books

Some books I read while traveling...

What a Girl Wants and She's Out of Control by Kristin Billerbeck
These books are the first 2 in the Ashley Wilkes Stockingdale trilogy. My dear friend Sarah Elizabeth Wright (the First) let me borrow them because she thought I would like them, and she was right! Normally I'm not a huge fan of chick lit, but Kristin Billerbeck writes Christian chick-lit, an interesting combination. The narrator is less like a 14-year-old than I expected. I recommend these books to anyone in a church singles group and/or any female around my age. Males could benefit from reading it, but they probably wouldn't love it.

The Other Woman's Shoes by Adele Parks
This is another chick-lit book that Canaday found at a book cart in Rome. I was desperate for anything English while in Europe, so I read some books I wouldn't have normally picked up at home. I read The Other Woman's Shoes during and after my trip to London, so it was interesting to read about places I had been. This book was really sad for a really long time, but it does end happily. It's also kind of explicit, and super long. It has a lot to say about marriage, divorce, and family.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
This novel is kind of between short story and novel length and is written by a Pulitzer prize winner. I found it in the back corner of a bookstore in Paris. It is based in New England in the 19th century, and begins when a man moves to the town of Starkfield and wonders about the life of mysterious Ethan Frome. The novel goes back to earlier in Ethan Frome's life and follows it up to the present. Not a lot happens, but I really enjoyed Edith Wharton's style. I would recommend this book to English majors, or people who like to analyze literature.

The Fall by Albert Camus
I also found this book in a Paris bookstore. I'm in the process of reading it - in English translation. It is written like one side of a conversation, exactly how a person would say it. It takes place in Paris, so I enjoy knowing the locations that the speaker mentions. I started reading it in Paris, but I haven't picked it up again since I got off the plane. I recommend it to anyone who has read The Stranger and wants to read more of Albert Camus.