I was desperately in need for a feel-good/fun, girly and quick book and my Back Mountain library had this available. I had seen the movie a while ago, but the 500+ page novel seemed sure to offer more heart.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Sci-Fi
Publication Date: 2003
Setting: Chicago, 1970s-early 2000s
The charming story about a man, Henry, who lives out of time, and his romance with Clare. Clare meets Henry when she is a young girl, and grows up knowing him. But Henry doesn't meet Clare until he is in his 20s. So who fell in love first? What are the emotional/social implications of a young girl falling for an older man? Of course when Henry meets Clare (when they are both in their 20s) he doesn't have a difficult time falling for her (even though he hasn't yet experienced the history she has with him). Theirs is romance that feeds my love for science fiction.
This book also gets a little deep, as questions about destiny and free will arise. If Henry from the future is meeting young Clare (and they are married), does Clare really have a say in the matter? Can you change the future or is it all pre-determined? And if it is, by who? So far as I know, time travel does not exist and I won't hurt my head trying to think about it too much (or about future Henry and present Henry in bed together, a scene that was not well explained). As well as the predicament of conceiving/pregnancy and genetic testing - would you want your child to have a disorder? would you try to treat them as a child? or wait until they are old enough to make their own decision?
The most interesting theme I found was the loneliness in the relationship - Clare sometimes enjoys when Henry is away in time, but is very happy when he returns. Sometimes you want the other person gone (or better said: you want time to be alone/independent) but that doesn't mean you don't miss or enjoy having them around.
Finished reading: Monday, August 10, 2015
DD's Rating: A-
Another book I read in under 24 hours, which I enjoyed. I wish the author would've taken the issue of genetic testing a little further, to have a real debate, but this is supposed to be chick-lit. Full points for the exploration of free will and determinism. I also find it interesting that, for the most part, the chronology of "present" follows Clare's, although the book is narrated from both perspectives. I guess it is so the novel is as "current" as possible.
Next read: Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fiction. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
The Silent Wife
I had to break up my non-fiction streak with some crazy chick-lit. I found some book list on Pinterest that recommended this. It also had a list of other goodies that I will have to resort to checking out hardcopy from my Back Mountain library.
The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison
Genre: Fiction, suspense
Publication Date: June 2013
Setting: Chicago, present day
A "thriller" told from the perspectives of man and wife. Man is a womanizing entrepreneur and wife is a dull, albeit intelligent, home psychologist. Man has affair (well he has many, but this last one causes him trouble), and woman gets pissed. Neither character shows much affection to anyone, which makes empathizing with either character impossible.
Finished reading: Saturday, August 1, 2015
DD's rating: C-
I would not call this a thriller nor would I call it suspense... Both narrators are incredibly monotone and display no emotion besides some frustration. The Silent Wife is better than The Girl on the Train but not as good as Gone Girl. Hard to write review because I just didn't care very much about the book, although it was an easy read.
Next read: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Silent Wife by A.S.A Harrison
Genre: Fiction, suspense
Publication Date: June 2013
Setting: Chicago, present day
A "thriller" told from the perspectives of man and wife. Man is a womanizing entrepreneur and wife is a dull, albeit intelligent, home psychologist. Man has affair (well he has many, but this last one causes him trouble), and woman gets pissed. Neither character shows much affection to anyone, which makes empathizing with either character impossible.
Finished reading: Saturday, August 1, 2015
DD's rating: C-
I would not call this a thriller nor would I call it suspense... Both narrators are incredibly monotone and display no emotion besides some frustration. The Silent Wife is better than The Girl on the Train but not as good as Gone Girl. Hard to write review because I just didn't care very much about the book, although it was an easy read.
Next read: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Monday, July 20, 2015
Still Alice
After it took me almost 2 weeks to finish The Blondes piece of trash, I hoped to find something that would be truly entertaining, emotional, and engaging. I knew Julianne Moore won the Oscar for portraying the title character in the film adaptation, so that fact piqued my interest. My grandmother also praised this book as it gave a description of Alzheimer's from the point of view of an intellectual elite. She also recommended that anyone who knows someone diagnosed with Alzheimers/dementia or anyone elderly and afraid of losing their mind should pick this up.
