Book for July 31 - Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Thanks to everyone who joined in a spirited discussion of presidential assassinations last month.

This month's book, Peace Like a River shifts gears to a winding narrative:

From Booklist

What readers will appreciate first in Enger's marvelous novel is the language. His limpid sentences are composed with the clarity and richness for which poets strive. It takes longer to get caught up in the story, but gradually, as the complex narrative unwinds, readers will find themselves immersed in an exceptionally heartfelt and moving tale about the resilience of family relationships, told in retrospect through the prism of memory. "We all hold history differently inside us," says narrator Reuben, who was an adolescent in Minnesota in the 1960s, when his brother, Davy, shot and killed two young men who were harassing the family. Rueben's father--in Rueben's estimation fully capable of performing miracles even though the outside world believed him to be lost in the clouds--packs Reuben and his sister up and follows the trail Davy has left in his flight from the law. Their journey comprises the action in the novel, but this is not really a book about adventures on the road. Rather, it is a story of relationships in which the exploration of character takes precedence over incident. Enger's profound understanding of human nature stands behind his compelling prose.

- Brad Hooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition

* Also Promised: The book that we will be reading is August is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. More about this later.

For now, enjoy Peace like a River. Happy Reading! - Jen