The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Great book! I really liked this book. It's fairly long (over 500 pages) so it took me a few weeks to read it, but once I got going I was fully immersed in this tale of Harrison Shepherd. Shepherd was born in America in 1916 to a Mexican mother. His mother decides to go back to Mexico when he is 13 and takes him with her.

Shepherd ends up working for Diego Rivera the famous Mexican muralist. His life becomes intertwined with Diego and Frida Kahlo, Diego's wife. It was interesting to read a fictionalized version of Diego and Frida, but from the biography that I read about Frida I think Kingsolver was very accurate in her portrayal.

Shepherd also becomes acquainted with Lev Trotsky and is ultimately put on trial for his affiliation with the Trotsky. He's accused of being a communist just by association. It's rather appalling that this actually happened in the US in the late 40s and 50s.

I love Kingsolver's writing style. I enjoyed this book much more than "The Poisonwood Bible" which is touted as one of her best. I think "The Lacuna" trumps PB by a landslide.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley and The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

These are two books that feature 11 year old Briton, Flavia de Luce. Chemist, investigator, instigator and precocious girl that gets herself mixed up in solving two murders (one in each of the above-referenced books). You fall in love with her and can't really even believe she's only 11 since she knows so much about chemistry. She has 2 older sisters: Daphne and Ophelia of Fili for short. The stories take place in 1950 England. Fun, Fun, Fun!

I enjoyed listening to these in the car on my daily commute. I highly recommend the version that Jayne Entwistle narrates as she's very entertaining and gets each character's voice just right.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Very interesting and spiritual book that had my book club talking about our faith journeys. In a lot of ways we connected on a deeper level because of this book. Santiago is a boy who is on his journey to find his treasure and along the way meets people that push him forward. It's beautifully written and spiritually uplifting.