Perspective-changing

My favorite author, hands down, is Barbara Kingsolver. Most of you probably know her best as the author of The Poisonwood Bible, which was an Oprah's Book Club selection a few years back. No offense to Oprah because I think she's done a great deal to encourage literacy, but I think she did a huge disservice to the author with that selection. As much as I love that book, I think it's not her best work. Although for her, even that isn't much of an insult.
At her worst she weaves a tapestry of beautiful prose. At her best, her writing has the ability to change the way in which the reader views the world and themselves.
I recently finished reading her collection of short stories, Homeland. The title story talks about a little girl growing up in the same house as her Cherokee grandmother. In one part of the story, when the little girl talks about her knobby knees that she hates. The grandmother says "never say that you hate what you are. It is an insult to those who created you." Overall her writing gives a glimpse into her Cherokee background that offers a perspective rarely seen in popular literature.
Of course I would recommend Homeland, but others high on my list are Animal Dreams, The Prodigal Summer, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven.

Happy reading :)