Books
Currently reading...
Sarah Vowell is brilliant, witty, charming... I don't know if I'm jealous or if I have a crush on her.
by Christopher Moore
by Jonathan Franzen
While reading this book, the urge to stab myself in the eye several times so I wouldn't have to finish it overtook me. I wanted to throw things. This, I'm sure, is what Franzen wanted: big reactions. My main reaction was to put the book down and never return. That's twice in a year I've done that -- perhaps I'm getting to be more discerning?There were, in the beginning, parts of the book that intrigued me. I held out hope for actually liking the characters, or at least one of them, well into the book. But the climb into the insanity of the old folks is something I'd like to put off until it inevitably hits me smack in the face. And it's one thing to have annoying characters, but to annoy the fuck out of your readers until they wish themselves bodily harm is not, in my opinion, the kind of writing I appreciate.
by David Mitchell
This book charmed my socks off. I especially liked the sci-fi chapters, but the tracing of a story through different eras and different types of fiction was wonderful.
by Cristopher Moore
I've heard this wasn't Moore's best work, so I'm delighted that it was the first thing I read by him. Vampire stories don't generally excite me, but this was right up my ally. Here's a quote from the second chapter:A man attacked me, choked me, bit my neck, burned my hand, then stuffed my shirt full of money and put a dumpster on me and now I can see heat and hear fog. I've won Satan's lottery.I found it to be very fun, perfect for whiling away a rainy Sunday afternoon. I look forward to finding out how much better his storytelling can get!
by Douglas Coupland
I quite enjoyed the way this story is told. Each section -- most of which are one or two pages long -- has a little drawing at the top. The story is drawn much in the same way as real life: little pieces combine to make up a larger picture. My interest waned a bit around 3/4 of the way through because that's when the "loss of God" theme picked up, but I still quite enjoyed it. It made me want to read Microserfs again. If you've never read anything by Coupland, I'd highly recommend that book instead. If you're already a fan of his work, you'll probably like Life After God, but don't go in with excessively high expectations.
by Jasper Fforde
The thing I love about the Thursday Next series is that the books are just so fun. Thursday is a badass who doesn't back away from trouble and/or truly evil characters, whether they're fictional or not. In Something Rotten, Fforde does a wonderful job (once again) of bringing together multiple threads into an action-packed story. A page-running minotaur is on the loose, a gorilla is babysitting, England is opposed to anything Danish, and Hamlet is having an affair, all while Thursay tries to get her eradicated husband back and, you know, save the world. Pure fun!
by Kate Atkinson
Words are failing me on this one. It's a collection of short stories, but most of them are intertwined in some way (and all are part of a larger story). The common element is strange; sometimes creepy, sometimes just plain weird. I really liked it at times, then didn't, then did again. I'd like you all to read this book so I can talk about it with someone. But only if you're in the mood for strange.
by John Grisham
Oy vey. I've actually enjoyed a couple of John Grisham's novels, but this one didn't excite me. In fact, if it weren't for the annotations of Lana M. Smith, who also signed the inside cover, I would have put it down in the first chapter. The main character is a jerk, and I didn't end up liking him or many of the other characters throughout the book.But Lana, she wrote such wonderful things, such as, "Do I like you John Grisham? Not when you talk like this!" and "Smart ass!" and "Disrespect is something he has plenty of." She got awfully quiet in chapter two, so I signed my name under hers and started writing notes of my own. But in the end, you can only amuse yourself so much with a bad book.
by Tracy Chevalier
This book wasn't quite what I expected. I think I wanted a little more information and a little less drama. My favorite part about it has to be the portrait on the front of the book: the painting that inspired the story. I never really looked at it that closely, and can understand whey it sparked Chevalier's imagination. In the end, I think I felt the story was somewhat bland.
by Malcom Gladwell
Picked this up at the airport. I find that in the month or two since I finished it that a lot of what Gladwell said has stuck with me. I especially find it interesting when I hear people talking about "connectors" and "mavens." It's a good book for putting some things into context. However, I still think that it illustrates how much time we have on our hands in this developed nation of ours.
