Three good book choices for readers

By Dale Taylor
Special to The Daily News
Published April 7, 2011

Galveston Reads and members of the Galveston County community are in the process of deciding on one of three excellent books that will serve as the selection for next year’s program.

The final choices are “Zeitoun,” by Dave Eggers; “One Amazing Thing,” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; and “Still Alice,” by Lisa Genova.

Galveston Reads, a “One City, One Book” program, now is collecting votes for the 2012 selection. Voting ends April 27. Pick up these books at Rosenberg Library and vote for your favorite by email at galvestonreadsbooks(at)yahoo.com or kstanley(at)rosenberg-library.org.

You can also phone in your vote to Karen Stanley, 409-763-8854, Ext. 119, or by filling out a bookmark ballot at the library.

Galveston Reads encourages reading by offering programs at various locations throughout Galveston County that revolve around the selection. The current selection is “Into the Beautiful North,” by Luis Alberto Urrea.

The three books being considered for next year’s program will pose a difficult challenge for book lovers. Each has something unique to offer.

“Zeitoun” is based on the real account of Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun, whose experiences before and after Hurricane Katrina will leave you chilled. This one is difficult to put down.

Zeitoun and his wife own a paint contracting business and have three children. Zeitoun, originally from Syria, decides to remain in New Orleans during and after the storm.

His story will make you want to write your congressional representatives to revise laws and procedures associated with evacuations.

This riveting story also opens the door between cultures. You will understand the importance of religious freedom and human rights. Eggers does a good job at staying out of the way of his characters and allowing them to tell their story.

“One Amazing Thing” broadens the cultural canvas with a group of nine people who’ve survived an earthquake in an unnamed U.S. city.

The story is an homage to Chaucer, whose 12th century “Canterbury Tales” allows the telling of stories from several pilgrims on their way to a religious site.

The survivors of the earthquake are as feisty and lively as Chaucer’s characters and feature a Caucasian couple at odds with one another, an African-American man who helps steady the group, a Chinese grandmother with a tale of forbidden love and Indian characters who are both in love and at cross purposes with one another.

The storytelling provides a civilizing influence as the group has no other choice but to get along as they are trapped in the basement of an Indian consulate. The novel shifts point of view throughout; however, we have no trouble following the stories of each character.

“Still Alice” follows the slow demise of Alice Howland, a cognitive psychologist who has spent her career as an academician at Harvard University. The story follows her shock and disappointment, frustration and gradual loss of memory as she struggles to cope with Alzheimer’s disease, her family and the loss of her identity.

“Still Alice” creates a sad portrait of a woman at odds with herself and the trials involved in surviving personal challenges.

I’d vote for “Zeitoun.” What’s your pick?

Dale Taylor holds a doctorate in English literature and is a professor at Galveston College.