amazing to find a local story, especially since I often have a hard time finding stories from Iowa authors.
Summer at Tiffany is a carefully crafted memoir. It follows Marjorie through the summer of 1945 when she and her friend traveled to New York from the University of Iowa (where they were both attending school) and became the first girls to ever work on the floor of Tiffany's.
The book kept me enthralled! Miss Hart did a great job of recreating her memory in a way that I, as the reader, felt like I was with her. At times I felt as if I were her, and at other times I felt as if I were a ghost floating above the scene and watching it unfold. I loved her voice through-out the piece.
The ending was a toss-up for me. I loved that it was real and that it stayed true to her memory, but as I read through the last chapter (which explained what happened after that summer) I couldn't help but think that if this had been a non-fiction piece it would have happened differently. In reading the ending I gathered that she was satisfied with how her story continued, and I happy with the ending, regardless of the fact that it didn't follow my "whirl-wind idea" of romance and love.
Tuesday I began reading the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I've seen the movie (although I'd always planned on reading the book first). Typically once I've seen a movie I cannot read the book it's based off of unless I read the book once beforehand. With this book I am very happy to report that this has not been the case! Three days and 100 pages into the book and I am absolutely captivated! (And really, it's only two days of reading because I didn't get a chance to read at all yesterday.) I can't wait to finish and let you know how I feel about the rest of the book, but let me say, once you pick it up you won't want to put it down!
