I haven't posted about reading for a long time, so here are the last ten books I've read:
Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfield- A better-than-expected young adult sci-fi trilogy. Although they were quick reads and fairly light, they were full of complex ethical dilemmas, exciting adventures, good stories, great character development, and fun ideas.
What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg- What we keep is baggage from our relationships and our past. It was well written and had a good pace, especially for this kind of story. I liked how Elizabeth Berg was generous with all of her very different characters. You don't end up agreeing with them, but you end up understanding them and seeing them in a charitable light.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult- I read this for a book club and I don't know quite what to say about it. It was entertaining in a gruesome, rubber-necking kind of way, but I didn't quite believe several of her characters and thought the things she had to say through her themes were fairly pedestrian, or at least said in a pedestrian way. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop this book club.
Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson- This is actually a housekeeping manual, but it is really enjoyable to read. The author is an attorney who was raised on a farm and had her housekeeping education from her very English grandmother who thought a home should be like a fortress and her very Italian grandmother who thought a home should be open, airy and inviting. She had years of not making a home for herself and instead merely existing in different places, and then married and pulled the stops out on her secret inner homemaker. The parents in her son's preschool class hated her for sewing an amazing alien Halloween costume. She was perplexed because it was just something she enjoyed doing and wasn't ready for the guilt it stirred up in people around her. Anyway, I like hearing how she says to do all the things that I should have been paying attention to when my mother was trying to teach them to me and I let it fall on deaf ears. My mother-in-law said it sounded like it was written for people who just dropped onto the planet. :)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling- Loved it. Super satisfying end to the series. J.K. Rowling deserves the legendary status she has.
Faith Eventually by Anne LaMott- This is written by a woman who has faith in things like the basic goodness of the universe and that we all learn things. I couldn't quite get through it. She wasn't someone I wanted talking to me about faith.
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - On the list of things everyone should have read in high school, this was remedial work for me. Because of the timing in my life, I couldn't quite stomach how disconnected people were from each other, perhaps because it rang too true. It's one I'll have to come back to again to complete my education. I think I'll be able to handle it better when I have more friends where I live again. The good news is that now I'll look forward to it because it is well-written, a great story, and completely accessible.
The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication and Glamour by Joan DeJean- I skimmed this for another book group that I considered going to. It was a great historical take on how these ideas that are still very important today really evolved, but I was tired of it by the time I was halfway through. The only problem is that this book group reads ONLY history, and most of the time reading history is about as fun for me as getting my teeth scraped.
So I am left with two other book group options: one is the second, more literary group from my ward. They are reading a Moliere play next and will dissect it at their next meeting. The other is a group my neighbor is in. I think my neighbor is great. She is fun, gracious, educated and completely down-to-earth so I'm hoping her book group is full of similar people who like to read a thoughtful mix of fiction and nonfiction that isn't so light there is nothing to talk about but isn't so obtuse as to be off-putting to the general population.
And the books I want to read next? Housekeeping (fiction this time) by Marilyn Robinson, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, The Razor's Edge by Sommerset Maughon and Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams. What else should be on my list? What are you reading?
Uglies, Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfield- A better-than-expected young adult sci-fi trilogy. Although they were quick reads and fairly light, they were full of complex ethical dilemmas, exciting adventures, good stories, great character development, and fun ideas.
What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg- What we keep is baggage from our relationships and our past. It was well written and had a good pace, especially for this kind of story. I liked how Elizabeth Berg was generous with all of her very different characters. You don't end up agreeing with them, but you end up understanding them and seeing them in a charitable light.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult- I read this for a book club and I don't know quite what to say about it. It was entertaining in a gruesome, rubber-necking kind of way, but I didn't quite believe several of her characters and thought the things she had to say through her themes were fairly pedestrian, or at least said in a pedestrian way. I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop this book club.
Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson- This is actually a housekeeping manual, but it is really enjoyable to read. The author is an attorney who was raised on a farm and had her housekeeping education from her very English grandmother who thought a home should be like a fortress and her very Italian grandmother who thought a home should be open, airy and inviting. She had years of not making a home for herself and instead merely existing in different places, and then married and pulled the stops out on her secret inner homemaker. The parents in her son's preschool class hated her for sewing an amazing alien Halloween costume. She was perplexed because it was just something she enjoyed doing and wasn't ready for the guilt it stirred up in people around her. Anyway, I like hearing how she says to do all the things that I should have been paying attention to when my mother was trying to teach them to me and I let it fall on deaf ears. My mother-in-law said it sounded like it was written for people who just dropped onto the planet. :)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling- Loved it. Super satisfying end to the series. J.K. Rowling deserves the legendary status she has.
