November Monthly Recommendations| Family Focus

In this group we will have a monthly theme for book recommendations to share on your BookTube channel or blog. It is pretty relaxed with when you can upload, but we recommend that you upload the first full week of each month. You are welcome to recommend as many books as you want.  We would love for you to share the books you would recommend based on each months topic, no matter how many you have.  For more details visit the a group on Good Reads named Monthly Recommendations. This group was created by Trina from Between Chapters and Kayla Rayne.

 "Family Focus"

This is my first time doing a monthly recommendation.
I really wanted to joint the meme in October, but October's topic "Monster Mash" is not really cup of tea. So I really enjoyed the discussion and view so many recommendation from all over the world that I am really about to open some of the scary books and start reading.
So every month the group suggests the topic with some criteria.
November is "Family Focus" and the task is to recommend books with my favorite examples of family relationships.


1. Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen

This is one of my favorite books of all times. It covers many topics, but of cause the family is in focus. In the book you can see the different type of sisterly and brotherly love: tight connection between Elisabeth and Jane and competitive rivalry between Lydia and Kitty. The different type of relationship is between Mr Bingley and his two sisters who are quite deaf to his preferences and his idea of happiness. But the moss curious relationship for me is the attitude of Elisabeth to her parents. This quiet love she has and total forgiveness in despite of all shortcomings she sees in them. And even when she realizes that happiness of Jane was destroyed mostly by her whole family misbehaving she is still a loving daughter. This is the attitude which is healthy for a good family: be able to forgive your closest ones for little shortcomings and faults.

2. The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime by Mark Haddon

The story is told by the 15-year old boy with an autism spectrum condition. The primary story line is how the main character investigates the murder of the neighbor's dog. The background, which more important, is a story about a parental challenge with difficult children. Though there are no direct indicators, we can see the suffering of the father when he loses this son's trust and problems he struggles to take care if the boy alone. How much such a parent should concentrate on a child's demand, leaving his personal troubles and wishes apart.

 3. My grandfather was a cherry tree by Angela Nanetti

This is one of the best children’s books in the world, but it is not childish at all. The story is told by a boy Antonio at different age of his childhood. He has 2 grandmothers and 2 grandfathers. His father's parents live in a city and his mother's parents live in a village. Through the narration of a child difficult relationship of adults comes up to light.
This book opens the world of grandparents - grandchildren love, how much magic and understanding these two age groups might have. They have a lot in common: they find pleasure in small things and see the beauty around; believe in justice and wonders; they are not afraid to express their emotions and do unexpected things; they know how to love deeply and truly.

 4. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

The book describes the live in a small rural town in the early 20s. It focused on the adventures of Douglas Spaulding, a 12-year-old boy and his 10 year-old brother. In the background of the story we can also see the union and understanding that prevails in their family.  Dandelion Wine is made by grandfather every summer and Douglas reflects how all the joys of a summer can be packed in a single bottle.


5.The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

It focuses on four Chinese American immigrant families who start The Joy Luck Club, playing the game of mahjong on money. The stories told in this novel revolve around the Joy Luck Club women and their daughters. The author shows not only how difficult the relationship between mothers and daughters can be and how deeply they can hurt each other, but also how they can love and unconditionally forgive each other.

6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

The story is told by a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. In the story, Oskar discovers a key in a vase that belonged to his father, a year after he was killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The discovery inspires Oskar for a quest around New York in a desperate attempt to connect with his father.  This book shows the traumatized child who is trying to survive the tragedy of his life and how the whole family is helping him to cope with this traumatic experience. This quest helps Oscar to grow loser to his mother for whom he cares deeply.