Sunday, August 17, 2008

What's Amy Reading?

Have you ever read a book by James Michener? He's written books that sound boring like: Alaska, Hawaii, Chesapeake, etc. Don't the names of those books just invoke a snooze? They do for me at least.

But a few years back I picked up a book called The Source. It is about an archaeological excavation site of a hill outside of Jerusalem. It goes into detail and gives a fictional story about each layer that is uncovered and a certain object found. It goes all the way back to the inception of the earth. It gives such amazing historical information about the Jews, how that part of the world became what it is today and what types of people inhabited the earth. Something I thought snooze-worthy was fascinating to me!

I then started on Chesapeake which does a lot the same thing just on the banks of the Chesapeake river...the native Americans followed by the very first settlers and on and on until the present day. Awesome!

Now, I've gotten myself into Caravans. This one is set in Afghanistan, a country that for most of us is remote and unfriendly if not completely foreign and unknown. But it opens it wide up for anyone to inspect, and better yet - learn about. I am enjoying it so much!

If you truly love a novel that will capture you and teach you SO MUCH, then James Michener is for you.

2 backward glances:

Anonymous said...

"The Source" and "Hawaii" are two of my all time favorite books. I also really enjoy Michener's "The Drifters", about kids backpacking through Spain and Morocco. I'll check out Caravans, thanks for the tip!

Jessica said...

I'll have to check that one out!!