Faith Eventually by Anne LaMott- This is written by a woman who has faith in things like the basic goodness of the universe and that we all learn things. I couldn't quite get through it. She wasn't someone I wanted talking to me about faith.
Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - On the list of things everyone should have read in high school, this was remedial work for me. Because of the timing in my life, I couldn't quite stomach how disconnected people were from each other, perhaps because it rang too true. It's one I'll have to come back to again to complete my education. I think I'll be able to handle it better when I have more friends where I live again. The good news is that now I'll look forward to it because it is well-written, a great story, and completely accessible.
The Essence of Style: How the French Invented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Cafes, Style, Sophistication and Glamour by Joan DeJean- I skimmed this for another book group that I considered going to. It was a great historical take on how these ideas that are still very important today really evolved, but I was tired of it by the time I was halfway through. The only problem is that this book group reads ONLY history, and most of the time reading history is about as fun for me as getting my teeth scraped.
So I am left with two other book group options: one is the second, more literary group from my ward. They are reading a Moliere play next and will dissect it at their next meeting. The other is a group my neighbor is in. I think my neighbor is great. She is fun, gracious, educated and completely down-to-earth so I'm hoping her book group is full of similar people who like to read a thoughtful mix of fiction and nonfiction that isn't so light there is nothing to talk about but isn't so obtuse as to be off-putting to the general population.
And the books I want to read next? Housekeeping (fiction this time) by Marilyn Robinson, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards, The Razor's Edge by Sommerset Maughon and Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams. What else should be on my list? What are you reading?
Heather,
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting me back in! :) I think we have been on a similar reading wave length. I just picked up the Uglies trilogy at the library on Monday. I thought the books looked good and am glad to have a second opinion on them. I also just started Before The Dawn by Dean Hughes. I'll let you know what I think.
Thanks for all the book reviews, which give me lots of ideas of what to put on my little reading list. I'm reading "A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide", which came highly recommended by a friend of mine.
ReplyDeleteI just read Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri and loved it. It was engaging and the prose was beautiful. I also read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which was tragic and compelling. I loved the way the author used the medium of a book. He's a true artist, in my opinion.
I tried reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, but only got a few pages in before I realized I would have to try again later. The laid back pace wasn't something I could do. I'm also planning on reading A Confederacy of Dunces, and Gone With the Wind, if the mood strikes. I got both books for my birthday, along with the others I've mentioned above. Oh, and I agree with both of your mini-reviews regarding My Sister's Keeper and The Deathly Hallows. Nice descriptions :)
Ah, it might be too late to say, but don't bother with Memory Keeper's Daughter. I would rank it along with Jodi Picoult. That should really say enough. It's one of those "book club favorites" but it's because 75% of book clubs out there are women who don't know any better that there's really GREAT stuff to read, not this so-so mush. Harry Potter, natch, was amazing. Hm, what else? I read the Golden Compass and its two other sequels and found it fascinating reading. Controversial right now, but fascinating. Not really for kids, though. If you're secure in your faith and are interested in some different stuff, this works. Kind of like reading Ayn Rand. I loved Atlas Shrugged and to a lesser degree Fountainhead but I didn't agree with her entirely. Just thought they were great reads. I read Austenland by Shannon Hale and was entertained. Have read some good YA stuff lately as well but not the Uglies stuff. Have seen them in catalogs and publishing stuff but didn't know what they were about. Interesting...
ReplyDeleteP.S. Oh, yeah, Anne Lamott, whatever. I'm tired of reading all this "the universe" stuff and "new-agey" "I'm not religious, but I'm very spiritual" stuff. Come ON. I was betting hers was along the same lines, so... nah. And I do like Somerset Maugham. I watched the Painted Veil and found it a really wonderful character study. Heartbreaking but real. Also read ... oh, crud, what was it, that we read for book club a few years ago of his?? Anyway, good writer.
ReplyDelete