by Jonathan Safran Foer
I sometimes shy away from books that will make me feel sad, but I found this one to be impossible to put down. The stories woven in the narrative of a little boy and letters written by two old people -- people looking back on their lives -- it's mesmerising. At times, it "made my boots heavy," a phrase I will likely borrow from Oskar Schell, the book's 9-year-old protagonist. But it's not sadness without hope that the book offers, which is nice because we need hope. It's why we read books to begin with. It's why we buy lottery tickets (and new shoes, for that matter).But I digress. To sum up: great story, beautifully written. Oh man, I wish I could write like that.
by Nick Hornby
Four people meet, quite by accident, on New Year's Eve on the roof of an apartment block. Their lives, which mightn't have continued had they not run into one another, become intertwined in a way that's charming and grating and, well, human. I'm not going to pretend that a book about sucidal people is uplifting, but it's charmingly written and Hornby makes the kind of observations about people that I tend to enjoy reading and thinking about. Recommended for airplanes and Sundays.
by William Makepeace Thackeray
I love the sarcastic British authors. This book is rather more fun than I expected it to be, detailing the intrigues and general craziness of a few families in and around London in the early 1800s.There were certainly parts of the novel that dragged on a bit. I had more than one moment where what I was reading failed to hold my interest, but it was worth wading through until Thackeray returned to the main plot. The story is an excellent one, however: the plot is intricate, the characters are interesting and are drawn without a lot of sentiment. It is, after all, a novel without a hero.
by Margaret Atwood
Holy pigoons! This is a very engaging post-apocalyptic tale which follows a man who calls himself "Snowman," the last human alive. Well, the last non-genetically-engineered human, but you'll have to read the book to find out more about that.
by Stephanie Kallos
The lovely Crystal recommended this book, and what good taste she has! Kallos introduces us to Margaret, a wealthy woman who has lived alone with her porcelain antiques for years upon years. She's reclusive. She has secrets. Enter Wanda, a woman with her own mysteries, who answers an ad for a boarder and is surprised at the size of the house she will be living in, not to mention the contents. Kallos does a great job of weaving a beautiful story without dropping any threads along the way. I very much enjoyed reading this.
by Elizabeth Crane
Ugh. As much as I appreciate a good run-on sentence every now and again, I can't take a whole book of them."I'll turn out the light in a minute... I'm just going to finish this, uh..." [flipping forward through book] "...sentence," I said to my sweetie shortly after starting the book. Five minutes and two pages later, the light finally went off.
If it were just the run-on sentences and not the run-on thoughts, I probably wouldn't have minded, but the book as a whole was uninteresting and I found myself having no affection whatsoever for the protagonist. It's one of very few books I put down before reading the last chapter.
by Tony Hawkes
Who knew that hitching around Ireland with a refrigerator in tow would be such a good idea?The last time I laughed this hard at a book was probably while reading "Me Talk Pretty One Day," by David Sedaris. Something about Hawkes' description of the King of Tory Island and his plot to marry a princess had me clutching my sides in a fit of laughter. The book is entertaining throughout, and is not without its poignant moments of reflection. Bravo, Tony Hawkes!
by Phillipa Gregory
I got really excted about reading this historical fiction -- it was great to read about how courtiers lived out their lives, at the whim of their royal patrons. It was a bit disappointing, however, to look up some of the events on Wikipedia and learn that the whole of the story was "wildly inaccurate."It sounds like Gregory took every rumor about Mary and Anne Boleyn and put them down in the book as fact -- not that I blame her. It makes for a far more scandalous story. On the other hand, the true story has quite a bit of conflict and scandal without the exaggeration.
by Philip Pullman
This is the third book in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. It was an enjoyable fantasy read, but I feel like the second book was the best of the three.In this one, we follow Lyra and Will as they continue to fight off those who would harm them. There's a lot going on in this bool: landscapes (figurative and literal) have changed, the witches and angels are all stirred up over the war with The Authority (god), and in the middle of it all is this little girl and boy upon whom the fate of all worlds rest -- though they don't know it.
by Aurelie Sheehan
I've neglected to write down my thoughts about this book for too long and now I don't know what to say. Suffice to say, it didn't leave a huge impression on me. I do remember thinking it was amusing, but that it fell into the trap of being tidied up rather too neatly and too quickly. It seems that endings are probably the hardest thing for any author to write (because when is a story ever actually finished?). So many stories end as though their authors are just tired or bored and want to get the ending out of the way. Memory may not be serving me well here, but I feel that's what happened with this one.
