Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck

I have a lot of love for John Steinbeck though have not read any of his non-fiction before. This book is very reliant on his personality as well as his ability to describe scenes and luckily his personality and the way he looks at his own country and it's people is not a disappointment. Unsurprisingly Steinbeck has an ability to read both situations and people and to draw out stories. This is a very beautiful and poignant portrait of America in 1960, though it also looks at solo travelling and growing older. It's refreshing to read a travel book by someone who is looking for something outside of themselves; who is secure with themselves and the things they have achieved, and is nearer the end of their working life than the beginning. It was a different perspective for me and is up there as one of my favourite travel books.

The Color Purple, Alice Walker

This novel has an incredibly strong voice; it is written as if by Celie herself, an uneducated young woman, which brings you closer to the character though it is sometimes difficult to see exactly what is happening, both to the other characters and to her. It seems much more real because of this; there's no all seeing eye.
The narrative itself is difficult, Celie suffers every kind of abuse throughout her life and the other female characters don't fare so much better. The beacon throughout the book is the relationships Celie forms with the other female characters. Even if there are some rocky starts and tensions they lift up and support each other. It feels important.