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Genre: Fiction, Alzheimers
Publication Date: (self-published) 2007 and later published 2009
Setting: Harvard/Cambridge, 2003-2005
Alice Howland is a 50 year-old esteemed psychologist teaching and doing research at Harvard University, married to an equally distinguished man also teaching and researching (biology) at Harvard. Alice is brilliant, busy, and driven, until one day she goes for a run around her neighborhood in Harvard Yard and can't find her way home. She begins noticing lapses in memory, confusion, and disorientation. Eventually, she discovers that she has early-onset Alzheimers. How could this happen to a 50 year-old woman, who runs 5 miles every day, and is a tenured professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the country? Genetics.
The book is told in the third-person, telling us Alice's thoughts and feelings about the disorder, while I the reader am able to see her lose more of her memory (while Alice has no notice). Initially, she recognizes that she can't remember the words for every day objects and she gets frustrated. But, like the disease, it gets worse. Eventually, she doesn't even realize she can't remember the words. She'll forget what she's forgetting. She'll create questions for herself to answer, and not realize that the answers that she is giving are incorrect. Which is what makes this disease so terrifying, it isn't destroying your body like cancer, it is destroying your mind, which is what makes you you. "I think therefore I am..." but what happens when your cognitive abilities and mental capacities decline and deteriorate? Are you still you? Is she still Alice? Is she still a brilliant Harvard professor even when she has to cease teaching? Is she still a loving mother after she forgets who her children are, or that she has children? Who are you are when you don't have control of your mind.
Finished reading: Sunday, July 19, 2015
Yes, I read it immediately after The Blondes, did not put it down, and finished in under 12 hours.
DD's rating: A
Terrific read. Truly frightening and enlightening to read about how someone as intelligent as Alice can still succumb to a degenerative mental disease. Also gives insight about how loved ones and caregivers may come across to those who have dementia - they are a person before they are a patient.
Next read: The Big Short by Michael Lewis, or possibly something less ambitious and less about my worst subject (economics), like The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Genre: Fiction, Alzheimers
Publication Date: (self-published) 2007 and later published 2009
Setting: Harvard/Cambridge, 2003-2005
Alice Howland is a 50 year-old esteemed psychologist teaching and doing research at Harvard University, married to an equally distinguished man also teaching and researching (biology) at Harvard. Alice is brilliant, busy, and driven, until one day she goes for a run around her neighborhood in Harvard Yard and can't find her way home. She begins noticing lapses in memory, confusion, and disorientation. Eventually, she discovers that she has early-onset Alzheimers. How could this happen to a 50 year-old woman, who runs 5 miles every day, and is a tenured professor at one of the most prestigious universities in the country? Genetics.
The book is told in the third-person, telling us Alice's thoughts and feelings about the disorder, while I the reader am able to see her lose more of her memory (while Alice has no notice). Initially, she recognizes that she can't remember the words for every day objects and she gets frustrated. But, like the disease, it gets worse. Eventually, she doesn't even realize she can't remember the words. She'll forget what she's forgetting. She'll create questions for herself to answer, and not realize that the answers that she is giving are incorrect. Which is what makes this disease so terrifying, it isn't destroying your body like cancer, it is destroying your mind, which is what makes you you. "I think therefore I am..." but what happens when your cognitive abilities and mental capacities decline and deteriorate? Are you still you? Is she still Alice? Is she still a brilliant Harvard professor even when she has to cease teaching? Is she still a loving mother after she forgets who her children are, or that she has children? Who are you are when you don't have control of your mind.
Finished reading: Sunday, July 19, 2015
Yes, I read it immediately after The Blondes, did not put it down, and finished in under 12 hours.
DD's rating: A
Terrific read. Truly frightening and enlightening to read about how someone as intelligent as Alice can still succumb to a degenerative mental disease. Also gives insight about how loved ones and caregivers may come across to those who have dementia - they are a person before they are a patient.
Next read: The Big Short by Michael Lewis, or possibly something less ambitious and less about my worst subject (economics), like The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Sunday, July 19, 2015
The Blondes
This book is another recommendation and borrow from my step-mother. I had high hopes for this work because the cover displays praise from my favorite, Stephen King. I'm gonna have to find a new favorite author, and around the same time that Harper Lee exposes that Atticus is a racist... terrific.