by Alan Alda
This book is great! I actually feel like a more thoughtful, intelligent person for having read it (don't worry, the moment will pass). I especially like Alda's take on how to listen -- there are lots of good tips in this book for how to better relate to those around you, most of which Alda came up with while honing his acting skills. Alda lets you watch as he walks through the various phases of life, and in a very logical fashion, grows into such a neat person. He develops such a great perspective on life and the people in it, while always keeping his sense of humor. Highly recommended.
by Ron Kistler
Holy cow, what a job! Working for Howard Hughes was no picnic -- it's always fun to get a peep inside the craziness that envelopes other peoples' lives. Kind of makes me feel like I'm not doing so bad. And make no mistake, the stories about the Hughes organization, how the man himself would not share a toilet, and apparently went for almost a year with nothing but a pink hotel napkin modestly draped over his joy department... they tell of some craziness. It's fascinating.
by Laurie Notaro
I have a hard time relating to Laurie Notaro -- we do seem to be vastly different people, and our concerns don't tend to overlap. She and I are dorky in totally different ways. That being said, I find her stories to be fairly funny. I seem to recall that most of her stories are from a newspaper column she writes for a paper in Arizona or something, and sometimes think that may be a better format. I do enjoy reading her stories, though. The beauty is in the "thank god that wasn't me" feeling one gets.
by Marian Keyes
This book was actually kind of lame. It wasn't the worst book I read while traveling, and it helped pass the time on the train, but it was far from being the best.
by Philip Pullman
This is my favorite of the books in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy. It is here that we meet Will and discover distant (and not-so-distant) worlds. Pullman continues to develop his theory about the differences between adults and children, with Dust as a sort of explanation.It's hard to write about this without giving everything away. Definitely a fun read, but I wouldn't pick this book up out of order -- the first one, "The Golden Compass," is necessary to get the hang of what's going on.
by Anna Gavalda
The three words that come to mind when I think of this collection of short stories are: funny, heartbreaking, and weird. Though I'm not sure about "heartbreaking;" maybe "haunting" is a better term. There's a subtle darkness hanging over some of these stories that strikes me as being very French. Of course, I read the majority of the book on the train from Madrid to Paris, so I was kind of in a French mood anyhow. At any rate, I definitely consider this to be a worthwhile read -- the manner of the storytelling is quite striking.
by Philip Pullman
This first encounter with the "His Dark Materials" trilogy left me wanting more. Pullman did a great job of creating a new world around his heroine, a young girl named Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon. Lyra is raised as an orphan by the scholars at her Oxford (which is different than our Oxford, as it's in another world). Her parents are both alive, but are engaged in a bizzare political and theological battle that doesn't become entirely clear in this first book. What is clear is that there's a whole lot going on and Lyra is right in the middle.
by Melissa Bank
This is a collection of short stories that features (with one exception) the same heroine, Jane Rosenal. In some ways, it reads like a novel, but one that jumps around quite a bit. What happens is that the reader is presented with moments in time -- snapshots, if you will, of Jane's life. It is then up to the reader to either take them as separate events, or put them together to draw a more complete story. The main character, in particular, is incredibly well drawn, as well as likable and funny. It definitely strikes me as more of a chick book, but it's very enjoyable.
by David Liss
I was inspired to pick this up after reading "The Coffee Trader," also by David Liss. I felt that "The Coffee Trader" was a better book, but it was also the first one I read. The characters and the story in both books are extremely similar, so it kind of felt like re-reading the first one, which was a bit of a disappointment. So, I guess I'd recommend this if a) you haven't read "The Coffee Trader" or b) it was a long time ago and you've forgotten most of it.
by J.K. Rowling
This book makes me sigh a lot. I sort of rushed through it because I wanted to make sure I got through it before someone gave something away. Luckily, I did, but that also means I haven't slept much this week.The ending (I won't give it away here) leaves so much unfinished... What happens next? It's a bit frustrating to want to know so badly what happens next and know it will be years before we're able to find out. But frustrating in a good way.
