Friday Favorites: Gilead

On Fridays I post a little shout out to one of my favorite books and explain why I love it so much. It gives me the chance to fangirl over books I never reviewed on this blog and lets me post about some not-necessarily-YA books I love.

Which book?
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

Genre?
Literary fiction

Summary? (from GoodReads)
Twenty-four years after her first novel, Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson returns with an intimate tale of three generations from the Civil War to the twentieth century: a story about fathers and sons and the spiritual battles that still rage at America's heart. Writing in the tradition of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, Marilynne Robinson's beautiful, spare, and spiritual prose allows "even the faithless reader to feel the possibility of transcendent order" (Slate). In the luminous and unforgettable voice of Congregationalist minister John Ames, Gilead reveals the human condition and the often unbearable beauty of an ordinary life.

When did I first read it?
Four or so years ago.

Why did I first read it?
I used to read this magazine called the Week, and it had little blurbs about new noteworthy books as well as recommendations from famous people about their favorite books. I don’t remember which of those categories this book fell in, but I do remember reading about it in that magazine and being intrigued enough to check it out from the library.

What did I think about it then?
Have you ever found a book that makes your heart ache a little from its sheer beauty? That was me with this book. The writing and even the storyline are quiet and understated and so, so lovely. I immediately fell in love with the way the book was written, and almost as quickly I fell in love with the characters and their . . . ordinariness, I guess. They lead quiet, simple lives, yet they manage to make their lives mean something within their own small sphere. And I thought it was wonderfully bittersweet that the book is set up as a letter from a dying father to his son—it just makes everything in the book feel so much more meaningful.

What do I think about it now?
This is one of those books that I read when I need something to center me or ground me, when I need something that’ll make me think without going over my head. Religion and faith play a big role in this book, and usually that’s something I shy away from in fiction. But for whatever reason, those themes in this book are beautiful and soothing to me, rather than being preachy or grating. I’ve read the sequel, “Home,” and while it’s really good, it doesn’t hold a candle to this one, in my opinion.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Review: There You’ll Find Me

There You’ll Find Me, by Jenny B. Jones. The GoodReads summary:

When Finley travels to Ireland as a foreign exchange student, she hopes to create a new identity and get some answers from the God who took her brother away and seems to have left her high and dry.

But from the moment she boards the plane and sits by Beckett Rush, teen star of the hottest vampire flicks, nothing goes according to Finley's plan.

When she gets too close to Beckett, a classmate goes on a mission to make sure Finley packs her bags, departs Ireland-and leaves Beckett alone.

Finley feels the pressure all around. As things start to fall apart, she begins to rely on a not-so-healthy method of taking control of her life.

Finley tries to balance it all--disasters on the set of Beckett's new movie, the demands of school, and her growing romance with one actor who is not what he seems. Yet Finley is also not who she portrays to Beckett and her friends.

For the first time in her life, Finley must get honest with herself to get right with God.

First of all, this book takes place in IRELAND, so guess what that means?!? In my head, the characters have ACCENTS! Which makes me love them even more.

Anyway, moving on, this book wasn’t the light, fluffy, go gallivanting in Ireland book I thought it was going to be. I mean, I knew from the summary that Finley had some issues, but I was somehow expecting that her issues would end up taking a backseat to the other things in the book. Instead, Finley trying to deal with her brother’s death is at the forefront of the story. And guess what! Her problems don’t magically go away the minute she meets a cute boy. Hallelujah. Even the romance takes a backseat to Finley trying to deal with the things going on in her life. It was quite refreshing, actually.

I liked Finley off and on. She grated on my nerves at some points, but I got the impression that you’re not necessarily supposed to like Finley all the time. She’s a work in progress, after all. I think you’re more supposed to sympathize with her and cheer her on rather than want to be her best friend.

Beckett was a hot actor with an accent, so he had that going in his favor. He was also remarkably kind and patient with Finley for who knows what reason. He did have his flaws, which in the end I appreciated, because as much as I love the perfect guys in some YAs, it was nice to have a love interest who makes mistakes too.

Religion and finding faith are big themes in the book, and for once I didn’t find them overbearing. They were definitely present, but I didn’t find them heavy handed at all.

The one gripe I have with the book is that Finley actually gets closure from the one thing she keeps claiming will give it to her. I was kinda disappointed, because I wanted her closure to come from within herself rather than from an outside source. But other than that, I thought the author did a good job keeping the ending realistic instead of picture perfect.

Overall, this book went much deeper than I thought it would, and I really appreciated that. For most of the book, I felt like I could go either way with liking it or not, but by the end, it won me over. It’s not going on my list of favorite books or anything, but I’d still recommend it to pretty much anyone.

Whew. Long review—sorry.