Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Thirteenth Tale


As The Thirteenth Tale opens Margaret, a young reclusive woman, receives a letter from a popular author requesting Margaret to be her biographer. The author, Vida Winter, is very secretive herself and is known for lying to reporters whenever asked about her childhood or past. Margaret is unsure about Miss Winter's motives but agrees to write the book. As Margaret moves in with Vida and begins to unravel the mysteries of the Angelfield family and the odd twins Emmeline and Adeline she also takes a closer look at her own childhood and the secret her parents kept from her. I did not feel especially connected with any of the characters in this book, but the story is intriguing and worth finishing.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Life of Pi


Feeling like the last person in the U.S. to read this book, I actually listened to it. I initially checked out the CD audiobook from the library as a way to spend my 20 minute commute doing something more constructive than singing loudly along to Snow Patrol--which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The man who narrated the book as Pi Patel was very enjoyable to listen to. His voice was a perfect match for what I would have wanted Pi's voice to sound like, Hindi accent and all. If you haven't read this book yet, or you did and would love another perusing, I recommend listening to it. That said, I did enjoy the story, but even more, Pi, the main character who becomes stranded in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger. He is intelligent and sensitive, and any reader with half a heart feels nothing but compassion for him. About 3/4 of the way into the book I became desparate for Pi to be rescued and to move on from the Pacific, but that aside I recommend this book.

Monday, October 18, 2010

A Good Man Is Hard to Find


Ain't it the truth? But seriously....before taking on this classic volume of short stories I had never read anything by Flannery O'Connor. I knew she was popular for her Southern-style classic literature, but that was all I knew. Honestly, I have been disappointed. I really didn't enjoy it. I couldn't find anyone in the stories that I cared about besides the innocent children and the dialogue is so annoyingly mid-century southern that it was hard to read-'n' word included. I am completely open to trying her again if someone has a suggestion of another work. Until then, I am done with her. Too many other good books to get into.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sing Them Home


Oh how I wanted to like this book! I thoroughly enjoyed Stephanie Kallos' first novel Broken For You and eagerly anticipated something else from her. Sing Them Home is long, lacking in sympathetic characters, and not interesting. I think there was supposed to be a mystery, but I didn't even really care and had basically figured it out by the time of the great revealing. Set in Nebraska, the three Jones children (now grown up) are re-facing the disappearance of their mother during a tornado during their childhood. Their father has passed away and they meet for his funeral. Nobody knows what happened to their mother, Hope, and their lives are tainted by her absence and the mystery attached to it. Sounds intriguing enough....but the plot and the character development and the themes just never get 'there'. And did I mention that it's long?

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Quote from Gary Shteyngart author of Super Sad True Love Story

"As wonderful as film is, it still requires a camera lens. It does not allow you inside the mind of its creator, whereas a book still does. That experience requires a deep train of concentration and that deep train of concentration is what is being slowly chiseled away at by instant gratification forms of media."

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Then We Came To The End


I believe the review that got me interested in this book described it as "hilarious". One reviewer on Powell's Books site referred to it as the best book he's read all year. All I can say is.....Seriously??? The book is set in Chicago in an advertising agency in the early part of this decade. As clients are lost the employees employ tactics to make themselves look busy. Nothing funny there. The unnamed narrator is one of these employees and this person makes observations about his or her fellow co-workers. Most of these people are rather pathetic and there are too many of them to really keep track of and make a connection with. Nothing funny there. Not interesting either. I think Joshua Ferris' has some potential, so I'm not writing him off yet, but I recommend that this one be skipped.

Monday, August 2, 2010

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming


Laurel Hawthorne is a wife, mother, quilt maker, and possibly a person who is visited by ghosts. She lives in a gated neighborhood in Pensacola, Florida and has spent her whole life trying to protect herself and her family from the ugly realities of the world. Specifically, she has tried to shelter herself from her mother's hometown of DeLop, Alabama, an old mining town that is the picture of poverty and crime. The book opens with Laurel being visited by the ghost of Molly, one of her daughter's friends. Molly leads her to the body floating in Laurel's swimming pool--Molly's own. Laurel becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Molly and why her own daughter won't talk about it. She invites her crazy sister Thalia into the mix, which provides some comedy in an otherwise tragic situation.
Joshilyn Jackson does an excellent job of keeping the story moving and keeping the reader interested. I didn't feel that it hit a stall the way some books do. She wrote the characters very well. In fact, I think she may have written a character as being on the Autism Spectrum, but without stating it directly. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming is a mystery and a family drama. If you're in the mood for one or both of those....read this book. (Powell's has it in paperback for $6.95 right now.)