I've heard it said that this was the best of the series so far. I'll agree that it was very good, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to go with "best." One nice thing about this one is that she finally assumes you've read the other books. Ransom and I recently read the second book, and I found it frustrating that she kept explaining everything all over again. Of course, this means you can't just jump into book 6 and expect to know what's going on, but I can't imagine anybody would want to. It does make for a bit of a double-edged sword, though: there were tons of references to book 5, and I read that long enough ago that I had to go back and look a few things up to remind me what had happened.
All in all, a very entertaining read. It's a good sign that I'm already looking forward to reading it again at a more leisurely pace, though this will probably have to wait awhile. I want to re-read the others first.
by Max Barry
Consumerism gone too far! This is an amusing look at a future where America has gone totally corporate. It has crossed over into the ridiculous -- your last name will be your place of employment. No last name? Shameful. It means you're unemployed. Overall, this was a fun read. Barry's portrait of the future isn't difficult to envision, and there's some cleverness to the plot. I wasn't at all surprised to learn he spent a lot of time working in marketing.
by Karen Joy Fowler
Alice Sebold said, "If I could eat this book, I would."I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I love the quote. I did find myself enjoying the book. It was great to see the women get uppity about Jane Austen, defending her against those who would speak ill of her. There wer also some interesting story lines around the members of the book club, but some of it felt a little forced.
My only serious point of contention, however, is that the book was written from the point of view of someone who was in the book club but never participated, only observed. Occasionally, a "we" would pop up and throw me off. I wasn't sure if this was supposed to act as a window for me as the reader to pretend I was part of the club or what, but I found it distracting. From an academic standpoint, it's an interesting approach, but I didn't like it. It felt kind of creepy.
by Helen Fielding
I liked Bridget Jones's Diary quite a bit, so it wasn't a tough sell for me to buy Helen Fielding's latest book, especially since it was on sale. I read it in a day, so it was engaging enough for me to spend a Sunday turning the pages. It wasn't what I expected, however, and it somehow seemed more fake than Bridget Jones's Diary. I had an incredibly hard time relating to the main character and figuring out her motivation -- I don't expect that Fielding thought the book was going to be altogether believable, but I think it missed the mark a bit too much for me. Probably a good read for the plane or a lazy Sunday when you need a bit of fluff, but it's nothing I'll recommend to my book club.
by David Liss
I had a hard time putting this book down. It's been awhile since I stayed up until 3:00am reading. The intrigue of the trading floor in Amsterdam, and the political machinations of the Portugese Jews... it's enough to make a girl's heart start palpitating!David Liss made me remember how much I like historical fiction. Plus, how can a book about coffee be bad?
I'd highly recommend this book. I will say that the ending kind of bugged me, but who am I to give the ending away?
by Jane Austen
I love Jane Austen. Her acerbic wit, her ridicule of class and society... It's brilliant. But you knew that already.I read this first in high school (for a while, we seemed to read nothing but Jane Austen, which was fine with me). I didn't like it as well as Pride and Prejucide or Emma, but it's still good reading.
One thing I always notice when I read Austen is that my writing, and even verbal communication begins to take on elements of her style. I start using words like "approbation" and asking things like, "Is he a man of information?"
At any rate, I'd heartily recommend Sense and Sensibility to any who are disposed to think kindly upon 19th Century British novels.
by Oscar Wilde
Best quote from this book: "One can survive anything nowadays, except death, and live down anything except a good reputation."I don't read plays all too often, but reading this reminded me that I ought to. There are enough characters in this one that I had to keep going back to remind myself who was the bitchy older woman and who the kinder one. I think I mostly enjoyed this because it's a good fluffy read, but you get to say "I was reading some Wilde" and then it sounds like you're all literary and stuff.
I do think The Importance of Being Ernest is a better play, though.
by Marilynne Robinson
The writing in this book was beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous. It's a slowly-paced letter from a 77-year-old man to his eight year child. The man is dying, and wants his son to have something to remember him by.
In general, the rest of the girls in my book club didn't like it; only one other person did. But I looked forward to reading it as a sort of quiet, reflective time. It's not a book to read if you're in a hurry, or if you're looking for action. The story unfolds as real life unfolds: slowly, and in some cases only partially.
I think if I had read this at a different time in my life, I mightn't have enjoyed it as much. As it is, I'm happy I read it now.
by Shannon Olsen
I'll have to confess, I was a little disturbed that the author and the main character share the same name. I like to know whether what I'm reading is true or not true, and this blurred the line quite a bit, although it felt as if there was a bit of an explanation toward the end. Still. Kind of odd.
