Monday, August 26, 2013

52 Weeks 52 Books ~ SISTERLAND by Curtis Sittenfeld ~ Week Ending August 19, 2013

I'm a big fan of Curtis Sittenfeld, but Sisterland  didn't quite deliver for me.  The premise is fascinating: twin sisters who are psychic--one sister embraces her ability to see into the future, and the other tucks it far, far away. I found myself skimming much of the book as it's filled with boring daily details that didn't seem to add anything.  On the other hand it is a fascinating study of sisterhood, and she writes well of St. Louis and the surrounding areas.  See what you think--it's on many a list of books not to be missed this summer!  ~ Katherine

 SISTERLAND by Curtis Sittenfeld

"From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar senses--innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny."  ~ From the Publisher

1 comment:

Suzanne Wright said...

Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia
Author: Tony Horwitz

With razor-sharp wit and insight, intrepid journalist Tony Horwitz gets beyond solemn newspaper headlines and romantic myths of Arabia to offer startling close-ups of a volatile region few Westerners understand. His quest for hot stories takes him from the tribal wilds of Yemen to the shell-pocked shores of Lebanon; from the malarial sands of the Sudan to the eerie souks of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, a land so secretive that even street maps and weather reports are banned.

At an oasis in the Empty Quarter, a veiled woman offers tea and a mysterious declaration of love. In Cairo, "politeness police" patrol seedy nightclubs to ensure that belly dancers don't show any belly. And at the Ayatollah's funeral in Tehran a mourner chants, "Death to America," then confesses to the author his secret dream -- to visit Disneyland.

Careening through thirteen Muslim countries and Israel, Horwitz travels light, packing a keen eye, a wicked sense of humor, and chutzpah in almost suicidal measure. This wild and comic tale of Middle East misadventure reveals a fascinating world in which the ancient and the modern collide.