The Blondes by Emily Schultz
Genre: (science?) fiction, epidemic
Publication Date: August, 2012
Setting: NYC and Toronto, present day
Told from the point of view average/tubby, ginger, overall mediocre NYC graduate student (Hazel) as a sudden and mysterious epidemic of rage occurs throughout the world and only affects blonde women. Hazel had slept with a professor at her university and eventually discovers that she is carrying his child. Meanwhile, random "attacks" are occurring all around her of blonde women going nuts and having bouts of aggression towards others. There is no known cause, cure, or method of transmission, but only women who are blonde (even if they are dyed blonde) are afflicted.
Hazel's graduate studies have been focused on femininity and beauty, and coincidentally, it's the blondes who are losing it. I get that this is a satire with deeper meaning, the beautiful blondes are becoming mad, but I'm not buying it. Maybe it's the Biology major in me who can't take this "epidemic" seriously... but I thought World War Z was more believable and far more engaging than this.
Finished reading: Sunday, July 19, 2015
DD's rating: D
Probably doesn't deserve a "D," but I need to counteract the praise that this book receives - "biting satiric wit," "a nail-biter," "Emily Schultz is my new hero." No. The protagonist is unlovable - she is somewhat overweight, kind of pathetic and friendless, feeble, Canadian, and a ginger! I was rooting more for the crazed blondes than knocked-up and lonely Hazel.
This was something you might read when you exchanged first drafts in a sophomore creative-writing course.
Next read: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
The Blondes by Emily Schultz
Genre: (science?) fiction, epidemic
Publication Date: August, 2012
Setting: NYC and Toronto, present day
Told from the point of view average/tubby, ginger, overall mediocre NYC graduate student (Hazel) as a sudden and mysterious epidemic of rage occurs throughout the world and only affects blonde women. Hazel had slept with a professor at her university and eventually discovers that she is carrying his child. Meanwhile, random "attacks" are occurring all around her of blonde women going nuts and having bouts of aggression towards others. There is no known cause, cure, or method of transmission, but only women who are blonde (even if they are dyed blonde) are afflicted.
Hazel's graduate studies have been focused on femininity and beauty, and coincidentally, it's the blondes who are losing it. I get that this is a satire with deeper meaning, the beautiful blondes are becoming mad, but I'm not buying it. Maybe it's the Biology major in me who can't take this "epidemic" seriously... but I thought World War Z was more believable and far more engaging than this.
Finished reading: Sunday, July 19, 2015
DD's rating: D
Probably doesn't deserve a "D," but I need to counteract the praise that this book receives - "biting satiric wit," "a nail-biter," "Emily Schultz is my new hero." No. The protagonist is unlovable - she is somewhat overweight, kind of pathetic and friendless, feeble, Canadian, and a ginger! I was rooting more for the crazed blondes than knocked-up and lonely Hazel.
This was something you might read when you exchanged first drafts in a sophomore creative-writing course.
Next read: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Room
I seem to be rotating fiction and non-fiction, and that suits me just fine. After I read a meaty and draining non-fiction work, I like to sit back and enjoy some more comfortable fiction "stories." This one sure isn't really a happy and uplifting one (both Unbroken and Room are about prisoners), but the fiction and un-reality of the book makes it easier to read.
Room by Emma Donoghue
Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: September 2010
Setting: A room/shed in someone's backyard (mostly)
What's most notable about this book is not that for half of the work it takes place in one 11x11 room, but that it is written with a 5-year-old boy (raised in said room) as the narrator. Jack and his mother entertain themselves with a routine, including designated TV time, a modified version of physical training, nap time, reading, and screaming at the skylight for help. His mother, kidnapped in college, is the only other person the boy has ever had interaction with and he believes that there is nothing outside of Room. Obviously this boy has some issues, including lack of depth perception because his field of vision is limited to the Room. Jack's whole world is Room and is therefore reluctant to attempt an escape, but no little boy can grow up without playing with Legos or getting kissed by a puppy.