That being said, I enjoyed the humor in this book. The main character/author was constantly making witty jokes, sometimes bad jokes, playing off her mother as the straight woman. I found it amusing. I categorize this under "nice, quick read on a Sunday afternoon."
by Glenn Duncan
When I started reading, I was hooked. I thought it was a fun idea and couldn't wait to see where Duncan was going with it. But toward the middle, there was much dragging on: "I sinned this way, I sinned that way, etc." The parts I liked were where he gave new explanations for biblical tales, like what really happened in Eden. Still, I don't think this is a book I'll be recommending.
by Jasper Fforde
The last name Fforde is only a small part of what's cool about the Thursday Next books. In this one, Thursday is hiding out in an unpublished manuscript in the Well of Lost Plots. The Cheshire Cat, who became the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat due to redistricting, is suddenly, and inexplicably no longer the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat. Miss Havisham wreaks havoc, Thursday and Pickwick (her pet dodo) are pregnant, and her husband has still been eradicated by the rogue time police. And then things get interesting.
by Khaled Hosseini
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very raw and unapologetic, which fascinated me. I think I'm going to have a hard time saying much more about it without giving away the ending, so I'll just suggest that you pick up a copy and read it yourself.
by Cynthia Kaplan
I confess: I judged a book by its cover. I liked the title best of all and figured it would probably show a life somewhat parallell to mine, maybe sort of explain why I'm like this. But it was written by a Jewish woman who's an actress in NYC and we don't have a lot in common. That being said, there are some really funny bits, and she does get the same migraines that I get. It's a fun read before bedtime.
by Philip Roth
I read this for my book group. I don't think it's one I would have picked out on my own, but I found it interesting. The characters weren't altogether sympathetic, and I'm not sure why that is. I wanted to see them all act differently, I guess.
The book was written from the point of view of an eight-year-old Jewish boy in the 1940s. The premise is that Charles Lindberg, who was known to have made anti-Semetic comments, was elected president instead of FDR for his third term. What was interesting to me was how much fear played a part in the dismantling of the family unit -- far more than actual external actions. Not that the fear was unwarranted in the face of such uncertainty, but it played an important role.
All in all, I'd rate it a good, thought-provoking book.
by Kathleen Tessaro
I read this book on Sunday, when I wanted something fluffy to while away the hours. It fit the bill perfectly. I was interested by the fact that she wrote it mostly in the present tense, with background information written in the past tense. There were a few places where verbs got confused in this scheme, however, which detracted a tiny bit from the reading experience. I would rate this a fun read, but nothing that will knock your socks off.
by Jasper Fforde
From the two effs in his surname, to the fantastic action in his books, Jasper Fforde is my new literary hero. Actually, Thursday Next is, but Fforde created her. Maybe. I mean, maybe he's actually part of jurisfiction and is in the character exchange program.Okay, let me stop rambling and sum up. Plot is excellent: Thursday Next of SpecOps-27 (LiteraTec division) fights crime amidst a growing number of coincidences. Details/humor are excellent: The Cheshire Cat, due to redistricting, is now the Unitary Authority of Warrington Cat. Also, I laughed out loud (or at least made that weird, air moving out of my nose fast but not enough to make it whistle noise) at least sixty times. Per hour.
Start with The Eyre Affair so it makes sense, but then read this one, too.
by Burton G. Malkiel
I started reading this because I need to figure out how to invest the funds in my IRA. Boring, I know, but I've only read about 10 pages and have already laughed out loud twice at this book. It's unexpectedly humorous and engaging for a book about investing. I didn't exactly read it cover-to-cover, but will probably pick it up every now and again as I figure things out.
by J.K. Rowling
I re-read this with my sweetie. I forgot how hilarious the Weasley twins are.
