Book Club of Two

The past few years I have had the pleasure of getting to know my older son as a fellow adult. While we still have the occasional parent-child tension that will probably never entirely go away, it is turning into a fun relationship for both of us.  I am trying to take up backpacking again which is the subject of another post, and the photo here is from my most recent foray into the mountains around Seattle. 
Another recent source of bonding is that my son has become a reader.  Although he liked to read when younger he was too often distracted by school and computer games to put in much time.  A year or two ago he suddenly and surprisingly, to me, got the reading bug and more recently still, we have begun to exchange books.  His tastes are varied and he is consciously trying to educate himself so he is seeking recommendations from me and some of his friends.  I am overjoyed since I haven't had a fellow reader in the family to chat about books with for some time.
Over the holidays my son sent me a copy of Cry, the Beloved Country which he had read and liked.  I challenged him to share book reviews with me on Goodreads just for fun and here is the text of my first review:

This is a book often assigned in high school but I managed to miss it at the time. My son read it recently and shared a copy with me so I made up for lost time. Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautiful and highly readable book. Most people probably know that it is about race, injustice and inequality in South Africa. Equally though it is about love for one's homeland, the kindness of strangers, the importance of family ties and hope for change in difficult times. "Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom," writes Paton. I judge Paton well worth reading and his novel contains considerable human wisdom.

I hope more reviews will follow, along with the usual photos and miscellaneous rambling.  Happy reading.