Tuesday, September 13, 2011

5 Best Books: (Recovering from) Tragedy


The 5 Best Books is a meme hosted by Cassandra at Indie Reader Houston.

  To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, this week's topic is the 5 Best Books on Recovering from Tragedy. 

  1. The Submission by Amy Waldman.  Ok, I've only just started this book but I think its subject matter is directly related to the healing process surrounding such a massive tragic event. 
  2. Far to Go by Alison Pick.  I've just finished this novel (review to come) and it shows a different perspective of recovery from the tragedy that was the Holocaust.
  3. The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill.  I don't know that the tragedy of slavery is something from which one can recover, but Hill's Aminata is an amazing strong woman despite what she endured.
  4. Night by Elie Wiesel.  Just the fact that Wiesel lived to tell this tale is a testament to some sort of recovery of his experiences
  5. Season to Taste:  How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way by Molly Birnbaum.  A wonderful memoir by an aspiring chef who lost her sense of smell (and almost her life) after a major car accident.  Inspirational story of making lemonade when life gives you some lemons.

2 comments:

  1. I have #3, 4 and 5 on my shelf to read! Glad to know they are inspiring.

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  2. I made myself choose between Night and The Book Thief for my list. It was a very hard decision to make, but I did it. I left out Night because it really takes reading the rest of the trilogy (Dawn, Day) before the "recovery" was there, and since that was my angle, I decided to go there. I was being overly technical I think, but when I made myself choose....

    I think this is a great list, and I'm really excited to read Far to Go myself. Thanks for reminding me about it!

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