I think the best thing about the Harry Potter books is how Rowling managed to create a whole world around these characters and how well she managed to explain it. She really did a beautiful job -- there's a reason these books are so popular.
by Charles Dickens
I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I started it about ten years ago and got through about 20 pages before giving up. Then, because it's the main literary excursion in the next Jasper Fforde novel, I decided to give it another go. The first several pages reminded me of my previous efforts, but once I got past that, into the whole crazy Miss Havisham world, I was hooked. Dickens did a wonderful job of drawing his characters and bringing them to life. It is no wonder this is a classic.
by Jennifer Weiner
At the airport, I realized that I only had about ten pages left in A Girl Named Zippy and my plane was boarding in five minutes. I panicked. I ran to the nearest news stand and was about to buy another copy of America, The Book, when I saw this one. I read Good In Bed (also by Weiner) a couple of years ago, and thought it was okay, so I bought In Her Shoes.
The book itself was okay, not great. I feel like Weiner spent way too much time talking about physical appearance issues like weight and fashion. Her attempts to show how these things don't matter caused her to focus on them way too much and kind of had the opposite effect. In the book, they matter very much indeed -- to be sure, the book wouldn't exist without them.
by Haven Kimmel
A Girl Named Zippy served as a nice reminder that life isn't always fast-paced, and that somewhere there's a child who's trying to learn to stand up on her bicycle. I related to Zippy's tomboy antics (though she was much more daring than me), and was impressed with her descriptive powers. Her parents must have been so relieved that she turned out okay. If you've got a lazy Sunday afternoon scheduled, this might be a good way to spend it. Also great for plane rides. It really is a charming memoir.
by Lani Diane Rich
This book gives me hope, as it was written in about three weeks during NaNoWriMo. Maybe, just maybe, if Lani Diane Rich can do it, so can I. It was strange to me how many similarities there were between Lani's book and some of the things that have shown up in mine: The Philadelphia Story, a haircut scene, and some of the themes were very similar. So, it gave me hope, but also made me feel very unoriginal.
by Jasper Fforde
I love this book. I had such a hard time putting it down.
Thursday Next is a magnificent heroine: she's strong, sassy, complicated. Also, I love the idea of being able to go into your favorite novels. I would totally hop into The Razor's Edge and have a chat with Larry Darrell or wander into Pride and Prejudice just to make funny faces at Mrs. Bennett. I'd hide under a bed in The Secret Life of Bees and, when nobody was looking, strike up a conversation with August.
Also, Acheron Hades is a great nemesis. Well done, Jasper Fforde.
by Isabel Allende
(Caution: contains minor spoilers)
Someone once told me that if a book doesn't totally grip you by page 20, you should put it down. I'm glad I don't listen to this advice very often, or I would have put this one down.It took me awhile to get into it, but as soon as Eliza headed for California, everything took off. I loved her relationship with Tao and her travels with Joe Bonecrusher. The threads of storylines that were almost tentatively told at the beginning all came together so well, or at least ran in parallel for a bit. I do feel like it ended a bit hastily, but there's little doubt as to what direction the novel was taking. I guess if Allende had written the conclusion to some of those loose ends, the novel would have gone on for at least another 50 - 100 pages. So I guess I can understand that.
by Richard P. Feynman, et al
The title is very appropriate; a curious character, indeed! This is a collection of essays and speeches written/delivered by Richard Feynman, a theoretical physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. It's not all about physics, though, it's about a lot of things. Mostly, what comes through in this book is Feynman's love for and sense of wonderment about the world -- his intense need to figure things, to determine the how and why of things.
He talks about everything from his fascination with picking locks to his love of pretty women to what a pain in the ass it was winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The essays follow him through adventures in college, at Los Alamos, to Japan and Brazil... It's not what I expected in the most delightful way possible.
by Chuck Palahniuk
I dug the plot turns in this book, but am having trouble describing what kind of story it is. It's closer to horror than not. It's definitely not romance. Maybe a dash of fairy tale, but the dark kind. At any rate, it's intriguing when you hear about people calling the main character to report that their kitchen is missing. Or their linen closet. Or the bathroom. "It used to be right here..." In short, I found it mildly distrubing, but worth the read.
by Dava Sobel
This book totally rules. I had no idea that all those explorers, from Christopher Columbus to Sir Frances Drake, were lost at sea the whole time. They had no way to fix their longitude. They knew which latitude they were at, but longitude, well, that's a long and fascinating story. There's even a sentence or two in this book that leads to my new theory for why so many pirates had eye patches (and it has nothing to do with hooks).
