National Library Week: I'll Read Your Anthology

Happy Tuesday!  Did you know it's National Library Week? As a super heavy user of my local library, this is a week worthy of celebration! While my degree is in math and I certainly love numbers, I think I love words even more. After all, books and reading is the theme of our wedding!

In honor of National Library Week, I'm going to post a couple of reading-centric posts, with the exception of my Wedding Wednesday post tomorrow. Today I am talking about writers whose anthology I am trying to read. These are the kind of authors whose books go on my request list at the library. I don't even need to read the synopsis because I know the author is such a perfect fit for me.

For each author, I am going to share which of their works was my favorite in case you want to check out these authors and need an idea of where to start.

Khaled Hosseini - This books are not for the faint of heart as they deal with complex, heart-breaking issues. Hosseini is originally from Afghanistan but when he was a teen, his father moved their family to Paris for a job opportunity. However, they were not able to return to Afghanistan due to a revolution that was occuring so the family sought political assylum in the U.S. and settled in California. Because of the author's past, topics of displacement, immigration, and life in a war-torn country feature prominently in Hosseini's works. My favorite by Hosseini is "And The Mountains Echoed." I do know of others who love this author's work but didn't love this book, but it's my favorite. This story was different from the other two books he has written, as the story meandered through different periods of times and different setting and covered many different characters, but they were all interrelated and the story flowed seamlessly. I read all 400 pages in less than 24 hours which is a testament to how good this book is.

Anna Quindlen - Some people have an interest in tracking down celebrities, but I dream of running into Anna Quindlen on Riverside Park on the Upper West Side. I know she runs there as she mentioned that habit in her book, "Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake." Quindlen's writing is so beautiful.  I find myself flagging passages or taking pictures of them with my phone. I haven't read all of Quindlen's work, including her latest release, but I am working my way through her anthology. My favorite book is Every Last One. I can't tell you much about the book as I don't want to spoil anything so suffice it to say that the family of the novel's protagonists suffers from a terrible act of violence. The book mostly focuses on the aftermath of the tragedy and how the family works through it. 

Thrity Umrigar - This is an author that has recently been upgraded to a 'read everything she has written' category. This author is originally from India so her books are set in India or are about characters from India. My favorite book is her most recent work, The Story Hour. In this book we meet Lakshmi, an Indian woman living in the U.S. She has attempted to commit suicide so works with a therapist named Maggie. The narration shifts between each character and the book is about the lives of both women as well as their patient/therapist relationship. Both characters have flaws and make poor choices but the author writes about them in a way that helps the reader to feel compassion for both women.






And there you have it!  3 authors whose works I love. My favorite authors definitely reflect the kind of writing and stories I enjoy as I love books that feature characters from countries outside the U.S. or delve into how people deal with difficult experiences in life.

Are there any authors whose works you will read without knowing anything about the plot?

P.S. Check out my library hack for managing your hold list at the library!