What I'm reading lately

I go in fits and spurts with reading. Admittedly, I don't always have the time or the patience to sit down and focus on a book. Over the last few weeks, though, I've been on a decent roll. (It helped a lot that I hosted last month's book club meeting - accountability works wonders! =) ) Now I am hoping to keep the reading momentum going as long as possible.

As I mentioned here, for book club in July, we read In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume.

I enjoyed the story very much, although I did have difficulty keeping all the characters straight at first. I learned that the storyline was inspired by Judy Blume's own experiences as a child growing up in Elizabeth, New Jersey. This made the story even more impactful to me - and it also made me appreciate how much times have changed since then.

On the note of Judy Blume, I had previously mentioned that I wanted to reread some of the books I had first read in my youth. Most notably, I wanted to reread Tiger Eyes. Mission accomplished last week.

Oh my goodness. Going in, I already knew that I hadn't comprehended a lot of the details as a child. Even so, I was still flabbergasted at how much I had missed. There were so many inherent themes, including alcoholism, self-forgiveness, and racism, that I didn't pick up the first time. As an adult, I could truly understand the motivations, the hesitations, the unspoken thoughts. Tiger Eyes was an extremely worthwhile and very eye-opening reread for me.

Moving on to a different genre. Ana recently wrote about her progress in working through the 100 Books To Read In A Lifetime list. One of the books on the list is The Diary of Anne Frank. After visiting Yad Vashem in Jerusalem last year, I was inspired to read it, but hadn't gotten around to getting a copy. Seeing the name on the list finally spurned me to action a few days ago.

Knowing the story and viewpoints are completely real, I get chills reading the passages. It boggles my mind to witness Anne's maturity and forthrightness in discussing the often-horrific wartime occurrences. She was an extremely intelligent and thoughtful girl with incredible perspectives, especially at her young age.

Anne's recounts also make me think of Amsterdam. I've only been there once, and unfortunately, I did not make it to the Anne Frank House. I definitely want to see it the next time I'm there.

On a similar note, my next read will be Night by Elie Wiesel, which is an autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

My intention is to commemorate Wiesel's recent passing. I am also drawing further inspiration from my visit to Yad Vashem. The book is fairly short in length, but I know the story is devastatingly heartbreaking in magnitude. I am bracing myself as best as I can.

Finally - and on a much lighter note - I recently received a copy of Bruce Poon Tip's book, Looptail. 

Bruce Poon Tip is the founder of G Adventures, which is a travel adventure company. The book is his entrepreneurial success story. I traveled with G Adventures on a jaunt to Costa Rica about ten years ago. Therefore, I am looking forward to discovering more about the company's development and business philosophy, especially from a traveler's perspective. In my opinion, there are no better learning experiences than those gained while traveling.

Now it's your turn to share. What are you reading these days? Any and all recommendations are always welcome!

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I am inaugurally linking up with Stephanie and Jana for Show Us Your Books.