I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you about some of the books that I have read and enjoyed. I tend to read books similar to the movies that I watch; dramas about relationship dynamics that tend to be dysfunctional. I would recommend the following books to everyone.
My all-time favorite book is White Oleander by Jane Fitch. I finished this book in four days, record time for me, and have since read it a dozen more times. This book is all about a girl's tragic life with all the screwed up crap that happened to her when her mother went to prison and she went from foster home to foster home until she was 18 years old. It's also about the complicated relationship between the girl and her mother and how it effects their lives.
I have read one Wally Lamb book already, The Hour I First Believed, and am now reading I Know This Much Is True. The thing about Wally Lamb books is that even though they are very long (I Know This Much Is True is about 800 pages long), they are very addicting. Wally tends to be really descriptive which can turn some people off, but I love it because he really tries to make you understand and feel like you know the characters in his books.
I loved the movie Revolutionary Road so I was curious about the author of the book from which the movie was adapted. I read the book Revolutionary Road and now love Richard Yates' writing. I then read three other books by him: Young Hearts Crying, Disturbing The Peace and The Easter Parade. I enjoyed all of these books because they all have such tragic stories that enthrall you.
All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison starts with two previously divorced people who merge their kids from their previous marriages all together to form an unconventional and dysfunctional family. One of the boys from one of the families falls in love with one of the girls from one of the other family and this story is about their tortured relationship. I enjoyed this movie so much that I read it in 2 days.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan is a book all about one night. It does go back in the past to explain things, but the book is really about this couple on their wedding night and what is going through both of their heads. They don't really know too much about each other and they do not communicate, so they really don't know what each other is expecting from this marriage.
Skylight Confessions is kind of depressing but addicting. This was a sad story about a dysfunctional family that eventually collapses in on itself. You really feel for this poor woman who ends up dying and leaving behind her son who goes into a downward spiral that eventually leads to his demise. The effect that these people had on each other was very dramatic. It was a great story to read.
I'm not going to list all of the Anne Tyler books that I have read because there are too many of them. I will just talk about her as an author. She takes you into the lives of these families and shows you how easy it is to screw each other up. In the first book I read a mother just up-and-leaves her family one day and starts a whole other life. She has no idea, and doesn't really care at the moment, of the havoc she has caused and how screwed up things have become in her house. She eventually returns to her old life, but it's too late to repair any of the damage that departure caused. I recommend any of Anne Tyler's books.
I don't read as much as I'd like to, but when I do I really get into the books that I am reading. I certainly did with all of the books I wrote about and I'm sure anyone who likes these types of books would too.
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