With only a week of break left and nothing else left to do after the holiday, curling up under a blanket on a fluffy mattress or in front of a crispy fireplace with a book can be a tempting option to wind back, relax, and have fun. Whether the story forces tears, spews laughs, or sends blood racing, here are a few select books, just perfect for the remainder of break.
Cloudstreet, by Tim Winton
Taking place in late and post-World War II Australia, two segmented and misfortunate families find themselves in a creaky yet huge home called Cloudstreet. The Lambs feature devoutly Catholic parents and a child who is mentally ill as a result of a fishing accident. The Pickles’ father, Sam Pickles, lost his fingers in an accident at work while the mother, Dolly Pickles, disregards her family in pursuit of affairs and adventure. The Lambs find their rock in God and hard work, while the Pickles rely on the “Shifty Shadow”, an entity that supposedly declares their fate and provides their luck. As the relations in the individual families mend, the Lambs and the Pickles, opposite in beliefs, become almost one giant family.
Cloudstreet is written in a series of interconnected vignettes. There are laughs to be had at every page of the faults of the dysfunctional families, with a bittersweet ending that will jerk tears out of anyone yet also leave a feeling of joy. There are themes of family and home throughout the novel laced with a heaping amount of humor and dash of sadness, perfect for the person who seeks a humorous and completely relatable story of family.
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
A thrilling, true crime, story might just suck all the time out of the break. Almost entirely true, with just a few details changed and others fabricated, In Cold Blood is an account of a 1959 quadruple murder in Kansas based on Capote’s six years of work in Kansas after first hearing the story.
Able to be classified as non-fiction and fiction, this book will glue eyes to pages, and send blood racing. In Cold Blood serves as both an interesting way to learn about one of the most brutal crimes in American history and something that people stay up for hours on end, unable to put down despite the first rays of morning shining through the window. Great for the person who does not often read and needs a story that is completely addicting, thought provoking, and a tad frightening.
The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green
Perhaps romance could be just the genre for the end of the year. If anyone has been to Barnes and Noble in the past year, this blue-covered romance has probably caught their eye in its own shelf, often at the front of the store or young adult section. They also probably saw that many of the books were already sold, for good reason. The Fault in Our Stars is a sad and satisfying yet completely believable love story of two cancer patients who, in having their dreams crushed, find another in the wake of their loss.
The writer, John Green (the same John Green that probably helped a lot of students succeed in history class with his Crash Course videos on YouTube), created a volatile mix of love and bitter sweetness for the one who wants a feeling-invoking, page-flipping romance over the break.
Click HERE for Cassandra Fernandes’s review of The Fault in Our Stars