Friday Finds 04/24/09

One quick reminder before we get to this week's list: My contest for a copy of Receive Me Falling is going on now through May 1 - click here to read the details and get yourself entered!

And now for this week's Finds ...

1. The Survivor's Club, by Ben Sherwood - A book about what it takes to survive catastrophe and what survivors have in common, recommended by At Home With Books.
   
   
2. Old World Daughter, New World Mother, by Maria Laurino - Combination of Italian family memoir and a look at feminism today, recommended by 5 Minutes for Books.
   
   
3. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle, by Robyn Scott - Here's an excerpt from the review at Book Browse: "How refreshing to read a memoir of a magical childhood where parents are loved and respected. Robyn Scott proves you do not have to come from a dysfunctional family to tell a great story. And this book is all about stories. Twenty-eight chapters of stories of three generations and the lives they have chosen to live in one of Africa's most beautiful countries." I've really enjoyed other African childhood memoirs (for example, Don't Lets Go To The Dogs Tonight) and this ones looks quite lovely.
   
   
4. A Pearl in the Storm, by Tori Murden McClure - Another one found through Book Browse's review: "The book's first line reads, "Let's face it: normal, well-adjusted women don't row alone across oceans." This memoir held no surprise as to the final outcome of the quest, as the cover indicates the author was the first woman to row alone across an ocean. (This was the second indicator that this was to be a delicious read.)" This looks great, don't you think?
   
   
5. Kindred, by Octavia Butler - Several of her other books are already on my list but an amazing review from Tor.com meant I had to add this one as well. "The immediate effect of reading KINDRED is to make every other time travel book in the world look as if it’s wimping out." How can you top that?!
   
   
6. Memory, by Phillipe Grimbert - This novella deals with a person's ability to create their own truth when facts are sparse. Diary of an Eccentric explains it very well.
   
   
7. The Uncommon Woman: Making an Ordinary Life Extraordinary, by Susie Larson - I don't usually read self-help/self-improvement books, nor do I usually read specifically Christian books but this one really resonated with me for some reason. Check out the review at 5 Minutes for Books and see if it does the same for you.

That's all I have for this week. FYI, more fun Friday Finds can fortuitously be found at the fabulous MizB's blog. Fantastic, no? (Not sure what happened there ... F's sort of took over for a minute. So sorry.)