I would be interested to read the book from the point of view of the mother - being kidnapped, being held captive, having a child and raising a child in captivity. How did she come to the decision to keep him out of the loop about the world? How does she night fight tooth and nail every time her captor delivers her supplies? How does this happen to people??
Finished reading: Thursday, June 25, 2015
DD's Rating: B-
Kudos for telling the story from the perspective of a young children, but it was annoying to read his weird language, with fake pancaked words and speaking in incomplete/grammatically incorrect sentences. I recognize that Donoghue took a risk with a different writing style, I'm just not sure it's for me.
Next read: Into the Wild by John Krakauer
Room by Emma Donoghue
Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: September 2010
Setting: A room/shed in someone's backyard (mostly)
What's most notable about this book is not that for half of the work it takes place in one 11x11 room, but that it is written with a 5-year-old boy (raised in said room) as the narrator. Jack and his mother entertain themselves with a routine, including designated TV time, a modified version of physical training, nap time, reading, and screaming at the skylight for help. His mother, kidnapped in college, is the only other person the boy has ever had interaction with and he believes that there is nothing outside of Room. Obviously this boy has some issues, including lack of depth perception because his field of vision is limited to the Room. Jack's whole world is Room and is therefore reluctant to attempt an escape, but no little boy can grow up without playing with Legos or getting kissed by a puppy.
I would be interested to read the book from the point of view of the mother - being kidnapped, being held captive, having a child and raising a child in captivity. How did she come to the decision to keep him out of the loop about the world? How does she night fight tooth and nail every time her captor delivers her supplies? How does this happen to people??
Finished reading: Thursday, June 25, 2015
DD's Rating: B-
Kudos for telling the story from the perspective of a young children, but it was annoying to read his weird language, with fake pancaked words and speaking in incomplete/grammatically incorrect sentences. I recognize that Donoghue took a risk with a different writing style, I'm just not sure it's for me.
Next read: Into the Wild by John Krakauer
The Secret History
Oops, I forgot I read this book back while I was student teaching and never blogged about it (you know, being busy educating 92 young minds). I had Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch (before it won the Pulitzer) and I wasn't a huge fan, but I thought I'd try a different one of hers. Also, at the school I was teaching at, teachers display outside of their room what they are currently reading. I displayed this book and one of my students really connected over this book. Reading unites!
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: September 1992
Setting: Hamden College, Vermont, present-day
The story follows Richard, a California boy who transfers to a liberal arts Hampden College in Vermont. Richard manages to join the eclectic Classics program, with a nutty professor and only five other peers who are all obsessed with Greek history and their own egos. Richard comes from a lower-middle class family and he is put in a position where he only interacts with the very wealthy and profligate. Richard hides his modest upbringing and gradually assimilates into the clique as they take frequent and drunken weekends at Francis's lake house.
Richard becomes obsessed with his "friends" and tries to determine their relationships with each other and with him - Bunny is the boisterous bigot, Francis is a closet homosexual in love with bunny, Henry is elusive and pompous, and twins Camilla (a tease) and Charles who are their own clique. One weekend at the lake house, some of the group get into Ancient Greek-inspired trouble, which other members of the group find out about and use as blackmail. Well things go from bad to worse as these kids try to keep their heads above water, and this small clique eventually self-destructs. Other book reviews refer to this work as a Whydunnit instead of a Whodunnit and that is an excellent description - why did these kids do these things, why do they act this way and to each other.
The book is very well written. What I enjoy is the perfect narrator that is Richard. He is the definition of an outsider - from the West Coast, not wealthy, and new in town. But he is somewhat included into this unique, fascinating, and elite group. Therefore, the audience as well, is included into an exclusive club we always wanted to be a part of. It is also fun to read about college characters, for that times allows for a multitude of opportunities of self-discovery and re-invention.
Finished reading: sometime in March?
DD's rating: A
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very well written and better characters than The Goldfinch. I also think I've always fantasized about attending a Northern liberal arts school (in the realm of Bucknell, Vassar, or Colby) and living a very intellectual and antiquated life. Additionally, I became obsessed with the characters as much as Richard did. Two thumbs up.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Genre: Fiction
Publication Date: September 1992
Setting: Hamden College, Vermont, present-day
The story follows Richard, a California boy who transfers to a liberal arts Hampden College in Vermont. Richard manages to join the eclectic Classics program, with a nutty professor and only five other peers who are all obsessed with Greek history and their own egos. Richard comes from a lower-middle class family and he is put in a position where he only interacts with the very wealthy and profligate. Richard hides his modest upbringing and gradually assimilates into the clique as they take frequent and drunken weekends at Francis's lake house.
