New Book Recommendation February 2010

Happy February! I hope you were able to take a look at Commencement, the book recommendation from January. If not, add it to your reading list. It's really worth it.

This month, we're putting out The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.


On Anita's website she describes The Red Tent like this: "The Red Tent retells the story of Dinah, which is found in the Biblical book of Genesis, Chapter 34. This episode, usually known as the "Rape of Dinah" has been a difficult passage for bible readers for centuries because of the murderous behavior of Jacob's sons. In Genesis, Dinah does not say a single word; what happens to her is recounted and characterized as rape by her brothers. In my retelling of the story, Dinah finds her voice. The Red Tent is told entirely from her perspective and the point of view of the women around her."

It's pretty riveting. It's historical, more than religious, but it's still interesting to hear a book written from a female perspective re: Genesis.

Has anyone else read this? Thoughts? Let us know what you think!

-Sam and Grace

New Book Recommendation + New Blogging Bookworms

Hello to all you blogging bookworms out there. Happy 2010!

We (Samantha and Grace) want to apologize for the slight hiatus Blogging Bookworms has been on. We've been busy (end of the year always is) but it doesn't mean we haven't been reading or that we forgot about each of you.

With that being said, we want to start a new form of Blogging Bookworms. We still want to recommend books that we have read and will still post (about monthly) new book(s) to read. We also encourage each of you, whether you're a member or just a reader that stumbled across this blog, to recommend books via e-mail or in the comments.

For January 2010, our book recommendation is Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan.
The New York Times writes a great review on the book you can read here, and we've linked to Amazon above if you're interested in buying the book.

Here's a quick synopsis:

There is a curious thing that happens to nearly all of us in the haze of our post-college years, and that is this: we anticipate the prospect of becoming honest-to-God adults with both heady excitement and unfathomable dread. Dread because we know, wisely, that once we cross this threshold, we cannot go back; there is no sleeping in past eleven, no immature antics that can still be written off to childhood, no phoning our parents when the checkbook hits zero. Excitement because it is such a relief to evolve into something bigger than we were before, to embrace the world as ready, steady grown-ups. And J. Courtney Sullivan, via her debut novel, Commencement, explores these very complexities and growing pains of leaving behind our adolescences and surrendering to adulthood. -Source

We hope you enjoy this book recommendation. It's riveting - and a fantastic coming of age article about four best girlfriends from college and the paths they find themselves on post-graduation.

Please send us feedback as always and stay tuned to our next recommendation. If you have a book recommendation, feel free to post in the comments or e-mail us so we can post it and link to you.

In addition, check out Samantha's new E-book, The Appreciation Revolution. It's free and chalk full of amazing writers, focusing on appreciation and gratitude.