by Jincy Willett
I picked up this book because there was a foreward by David Sedaris telling me how funny the book is. I forgot to factor in the possibility that David Sedaris' sense of humor is incredibly bitter and dark. Dark, I can usually handle. But this book is so remorselessly bitter, I have to confess I only read a few of the stories. Some of the advice column bits were truly funny and wonderfully put, but overall, I couldn't bear to sit in my house with my broken ankle and worry so much about Willett's characters. They're very worrisome characters. Maybe I'll take it up again if I get fired, my boyfriend dumps me, and my cat dies.
by William Gibson
Though slowly paced, I found myself really drawn into the narrative of this book. It was easy to picture Cayce Pollard in her plain clothing, devoid of any trademarks, making her confused way through the story. There was also a well-woven mystery that made me keep picking up the book again and again.
by Ann Brashares
It seems silly, but I was completely drawn in by this book. It's like the Babysitter's Club girls got to high school and pulled me in all over again.
by Sue Monk Kidd
Wow. Yay for this book -- I thought it was beautifully written. Moving, even. I loved it.
by Gregory McGuire
This was terrific. I really enjoyed the breadth of topics this book went into. There were Munchkinland politics (or Oz politics in general), morality, the nature of girls at school... McGuire did a great job rounding out Baum's characters and putting a spin on the tale we all know so well.
by Lois Battle
If I had been feeling more snobby when I read it, I might not have finished this book. If I had never been to New Orleans, I probably wouldn't have picked it up to begin with. The story was decent, though I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to anyone else. I did enjoy thinking back to my week in New Orleans and trying to imagine everything taking place.
by Anita Diamant
This was another book that was nothing like what I expected. It's definitely a chick book, but it was beautifully written. It was a good, solid story with plenty of details and extremely well-developed characters. It's the sort of thing that makes reading the Bible sound like it might be fun and interesting.
by Dan Brown
I thought The da Vinci Code was way better. This also had some pretty gruesome scenes that gave me nightmares. Once those were over, though, it wasn't a bad story. And I was once again impressed with Brown's research and knowledge -- I just hope most of it's right!
by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
Interesting. I don't think "Poor Dad" is as big of a chump as the author makes him out to be. Sure, it's a good idea to build assets and be financially literate, but there's no mention (so far) of socially responsible investments. There's no mention of quality of life. There's nothing to suggest that doing things other than reading a balance sheet can be fun. So, I may take some of the advice, but I certainly can't live the life.
by Barbara Kingsolver
I think my grandma gave me this book, and I have to confess I was skeptical. It wasn't at all what I expected, though. It was great. I especially liked the Adah character and her penchant for word play and palindromes. I would have liked to have heard less from Leah, but I'd have to say that Kingsolver did a great job telling a story from five different points of view. Also, I liked the book about ten times better when I figured out where the title came from.
by Douglas Adams
What can I tell you that you don't already know? This is a fun read, full of silliness and humor. There's a reason Douglas Adams became famous and oft-quoted. This is it.
by Neal Stephenson
I have to confess: I was a little disappointed in Neal. I wanted more Cryptonomicon. I wanted action, adventure. What I got was disappointing and, frankly, I had a hard time finishing it (though I did). It's clear that Stephenson spent a lot of time researching this novel, and I've heard that the next one in the series is better (and makes this one better), but I don't know if I'll be able to muster the energy to re-read this ever, even if The Confusion totally rocks.
by Mitch Albom
I'd have to say that this book actually lived up to the hype. It was such a sweet book, one that made me feel entirely okay about crying for an old man I never met. Really, it's a touching story if you can, for an afternoon, drop the cynicsm, the penchant for irony, and just dive into the life of an old man and see how he touched the lives of others.
by William Gibson
This was a fun read -- I think I picked it up on a weekend and raced right through it. Probably not super accessible to people who aren't fans of computers and/or science fiction.
by Robert Ludlum
This was the third of the Bourne books. I think I mostly read it because I'd read the other two and it seemed silly to not finish out the trio. Parts of it were fun and interesting, but I frankly thought it was too long -- it could have ended eight or nine times before the actual ending and would probably have been better for it.
by Dan Brown
The cool thing about this book was all the research Brown put into it. The plot and some of the dialogue was a tad on the pedestrian side, but the research he put into it made it well worth reading.