Richard becomes obsessed with his "friends" and tries to determine their relationships with each other and with him - Bunny is the boisterous bigot, Francis is a closet homosexual in love with bunny, Henry is elusive and pompous, and twins Camilla (a tease) and Charles who are their own clique. One weekend at the lake house, some of the group get into Ancient Greek-inspired trouble, which other members of the group find out about and use as blackmail. Well things go from bad to worse as these kids try to keep their heads above water, and this small clique eventually self-destructs. Other book reviews refer to this work as a Whydunnit instead of a Whodunnit and that is an excellent description - why did these kids do these things, why do they act this way and to each other.
The book is very well written. What I enjoy is the perfect narrator that is Richard. He is the definition of an outsider - from the West Coast, not wealthy, and new in town. But he is somewhat included into this unique, fascinating, and elite group. Therefore, the audience as well, is included into an exclusive club we always wanted to be a part of. It is also fun to read about college characters, for that times allows for a multitude of opportunities of self-discovery and re-invention.
Finished reading: sometime in March?
DD's rating: A
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very well written and better characters than The Goldfinch. I also think I've always fantasized about attending a Northern liberal arts school (in the realm of Bucknell, Vassar, or Colby) and living a very intellectual and antiquated life. Additionally, I became obsessed with the characters as much as Richard did. Two thumbs up.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Revival
After spending so much time away from books, I knew I would return to Stephen King soon. I didn't know that I would be reading a vaguely religious book, which makes three religious books of four books that I've read in a week (the others being The Pillars of the Earth and Killing Jesus).
Revival by Stephen King
Genre: Fiction, suspense, "horror"
Publication Date: November 2014
Setting: the life of Jamie Morton, America 1960s-2014
Young Jamie Morton meets and befriends his new minister Charlie Jacobs, a man with a happy family and an obsession with electricity. Something happens to Mr. Jacobs that causes him to lose the faith and focus all of his attention on electricity, convinced there exists a "secret electricity" that is beyond our world.
Meanwhile, Jamie becomes a semi-professional rhythm guitarist and hooks up with bands and eventually gets hooked on the big H. Just as he hits rock bottom, he comes across his old minister who is miraculously able to cure him of his addiction, for good. As we know, all that glitters is not gold, and this cure (along with Mr. Jacobs' other cures) has consequences.
After Jamie is cured he begins a real life, but still monitors his old minister and find that he is a traveling preacher who is curing people with his "secret electricity" around the country. Jamie researchers the cured to see if they display any after-effects and begins to doubt the authenticity and motives of "Pastor Danny." Of course Jacobs is curing for his own purposes (test subjects), but to what end? That's where Jamie comes in, to put an end to the after effects and the future test subjects and close the business of secret electricity once and for all. But if only things worked out they way we want them to. What is done cannot be undone and what is seen cannot be unseen. Something happens.
Finished reading: Friday, June 12, 2015
DD's rating: B-
A little unimpressed by this book from my favorite author. I love Stephen King so much because of his characters, and I just couldn't buy into Charlie Jacobs or Jamie Morton. This book also felt way too much like some of his other books (Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, to name two), and therefore wasn't original enough. But his writing style can't be beat, and I was never bored (although I could sometimes predict what would happen).
Next read: Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
Revival by Stephen King
Genre: Fiction, suspense, "horror"
Publication Date: November 2014
Setting: the life of Jamie Morton, America 1960s-2014
Young Jamie Morton meets and befriends his new minister Charlie Jacobs, a man with a happy family and an obsession with electricity. Something happens to Mr. Jacobs that causes him to lose the faith and focus all of his attention on electricity, convinced there exists a "secret electricity" that is beyond our world.
Meanwhile, Jamie becomes a semi-professional rhythm guitarist and hooks up with bands and eventually gets hooked on the big H. Just as he hits rock bottom, he comes across his old minister who is miraculously able to cure him of his addiction, for good. As we know, all that glitters is not gold, and this cure (along with Mr. Jacobs' other cures) has consequences.
