Summer Book Bingo: Two Recommendations from Local Pharmacist Beverly Schaefer
June 19, 2017
Summer Book Bingo is designed to provide free summer reading fun for both adults and kids. Last summer, participants read a total of 8717 books, and we received a whopping 248 blackout cards and 227 bingo cards—let’s do it again! Swing by one of SAL’s partner bookstores this year to grab an Adult or Kid Bingo Card or download it here and spend the summer of ’17 reading great books.
In this guest post, Beverly Schaefer – co-owner of the beloved Katterman’s Sand Point Pharmacy – gives us two recommendations for book bingo, using the same sharp curatorial eye she has for stocking her book corner at the pharmacy. If your bingo board needs a prescription, read on. . .
By Beverly Schaefer, Co-Owner of Katterman’s
I loved Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue, for a “written by an author of color” square. This is an immigrant experience written like none other that I have ever read. It’s a debut novel (I’m partial to those), and the winner of the 2017 PEN/Faulkner Award. The story tells of the lives of a pair of immigrants from Cameroon as they pursue every means possible to live legally in the United States and achieve their dreams. It also tells the story of a family in the top one per cent that is struggling with their dreams in the year 2009. This author writes in a gentle style that conveys hope even in the face of grim circumstances. I have thought often of this book since I read it in January, and that is one of my personal definitions of a good book—you think about it long after you finish it.
I also loved News of the World by Paulette Jiles. You really can do this for your “read in one day” square, but you also want to enjoy it as long as you can. It takes place in Texas in 1870. Captain Kidd travels from town to town, reading world news to paying audiences. In one town, he is tasked with returning a child kidnapped by Indians to her family. As the two make their way south on a difficult and sometimes dangerous journey, a bond of trust begins to form between them. It is put to the test when they reach their destination. This is a morally complex, fascinating work of historical fiction. I recommend it to all readers.
Thank you, Beverly!