Fair warning – this is not a genre book, not fast paced, not adventure, almost but not quite devoid of plot twists.

But there are other things for books to do.  One of those is to comment on who we are, to use story as a way to teach.

I have been in awe of Barbara Kingsolver’s writing ability since I read The Poisonwood Bible (which you might note is still in print and available in almost every possible edition even though it’s now almost 12 years old).  If you haven’t read it, you should.  Anyway, I know I’m in capable hands with Barbara’s work.  So when I saw The Lacuna a day or two after it came out in a great big happy stack of blue books with yellow covers, I grabbed it without even bothering to read the dust jacket.

It took a few weeks start to finish, and at one point I wished she were writing form the POV of some of the other characters (I wanted to know more, for example, about Frida Kahlo).  nevertheless, in the end I was in awe of the work, and felt I learned a lot about our current times from her exploration of our history.  I highly recommend this for those who want a thoughtful read with exquisite line by line writing.