Book two: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Set over twelve days, Ms. Ward's book chronicles the lives of one very poor, African-American family in the days leading up to and immediately following Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact with the coastal town in which they live. The deft way in which Ward approaches the subject keeps it from falling into a stereotypical cliché. Ward's characters feel honest and are written with stark clarity. Their trials - being motherless (the mother died shortly after giving birth to her last child), poverty stricken, and, for one, pregnant - give them a sense of vulnerability that is lined with rugged determination to survive.

I could not recommend this book to any of my friends who take issue with animal cruelty. There is a very brutal scene in which pit bulls fight.

2 down plus 50 to go.