During the final 4 days of my vacation, I read:

1. The Invisible Wall: A Love Story that Broke Barriers by Harry Bernstein - Bernstein's biography was recommend to me by a stranger I met in the airport on my way home from a family cruise this spring. I was telling the individual about Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (one of the most compelling books I have read in several years) and, based on my declared love of biographies, they suggested The Invisible Wall be added to my reading list. Set in England in the early 1900s, Harry's family lives on the Jewish side of the street while the other side is lined with Christian families. The many conflicts surrounding the social and religious boundaries of the time come to a head when Harry's sister falls in love with a Christian boy from across the street. Other than some interesting insights into Jewish culture, I did not find it to be a terribly compelling story. Prolly would only recommend it to the deepest lovers of biographies.


2. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer - Jon Krakauer, journalist, recounts his experience as part of the worst climbing disaster in the history of Mt Everest. Much controversy still remains over who was responsible for some of the events that took place which makes for an interesting story. There were many people involved in the climb that fateful day in 1996 which makes for a confusing read at times (I had trouble keeping track of who was who) but other than that, loved this book. I am hoping to see the movie soon to help put some faces to all of the names.


3. Fidelity by Wendell Berry - Although Berry did not author any of my three favorite novels (Godric, Gilead and the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime), he did pen my fourth favorite (Jayber Crow) and he is quickly becoming my favorite all-around author. I have not read anything he has written (novels or poems) that I have not thoroughly enjoyed. His writings are beautiful reflections on community, relationships, faith, rooted-ness, nature, hard work and, as the title of this book suggests, fidelity (in all areas of life, not just concerning marriage). I would strongly suggest his works to any reader. Although the five short stories contained in Fidelity could stand on their own, I would suggest reading Jayber Crow first as the short stories in Fidelity concern other members of the Port Williams community. You don't need any background from Jayber Crow to appreciate the stories in Fidelity. However, falling in love with Port Williams through Jayber's story may result in deeper affections for the characters contained in Fidelity.

watched:

1. The Help - I really enjoyed the movie. Of course, as always, the book is much richer and has the opportunity to develop the characters more satisfactorily, but I was pleased with what the movie was able to do with the story. There are some great performances by the women in this movie.


2. Soul Surfer - I cannot remember the last time I cried that hard at a movie. I mean, I tear up a lot (after all, I am a crier by nature) but it is a rare movie that brings me to shoulder-shaking, breath-catching, desperate-for-a-kleenex sobs. So....be prepared. The love and care that this family shows for one another (husband to wife, parent to child, AND brother to sister) is absolutely overwhelming. And I think it struck me even harder because it is not an unrealistic, happy-go-lucky, Hollywood kind of love and care. It is real, gritty compassion in the face of fights and fear and differing perspectives on how to handle a difficult and confusing situation. What an incredible testimony they have! My only complaint: Carrie Underwood is NOT a convincing actress. I love her voice, but she gets two thumbs down from me in the movie.


3. The Conspirator - Prior to watching this movie, I knew nothing of the others (besides John Wilkes Booth) involved in the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln (and VP Johnson and the Secretary of State...I never realized they were targets, too...). I really enjoyed the movie, although I could see how someone who is not intrigued by history may find it a little slow-moving. I found it extremely interesting to see the biased nature of Surratt's trial and the ways the authorities justified those biases. Made me want to go read more about the circumstances surrounding the assassinations, the nation's reaction and the fates of all those involved. Maybe on my next vacation...

and survived:

1. An Earthquake - In all honesty, we were out on the lake when the earthquake struck, so we didn't feel a thing. We only knew about from all the texts that my cousin received and from the guy at the hardware store who said all of his tools were shaking on the shelves.


2. Hurricane Irene - Thankfully we were NOT among the "hundreds of thousands" without power. The neighborhood where my aunt and uncle live was actually fairly well protected, although their town, just a mile away, was still without power when we flew out on Monday afternoon (storm hit us Saturday night into Sunday morning). The main effect of the storm for my family was changing all of our flight plans (a SMALL problem compared to all of the flooding/damage/power issues faced by so many in the region!!). My family collectively spent 12 hours on hold with airlines trying to reschedule our flights. Although it did cause some problems for my other family members (my sisters both cut their vacation short and flew home early and my parents both missed an extra day of work), I got an extra day of vacation and only missed 4 hours of work. No complaints here!

I'm just glad we made it out before the locusts showed up...