As a part of our library work here at BHS, we love to promote the books that speak to us and it is my hope that this can be the first in a series of book reviews written by our staff, faculty, and students. What better place to have inspired and passionate talks about books than our library media center blog?
So, this summer I read a book that sits with me still. I can’t stop thinking about Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread though I finished it months ago, so I last week I added it to my top five favorite books list. This is huge. Making room for a new book means something else had to go, leaving this book lover feeling torn and twitchy. But here, I press on after making this oh-so-tough life decision with A Spool of Blue Thread as a part of my current top five. I share it with you now.
It’s a book about family. They are the quirky Whitshank family who have their own unique set of family issues as families tend to do. Two parents, their adult children, grandchildren and their shared history are revealed as Tyler weaves together memories through generations and time periods before settling on present day. That might not sound like the most interesting set up, but what I love about this story is that these people seem so real. Beautiful characters are not one-sided or pure. They are layered and authentic. Good people make poor choices. Happy lives are disrupted by tragic events. Emotions are complicated and conflicting and hard to articulate. Humans, man.
A book about explosive action, this is not. The plot entirely lacks vampires fighting werewolves, missing persons or police investigations. Instead, it’s what I like to call a character book - the equivalent of long-term, totally omniscient people watching. I hope you’ll read the beautifully written A Spool of Blue Thread. I wish I could discover it all over again.
So, this summer I read a book that sits with me still. I can’t stop thinking about Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread though I finished it months ago, so I last week I added it to my top five favorite books list. This is huge. Making room for a new book means something else had to go, leaving this book lover feeling torn and twitchy. But here, I press on after making this oh-so-tough life decision with A Spool of Blue Thread as a part of my current top five. I share it with you now.
It’s a book about family. They are the quirky Whitshank family who have their own unique set of family issues as families tend to do. Two parents, their adult children, grandchildren and their shared history are revealed as Tyler weaves together memories through generations and time periods before settling on present day. That might not sound like the most interesting set up, but what I love about this story is that these people seem so real. Beautiful characters are not one-sided or pure. They are layered and authentic. Good people make poor choices. Happy lives are disrupted by tragic events. Emotions are complicated and conflicting and hard to articulate. Humans, man.
A book about explosive action, this is not. The plot entirely lacks vampires fighting werewolves, missing persons or police investigations. Instead, it’s what I like to call a character book - the equivalent of long-term, totally omniscient people watching. I hope you’ll read the beautifully written A Spool of Blue Thread. I wish I could discover it all over again.