The First Man in Rome

by Colleen McCullough

This was one of the last books I read this summer. I wanted an epic, something that I could get sucked into while I still had time available. And I remember The Grass Crown being on my mom's bookshelf, and her telling me a long-time back (when I was taking Latin) that I might enjoy it someday. I happened to find the first book of that trilogy, The First Man in Rome, at a used bookstore and decided that it was just what I was looking for.

I liked the book, and liked it enough to go out and buy the second book (The Grass Crown) so I can continue following the story. The characters act in ways that would be similar to the ways that people act today, which is either an interesting note on the timeless nature of humanity, or an interesting misapplication of the way people are motivated and interact today to the past. Either way, it's an interesting read (action, adventure, politics, love, lust, and of course, battles).

Drowning Ruth

by Christina Schwarz

Picked out at the half price bookstore because I read the back of it once while browsing in our campus convenience store. And this book did fall into the trap of guilty pleasure, just because I always feel like I should be reading something for one of my classes during the semester instead of anything that's not assigned or, gasp, fun.

I liked the book. And I liked the idea of writing the story from 3 perspectives (two first-person and one third-person), though I feel that the third person blended too much into the aunt's version. It's also a neat cautionary tale about spillover effects from personality traits, as they trickle from generation to generation. And it's a wonderful example of why people should speak up, instead of suffering in silence for years and years (though what would we write about without the ensuing drama that comes from secrets and bottling things up). The book evokes the cold Midwestern winters well too, which I guess means that it will never be one of my favorite books. The downside was that I did feel a bit manipulated with respect to my thoughts on the characters. The author changes the way she talks about the characters throughout the novel - my changing perspective on them was not really due to character progression, I felt, but tonal shifts. I suppose that's on purpose, but it feels like an artificial way of generating suspense.

"'Was she wearing her skates, then? When they found her?'
An exasperated sound escaped Amanda's lips and she swept her hand through the air. 'She's dead, Carl. What does it matter?'
'But... I loved her,' was all he could think to say. 'Why can't I know?' He knew he sounded like a little boy, but he couldn't help himself.
'If you loved her, you should understand. Love makes you do things and afterward you wish...' Her face was so hard and bitter, it scared Carl and made him clench the blanket to his chest. 'But then it's too late. You can only be sorry.' Her mood changed, and she patted his feet, briskly, while he forced himself to hold them steady under her hand. 'I've got something I'll bet you'd like to see.'
She went out of the room, but before he could relax, she was back. 'Here,' she said, opening a scrapbook on his lap, where it pressed against his sore leg. 'Look. It was in the newspaper. This should tell you waht you want to know.'
She stopped at the door on her way out. 'Carl,' she said, 'I know you're sorry you left her.' And then she left him alone."