After Jamie is cured he begins a real life, but still monitors his old minister and find that he is a traveling preacher who is curing people with his "secret electricity" around the country. Jamie researchers the cured to see if they display any after-effects and begins to doubt the authenticity and motives of "Pastor Danny." Of course Jacobs is curing for his own purposes (test subjects), but to what end? That's where Jamie comes in, to put an end to the after effects and the future test subjects and close the business of secret electricity once and for all. But if only things worked out they way we want them to. What is done cannot be undone and what is seen cannot be unseen. Something happens.
Finished reading: Friday, June 12, 2015
DD's rating: B-
A little unimpressed by this book from my favorite author. I love Stephen King so much because of his characters, and I just couldn't buy into Charlie Jacobs or Jamie Morton. This book also felt way too much like some of his other books (Under the Dome, Doctor Sleep, to name two), and therefore wasn't original enough. But his writing style can't be beat, and I was never bored (although I could sometimes predict what would happen).
Next read: Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
Friday, June 12, 2015
The Girl on the Train
I finished The Pillars of the Earth on the train from Philadelphia to NYC. Upon arriving in New York (visiting my father and step-mom) I saw their large stacks of books scattered around their Upper West Side loft/condo/apt (whatever NYC'ers call their living spaces). My step-mom recommended The Girl on the Train, which I had placed a hold for at my library and was the 2nd person waiting for the book. Fortunately, step-mom had a tangible copy, so for the first time in I can't remember how long, I read an actual book instead of my Kindle.
And I finished it in under 12 hours.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Genre: Fiction, suspense
Publication Date: January 2015
Setting: London suburbs, 2012 - present
This book was recommended to by Skimm, a fellow teacher, my step-mom, and the New York Times. Needless to say, I had high expectations. However, it fell short of those expectations and turned out to be a less maniacal English-version of Gone Girl. The story was interesting enough and the work was easy to read (that explains the completion time), but it lacked... richness. The girl on the train refers to Rachel, who is a divorced, unemployed, alcoholic and is just a big mess. I kept telling her to get her shit together, put down the damn drink and stop sending crazy messages to her ex. It was disappointing that the main character was so pathetic and I couldn't relate to her.
While this book was for feminists, it was a little too anti-men. Almost all the males the book were bad guys, in some way, while all the females were the silent sufferers of these males. I love girl-power, but not at the expense of tearing down the other gender and making them all misogynistic, apathetic liars.
Additionally, I have a strong distaste for affairs, and this book is full of them. Everyone eyeing someone else or being eyed by someone else and no one can stay faithful. That may be the reality of our world today, but I don't enjoy reading about it.
And apparently, according to Wikipedia, Dreamworks will be making a movie based on this book. I hope I didn't give away too many spoilers...
Finished reading: Saturday, June 6, 2015
DD's rating: C+
It was entertaining enough, it was light, it wasn't fun, but it's a good summer book to read on your vacation travels or while you're visiting family (like I was). This book will not move you, but it will keep you mostly engaged with the desperate behaviors of lonely women.
And I finished it in under 12 hours.
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Genre: Fiction, suspense
Publication Date: January 2015
Setting: London suburbs, 2012 - present
This book was recommended to by Skimm, a fellow teacher, my step-mom, and the New York Times. Needless to say, I had high expectations. However, it fell short of those expectations and turned out to be a less maniacal English-version of Gone Girl. The story was interesting enough and the work was easy to read (that explains the completion time), but it lacked... richness. The girl on the train refers to Rachel, who is a divorced, unemployed, alcoholic and is just a big mess. I kept telling her to get her shit together, put down the damn drink and stop sending crazy messages to her ex. It was disappointing that the main character was so pathetic and I couldn't relate to her.
While this book was for feminists, it was a little too anti-men. Almost all the males the book were bad guys, in some way, while all the females were the silent sufferers of these males. I love girl-power, but not at the expense of tearing down the other gender and making them all misogynistic, apathetic liars.
