The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

The Jungle refers to the meat-packing district in Chicago during the late 1800's.  This story follows a family from Lithuania who immigrates in the hope of a better life working in this area.  They are constantly beset by challenges like fraud, injury, overwork, being taken advantage of, jail, death, etc.  Their situation just gets worse and worse.  It is so sad.  When there is a tiny spark of hope that is snuffed out in a second, they struggle even more.

This book was written with a purpose.  Sinclair was trying to promote socialism.  As a reader, I want things to change as well, so the poor and immigrants are treated better and don't struggle as much, but obviously I don't agree with any of his socialist arguments.  That is a very hard political ideology for any American to accept.  Capitalism is pretty much bred into our DNA.  I'm guessing it would be a challenge for any reader to accept now, though, since socialism has failed pretty spectacularly in most places it has been tried. 

Sinclair's goal, however, isn't the change this book accomplished.  What it did bring about was better regulations of the meat market and the first FDA laws.  Obviously to accomplish this the book contains very graphic descriptions of conditions at meat factories and what went into sausage and other products.  It is very gross.  Be prepared to feel a little queasy when reading.

This book is interesting and worth the time.  The socialist speeches get pretty boring, but they only appear at the end of the book and aren't too terribly long.  It is worth the time.

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles

This book took me a long time to finish because it felt a little dull.  It does pick up the pace and get more interesting, but it soon ends, so you can only enjoy the increased pace for a little while. 

This book is the story of a couple traveling in Africa after the war (presumably WWI).  They have a male friend who is also traveling through the Sahara with them.  It is interesting because it's a foreign land and a different time.  The couple has a strange dynamic in their relationship, and the other man adds to its strangeness.  It has a rather abrupt end that is somewhat ambiguous.

This book has discussion of sexual situations, but they are brief and are not descriptive.  It is just matter of fact statements that it happened.  The sexual behavior of the main characters doesn't fit social norms and is inappropriate in my view.

I wouldn't say this book is worth the time it takes to read.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

What a fabulous book!  This was recommended to me by a friend, so I was actually a little disappointed when I first started it.  The writing wasn't great.  It felt disjointed and too choppy.  But don't get discouraged!  That only lasts for the first chapter or two.  Once the story starts going, you wouldn't notice even if it didn't improve!  (But it does.)

The Rent Collector is the story of Sang Ly, a Cambodian woman who lives at the city dump with her family where they make a living picking garbage.  Her infant son suffers from continual diarrhea and its attendant issues.  One day they find a book in the dump.  They bring it home to share with their son.  Sang Ly is very surprised, though, when their rent collector comes and can clearly read the book.  Sang Ly decides she needs to learn to read to give her son a better life and asks the grumpy, drunken rent collector to teach her.  This book tells of her journey to literacy but more it tells of the changes as she develops a relationship with the woman who collects her rent.

It is very interesting to read of a completely different world from my own.  It is even more interesting to see connections to my life in a story of that strange world.

This is a completely clean book.  There are a couple of mild swear words, but nothing too serious.

Definitely worth the time!  You'll love it!

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

I was back and forth with how much I enjoyed this book, but it ended on a positive note.  The title refers to the contrast of weighty burdens and things that are "lighter."  It is a different way of thinking for me.  I am a very optimistic person, and this book is much more fatalistic in its view.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being is mostly the story of a man, Thomas, who loves his wife, Tereza, but is also an incurable womanizer.  His wife is tortured by jealousy and suffers from terrible dreams.  Thomas feels compassionate toward her but can't stop his behavior.  We also read quite a bit about one of Thomas's mistresses, Sabina and her naïve lover.  It takes place against the backdrop of Communist Czechoslovakia, which is pretty interesting.

Obviously this book includes mature themes and isn't appropriate for young readers.  It doesn't go into great detail but involves a lot of frank sexual discussion.

This book is well-written and interesting but a little depressing.  I did like the ending, though.  My favorite part of the book was a discussion about the four different ways people want others to look at them.  This book is worth reading but not one of my favorites.

The Awkward Age by Henry James

A forewarning that I am not generally a big Henry James fan, so this review could be considered a bit biased.  That said, The Awkward Age is not even one of my favorite of James' books. 

This book tells the story of a social group and their interactions, which makes it fairly typical of James.  It largely consists of long, drawn-out conversations between various characters.  The thing I disliked most is that quite often the characters say something to the effect of, "you know how she/he is" or "you know what I mean."  The other character agrees they do know, and it is never explained more fully to the reader.  And, at least this particular reader, doesn't actually know what they are talking about!

It is clean and completely appropriate.

It does get a bit long, though, for the actual content.  As usual with James, you just have to enjoy the good writing and language choices.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

This is a second grade level children's book, but it is still definitely worth reading.  I first looked it up because I heard some quotes from it in a Korean drama, My Love from Another Star.  They were such great lines that I decided to look up the book and read it.  I was glad I did.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is the story of a fancy toy rabbit who is very proud.  He loves no one but himself.  He is lost from the little girl who absolutely adores him and ends up travelling around the country for years meeting new owners and hearing their stories.

Since this is a children's book, it is completely appropriate for all readers.  It is a very easy read.  You can zip through it in less than an hour.  It is definitely worth the time.

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

This book reminded me that it's been a looong time since I took Physics 105.  It was kind of fun.  This book will definitely make you think, although it is easy enough for a layperson who is willing to take the time.  I especially enjoyed the ending section when Hawking proposes a theory to unify gravitational laws and quantum theory, since those two theories haven't been combined yet.

Obviously this book is 100% clean and appropriate for all readers.  It isn't too long but still takes a bit of time, since you have to think about what you read.  It is worth the time.