Mary Ross | Site Director
Today is National Unplugging Day. This is a day dedicated to putting all of our electronics away and enjoying time with friends, crafting, cleaning, getting outside (it’s sunny here in BG), and if you’ve found your way here, cozying up with a good book. In this post, I will describe a handful of books that I read in a day because I loved them so much.
Heart Talk by Cleo Wade
This collection of short essays and poetry was gifted to me for my high school graduation and I have read it multiple times over since. In Heart Talk, Wade encourages readers to look inside themselves, see where they are hurting, see where they have experienced growth, and so much more. Like all the best books that I have read, there is a new takeaway from Heart Talk every time I read it. It’s a super quick read that you can keep returning to for more reflection, something perfect to do on this National Unplugging Day.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
This collection of vignettes surrounding Esperanza Cordero sheds light on what it is like to be a Latina growing up in Chicago. As someone who studies Sociology and is utterly intrigued by the societal factors that influence how people grow up and who they turn out to be, this book gave me everything I look for in books that have characters coming of age. Since it was told from Esperanza’s point of view as a child, she had the innocence that we all have as kids of not fully understanding what was happening in certain events she witnessed, but I was able to understand. The layers that exist in this book make it complex while still illuminating societal issues that exist. I cannot rave about this book enough. It’s short in pages which makes it a quick read, but it will have you thinking for quite a while after.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Like The House on Mango Street, The Picture of Dorian Gray takes stances on society through depictions of different characters. It begs the question, who is responsible for the person Dorian becomes internally and in his portrait? I initially read this book for a class and was assigned an essay to argue my stance on that question and found I was conflicted. Dorian obviously has his own agency in the decisions he makes, but he was rather influenced by a few of the other characters who discussed their worldviews and therefore changed Dorian’s worldview. If you are interested in how society and an individual play off each other and inform each other, this is definitely the book to sit back and enjoy.
The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom
If you can’t tell by now, Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. Something I truly appreciate about his writing style is his simplicity in describing ideas counterbalanced with the complexity of what his ideas actually are. The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is no exception to this. It brings in magic, religion, family values, love and much more in telling the story of musician Frankie Presto, prompting, at least for me, much introspection on my own life and its purpose. When I read this, I sat in a hammock all day and just zoomed through it. It’s a book that you will zoom through because of the simple diction, but it’s also a book that will leave you thinking.
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