Friday Recommends #8

So it's Friday again, and that means another exciting Friday Recommends!
I was having a flick through my reading journal after posting last week's recommendation (yes, I keep a reading journal with all my reviews in etc), and I decided there and then which book I was going to be telling you all about this week. It's quite a special one to me, as you'll see!


The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Waterstone's synopsis:
Set in the deep American south between the wars, this is the classic tale of Celie, a young poor black girl. Raped repeatedly by her father, she loses two children and then is married off to a man who treats her no better than a slave. She is separated from her sister Nettie and dreams of becoming like the glamorous Shug Avery, a singer and rebellious black woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually Celie discovers the support of women that enables her to leave the past behind and begin a new life.

The first time I read this book was shortly after my 18th birthday. It was a birthday present from a friend of mine, and she said it was one of her all-time favourites, so she wanted me to have a read of it too! Unfortunately, when I did read it back then, I didn't enjoy it at all. So you might ask why I'm choosing this as a recommendation? Well, just over two years later, earlier this year, I read it again - and this time I really enjoyed it. It never ceases to amaze me, just how much difference only a couple of years can make!
The second time I read it, I decided to read it for part of a project I was doing at University to do with Feminist Literature Theory (for those that know about feminist literature, you will know that there aren't many books that would suit this cause better). I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, of course, so perhaps this is one of the reasons that I enjoyed it so much - I didn't have high expectations. But I really did enjoy it. In fact, I changed my star rating from 2.5 to 5 stars before I was even finished reading it again.
I definitely think over the past couple of years, my reading taste has matured considerably (although I do still enjoy reading YA books, I also enjoy a much wider range of genres), so I think this, along with an increase in knowledge since I started University, has completely altered my perception of the novel. This time around I found it incredibly gripping, compelling and certainly moving.
I definitely recommend reading this - even if you've tried to read it before and didn't like it, I implore you to try again like I did - if my perception has changed, then maybe yours has too!

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For a while now I have been considering making this into a weekly meme/blog hop like my Wishlist Wednesday post is. Jenny at Chocolate Chunky Munkie suggested this to me, but I don't know how well it would catch on. So what I thought I'd do this week is leave a form at the bottom of the post, so that my wonderful fellow book blogger followers can give me feedback on this.
The rules of the meme would be the same as on Wishlist Wednesday - Click here to view my posts.
Please take a couple of moments to fill out the little form below, so I know whether Friday Recommends would be something that you would be interested in posting on your own blog.