Advertisement
A lighthouse-keeper escapes the strictures of nineteenth-century Wisconsin by journeying across Lake Superior to a magical land. So begins A Sorcerer’s Treason by Sarah Zettel, which blends historical fiction, fantasy, and feminism with Russian myths. Zettel, who grew up UU, writes well-paced page-turners with compelling heroines.
—The Rev. Sarah Stewart, Starr King Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Plymouth, New Hampshire
UU readers interested in the combination of a good mystery with an insightful social history of the process of social change in 1990s China might enjoy Qiu Xiaolong’s “Inspector Chen” series set in Shanghai and based on real cases, beginning with Death of a Red Heroine.
—Bob Snow, director of development and strategic planning, Association for Asian Studies, Boston, Massachusetts
I am an enormous fan of just about everything published by McSweeney’s Press. One of its most recent releases is the gripping and provocative Half a Life: A Memoir by Darin Strauss. “Half my life ago, I killed a girl,” begins Strauss. What follows are his meditations on guilt, history, memory, and living in the aftermath of a tragic car accident that took the life of a classmate.
—The Rev. Thom Belote, Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church, Overland Park, Kansas
Let us know what book you are reading this summer. Leave a comment below.
For the next issue: What character in a film or TV show best demonstrates UU values, and why? Send your answer to world@uua.org.
Related Resources
- A Sorcerer's Treason. By Sarah Zettel. "Book One of the Isavalta Trilogy." Voyager, 2002. (Amazon.com)
- Death of a Red Heroine. By Qiu Ziaolong. Hodder & Stoughton, 2006. (Amazon.com)
- Half a Life: A Memoir. By Darin Strauss. McSweeney's, 2010. (Amazon.com)