Friday, February 27, 2009

Friday Finds


So it was an interesting week in book-buying for me. First up is Leila Aboulela's The Translator, a love story between a Sudanese Muslim woman and a Scottish, secular Islamic scholar; I'm about three chapters in and enjoying it very much. I'm reading it for my Muslim/Christian/Jewish book club and it's a nice change of pace from a reading schedule that is otherwise often heavy with theology, which I sometimes find dull. I much prefer learning about people and their lives rather than reading about dogma. For me learning about religion boils down to learning about how people live and why, and learning about what they think of what they do. And I think I just prefer novels in any case.

The second thing I got this week is an out-of-print graphic novel called It Disappears, by Nate Powell. I tried to get it directly from the publisher, Soft Skull Press, but although they were out I managed to snag a copy from Amazon.

Finally, last but by no means least, I picked up Familiar Strangers, an anthology of new and collected poetry by Irish poet Brendan Kennelly. My friend and I went to Grolier Books this afternoon, a poetry-only bookshop in Harvard Square, and I just had to have it. I lived in Dublin for a few months after college and met Mr. Kennelly a few times in the restaurant where I worked as a waitress; he made an odd impression but I got a copy of his then-just-published Poetry My Arse and quickly became a big fan. I am very excited to start reading this volume and I will have to remember to return to Grolier soon. I actually hadn't been in to the shop in over ten years!

8 comments:

Ali said...

Nice going on getting the out of print graphic novel!

Wendy said...

Glad to hear you are enjoying The Translator - I really loved that novel when I read it...the writing is so beautifully done!

Shana said...

The Translator looks great, Marie!

Shana
Literarily

Serena said...

Translator looks great. Happy Reading

Lenore Appelhans said...

The people at Soft Skull are super friendly. Great finds :)

The Bookworm said...

Happy reading :O)
How cool that you got the out of print book.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

Zibilee said...

I am interested in reading your review of The Translator. It sounds like just the type of book I would enjoy. I agree that one of the best parts about learning about different religions isn't the theology, but the attitudes and behaviors of the followers.

Anna said...

Looking forward to your thoughts on The Translator. It sounds good.

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric