My Favorite Books from this Quarantine

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have had the opportunity to engage in activities that I wouldn’t normally be able to do during the school year, when my school work took precedence over the little things I liked to do, like taking my dogs for a walk or snuggling up with a good book. Yet, with all this free time on my hands, I have unleashed my inner book worm. Here is a list of some of my favorite books I have read while in quarantine! 

• Sea Glass, Anita Shreve: The book tells the story of newlyweds Honora and Sexton Beecher. The beginning of their marriage is hopeful, as they fix up a ramshackle house on New Hampshire’s coast. Just when they have settled comfortably into their lives as a couple, the economy takes a turn for the worse, and Sexton is forced to endure harsh conditions in a mill. Shreve deftly navigates the waters of married life, touching on all the complexities, including love, betrayal, loss, and longing. 
• East of Eden, John Steinbeck: I found this book hidden away in my older sister’s bookcase. Set in the Salinas Valley in California at the beginning of the twentieth century, East of Eden follows the lineages of two families: the Hamiltons and the Trasks. The book is rife with biblical references. It is a riveting page-turner that I couldn’t put down! 
• From Scratch, Tembe Locke: Tells the story of Tembe Locke, who has just lost her husband Saro to a long but valiant battle to cancer. Tembe is still young, and the grief presented by her husband’s death feels unsurmountable. Somehow, she pulls herself and her daughter out of the abyss of grief, using food and family to heal. The book is a testament to the strength of women and motherhood. Plus, the descriptions of the Sicilian countryside and food are to die for.