The Light Between Oceans and Other Great Reads

"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."

-Malala Yousafzai, author of I Am Malala 

(as quoted in Brainy Quotes)

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I'm happy today that I have the time and energy to write another post on this beautiful, sunny, Carolina morning. I haven't written for a few weeks simply because life happened and it's been hard to concentrate on my favorite hobby, reading great books. My husband had open heart surgery on December 19, 2016 and he's doing well now, but it sort of kept me from my normal routines. Additionally, I must admit that at times basketball season has interfered with my reading time, but when I go to a game I almost always take a book to read during the timeouts and half-time. This year I have season tickets to the Duke women's home basketball games, and I've spent a good deal of time enjoying basketball at Cameron Indoor Stadium here in Durham. This Sunday is my last home game, but I hope to see the games that are televised in both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. I also follow the Duke and Kentucky men, so it's a busy time. That being said, I have several books to share with you that I have read recently.

Next week my book club will discuss a good book, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. I read this book a few weeks ago and found that it was very easy reading. It was different than what I usually read, but I enjoyed it as a change of pace. The book is set in Australia with the main character, Tom Sherbourne, living on an tiny island in Western Australia while he works as a lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. He marries Isabel, a young woman who grows to love the island as much as Tom does. They have a wonderful time together as the only residents of the island, and they decide to start a family. Unfortunately for them, they are unable to conceive a healthy baby, and after several losses, they suddenly become the guardians of a baby that has washed up on shore in a rowboat. Inside the boat there is also the body of a man who has died at sea, and although they can't imagine who he might be, they bury him on the island and decide to raise the baby as their own. 

When the child is two years old, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland where they visit with family and friends once again. Tom is faced with a moral dilemma regarding the child. Isabel was so determined to raise Lucy as her own that she would do almost anything to keep her. Tom wonders who the birth mother is, and he struggles inwardly with the question of whether they have done the right thing. He, too, loves Lucy desperately, but he is a man of honor and knows more than he really wants to about the birth mother. You need to read this book to find out what happened in the end, and you will find out what Tom and Isabel did with the child that came to them as if she was a gift directly from God.

I'm listening to a book from the library while I'm driving around. I'm enjoying it so far and it reminds me of the episodes of "Downton Abbey" that I enjoyed last year. I'm listening to The Summer Before the War: A Novel by Helen Simonson. The book is set in the English countryside, and it seems like all of the characters are more interested in their "honor" and "standing in the community" than they are about doing anything of relevance. They have plenty of time to sit around and drink tea, and while they do so they, of course, discuss who is doing what, how so-and-so looks, and other tidbits of rumor. I read that this book is a follow-up to Simonson's earlier book, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, another book that I commented on in an earlier post. Both of these books are fun to read if you enjoy stories about British people who speak a little more "gracefully" than most of us do.

In the near future my book club is going to read Hillbilly Elegy, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and The Boys in the Boat. While I've already read the two latter books, I look forward to skimming them so that I'll be prepared for the discussion at the library. I have a copy of Hillbilly Elegy and hope to start it soon, but in the meantime I'm reading a book that I got for Christmas, War & Turpentine, by Stefan Hertmans. Hertmans is a very good writer, so I'm enjoying this book and look forward to working through it to the end.

What have you read lately? Have you read any of the books that I've discussed today? Your thoughts are eagerly anticipated so please leave your comments. It seems lately that I've more information online than I have actual words on a page, but I usually have two books that I'm working on. I've been reading a lot online to prepare for a trip to England and Ireland this summer, and this is part of the fun of traveling. I enjoy learning everything I can before I go somewhere so that I can get the most out of the trip as possible. While we've been to England and Scotland before, Ireland is new to us so we're very excited about this opportunity. We'll be on a five-day tour throughout Ireland, and then we will head back to London for a few days. We get to be with our young adult children during this time.  

Have a fantastic weekend, and I look forward to hearing from you. Read on.

Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com