My Absence

Well, I checked out this blog a couple of days ago and realized that it's been about 4 months since I last posted. Yikes! I had been very busy with the end of school, yes, but I think there is another reason why I haven't written about a book in that time. The main reason why I haven't been writing recommendations is that I haven't been inspired by any of the books I've read. I didn't want to restart my posting with a so-so or a NO recommendation. Well, during the last week I finished a book that I feel that I can write positively about. So read on......!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Uncommon Reader


A short novel (novella), The Uncommon Reader was a total delight to read. I don't use that word much, but I guess I am inspired by the British here. As the book opens Queen Elizabeth stumbles upon a bookmobile and checks out a book so as not to seem rude. She also meets someone on her kitchen staff, Norman, who ends up helping her change her life through books. Not everyone in her life is happy about her newfound love (reading), but the Queen has a change in priorities. Although a seemingly dry pretense, this novella clips along nicely offering the reader a chance to look into the life of royalty as well as relating to a fellow reader.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Secret of Lost Things


Rosemary is an 18 year old Tasmanian whose mother has just recently passed away. She has no other family and very few friends as she and her mother lived a fairly solitary, and yet happy, life in an apartment above her mother's hat shop. Her mother's friend buys her a ticket to New York so that she can start a new life and have adventure and so Rosemary finds herself alone and looking for work in the Big Apple. During a moment of uncustomary boldness Rosemary gets herself a job at The Arcade, a large used bookstore patterned after the real-life NYC bookstore, The Strand. The Arcade is an eclectic store with even more eclectic employees. Eventually, Rosemary ends up wrapped into a mystery about a possible missing Herman Melville manuscript. This book had me interested and reading along right up until the last few chapters. The Arcade sounds like a place I'd like, especially as a lover of used bookstores, and Rosemary was a very likable character who I wanted to do well, but the plot absolutely stalled near the end. It gave me the feeling I've had when watching a television series that switches writers and loses its original energy. I literally wondered if Sheridan Hay didn't finish the book.

Monday, March 8, 2010

New Novel by Anne Lamott

I just read that Anne will be releasing a new novel next month called Imperfect Birds. It continues the story of Rosie Ferguson of Rosie and Crooked Little Heart fame. I enjoyed both of those books very much so this will be a real treat.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Michael Chabon on Genre

I was recently give a print-out of an interview with author Michael Chabon. It was from the website io9.com and the interview is called "Geeking Out About Genres With Michael Chabon." (I would add a link to this blog, but I'm not that technologically sophisticated.) When asked about authors being pigeonholed into certain genres, particularly science fiction and fantasy, and whether or not it's just a marketing issue, Michael responded with this:

I think, in the end, it is largely a marketing issue. Personally I would prefer to see bookstores shelve all fiction together regardless of genre. Or maybe just have two sections, "Good Stuff" and "Crap." Into Crap we will consign all novels regardless of genre or reputation that trade in cliche' and dead language. If I ever own a bookstore I will do it that way. Only I will just leave out the Crap section.

My appreciation for him grows and grows.

Monday, February 1, 2010

In The Woods

I just finished Tana French’s first novel In the Woods. I feel content and yet somewhat dissatisfied. I hadn’t realized that she was beginning a series and so I expected more closure to the “bigger” mystery. In The Woods introduces the reader to Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox, both detectives in the fictional Dublin Murder Squad. As partners they are called to the suburb of Knocknaree to investigate the murder of a 12 year old girl who was found near the woods that surround the town. The case becomes entwined with the twenty year old mystery of two missing children and their friend who was found bloody and clinging to a tree with no memory. The book follows Rob’s quest to solve the recent murder and the mystery of his missing friends because he was the found boy-a secret only his parents and Cassie know. Tana French does an excellent job of pulling the reader in and painting an excellent picture of the setting and the characters. I found myself reading as fast as I could through the middle, as the story began to stall. When it picked up again I was immediately engrossed. If you’re in the mood for a well written mystery, but are not necessarily a reader of the mystery genre then this book is for you.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Audrey Niffennegger and Elizabeth Kostova

Two of my favorite authors will be in Portland within two days of each other! Very exciting. Powells Books is presenting Audrey Niffenegger on Monday, January 25th at their Cedar Hills Crossing location and Elizabeth Kostova on Wednesday, January 27th at their downtown location. They both released books this fall, but they are in my favor for their books The Time Traveler's Wife (Niffenegger) and The Historian (Kostova). If you are in the Portland area then I recommend you check out powells.com and click on the tab "Stores and Events" and then "Events Calendar".

Monday, January 4, 2010

Gentlemen of the Road


Excellent short novel by Michael Chabon. In his afterword he wrote that he wanted the title to be Jews With Swords-his own joke. You'll have to read it in his own words to understand. Gentlemen of the Road shares with the reader a relatively short adventure in the lives of two best friends, Amran, the large African, and Zelikman, the skinny northerner in the Caucasus Mountains in 950 a.d. There is a map at the beginning of the book, thank goodness, for non-historians like me who need to orient themselves. Amran and Zelikman meet a young man who claims to be a prince of the Khazar Empire. This foul-mouthed and moody prince leads the friends into an adventure that risks both of their lives. Chabon explores the personalities of both main characters while keeping the action flowing. There is mystery, politics, and a tiny bit of romance that make this book very enjoyable.