January 7, 2006

Still working on the wrap sweater so...I'll ruminate on books for a few sentences. Just finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Great book. I don't normally go for those vampire tales (Anne Rice, etc.) but this account of two historians search for the "real" Dracula was a page turner- well written, a fascinating look at European archives and libraries, etc. This week my book group is discussing Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, a heart-wrenching inside look at the lives of several families in the Bronx and their struggles with drugs, gangs, violence, poverty. The situation of the women and their children, especially, is extremely striking and very sad. LeBlanc's ability to get "inside" the lives of her subjects is amazing.