"Killing Mr. Griffin" by Lois Duncan is one of those old YA books I've always meant to read and never got around to, so I finally did. It was pretty good, about a group of high school kids who are tired of how mean and unfair their English teacher, Mr. Griffin, is so they decide to kidnap him and scare him, thinking he'll be nicer once they let him go. Unfortunately, Mr. Griffin has a heart condition and he dies. The kids manage to cover up their crime for a little bit, but in the end the truth comes out.
"Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek was very informative and inspirational. Jurek is an ultramarathoner--he frequently runs (and wins) races that exceed 100 miles. I'd settle for being able to run a 5k in under 45 minutes :) Jurek is also a vegan, and a defender of the lifestyle and diet that so many see as being in direct opposition to a healthy athlete. He has some good recipes in there, too!
I cried the whole time I was reading John Ramsey's "The Other Side of Suffering". For 12 long years he and his late wife, Patsy, were vilified in the press and court of public opinion for having something to do with the horrific murder of their little girl, JonBenet, in 1996. Patsy, sadly, died in 2006 before the Boulder DA's office officially cleared the Ramsey's of any wrongdoing. John has been through so much, and yet he maintains his hope and his faith in God. It was very moving and very emotional.
So something a little lighter after all these heavy books! "Fat, Drunk, and Stupid" by Matty Simmons is the story of how the movie "Animal House" came to be. It's such a great film, I crack up every time I watch it, and I've see it dozens of times. It launched so many careers and made stars out of a lot of the people involved. Plus it sounds like they had a hell of a good time while making it.
"Night Watch" is Linda Fairstein's latest Alex Cooper book. I was trying to pay very close attention, because there is usually so much going on in her books that I get utterly lost. This time I think I got it, though, and it was very good. Alex's boyfriend from France, Luc (I can't use the word "lover" like Fairstein does. That just seems so cold and impersonal to me. Everytime I read it I just shudder) seems to be a prime suspect for murder when two people turn up murdered with the business cards to his new restaurant on them. Meanwhile, Alex has to cut her vacation to short to deal with a high profile rape case involving the head of an international economic organization. It was tight and taunt and very suspensful, I really enjoyed it.
Several months ago I got an advanced reader copy of "Sandcastle Girls" by Chris Bohjalian. The book came out last month, and I've been meaning to write about how much I enjoyed it ever since. It was heartbreaking, about the Turkish slaughter of Armenians during the first world war. Elizabeth, a recent Mt. Holyoke grad, has traveled to the desert with an American aid mission. She sees atrocities she didn't even imagine existed. She also meets Armen, whose wife and infant daughter were slaughtered. Armen leaves to join the British Army so he can fight the Turks. Elizabeth despairs of ever seeing him again, but he does return and they marry and raise a family. The story goes back and forth between Armen and Elizabeth in 1915 and their granddaughter in the present, as she's discovering her heritage. It was a beautifully written book with a lot of heart wrenching moments.
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