Additionally, I have a strong distaste for affairs, and this book is full of them. Everyone eyeing someone else or being eyed by someone else and no one can stay faithful. That may be the reality of our world today, but I don't enjoy reading about it.
And apparently, according to Wikipedia, Dreamworks will be making a movie based on this book. I hope I didn't give away too many spoilers...
Finished reading: Saturday, June 6, 2015
DD's rating: C+
It was entertaining enough, it was light, it wasn't fun, but it's a good summer book to read on your vacation travels or while you're visiting family (like I was). This book will not move you, but it will keep you mostly engaged with the desperate behaviors of lonely women.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Battle of the Books
The high school I teach at is having a Battle of the Books, Classics versus Contemporary. Since several of my homeroom students hadn't read nearly any of the books, they left some brackets (which I took the joyful liberty of filling out).
Here is my bracket:
Classics win! I had the most difficulty figuring out the left (Classics) side and feel like some great works were left out (Faulkner, Tolstoy, Stephen King). I could breeze through the contemporary - Kite Runner, Glass Castle, and Lord of the Rings were the only meaningful books on their side. Of course I read this from a book-lover, adult, and teacher perspective and less from an teenage-entertainment viewpoint.
Perhaps I will make my own bracket...
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The Secret Life of Bees
My mother has been trying to get me to read this book since she did, probably since the mid-late 2000s. I think she enjoyed the book so much because the protagonist's name is Lily (and mother is Lilly). Finally, Lower Merion library delivered and I was able to finish it on-time amidst my coursework.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Genre: Fiction, Women's Fiction, Young Adult/Coming-of-Age
Publication date: January 20003
Setting: Summer 1964, South Carolina
The novel is set in the South during the civil rights era, and 14-year-old, white, Lily is unhappy with her current situation. Her mother is dead, her father is authoritative and unloving, and she seems to have virtually no friends. Lily does have Rosaleen, a black peach-picker turned nanny who wants to register to vote in South Carolina. On Lily's 14th birthday (conveniently, July 4th), she becomes brazen and runs away from home, taking Rosaleen with her, and travels to Tiburon, SC. Her goal is to find clues and insight into her mother's past. Lily and Rosaleen meet the Boatwright sisters, May, June, and August (yes, like the months). Lily tells a made-up story of being an orphan traveling to Virginia. The sisters don't buy the story, but accept the runaways into their home and look after them for the summer. Lily becomes August's pupil in beekeeping and quickly develops a crush on the black boy Zach, who also helps with the beekeeping.
Eventually, summer ends and Lily fesses up to August about her past and some obvious plot lines are revealed about the connection the sisters have to Lily's mother. No surprises.
The book was OK. It was a little too sister-sisterly for me, with too much female support and care (not that I don't like girls sticking together, but it was just an overload). That being said, the intended audience is women - of any age, mostly single/divorced. And the storyline was so obvious, of course she falls for the black boy (which was taboo in the South in the 60s), and of course the sisters knew her mother. Looking back, the novel seems like a young adult book because of the limited plot and the story being told by a 14-year-old, and for that I label it "coming-of-age." I would have preferred the story to be told from August's perspective or in third person.
However, it was interesting to see how even a young teenager was so aware of racism and social inequality - she didn't care about color, but she knew that others did and tried to keep the peace when there was racial turmoil. Very astute for a young girl.
I give myself kudos for unintentionally reading a book dealing with race and civil rights around MLK Day, kismet.
DD rating: C
Next read: The Book Thief and/or Multiplication Is for White People. One of these I have to read for a grad class (two guesses which), and the other has been sitting in my Kindle library for over a year.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Genre: Fiction, Women's Fiction, Young Adult/Coming-of-Age
Publication date: January 20003
Setting: Summer 1964, South Carolina
The novel is set in the South during the civil rights era, and 14-year-old, white, Lily is unhappy with her current situation. Her mother is dead, her father is authoritative and unloving, and she seems to have virtually no friends. Lily does have Rosaleen, a black peach-picker turned nanny who wants to register to vote in South Carolina. On Lily's 14th birthday (conveniently, July 4th), she becomes brazen and runs away from home, taking Rosaleen with her, and travels to Tiburon, SC. Her goal is to find clues and insight into her mother's past. Lily and Rosaleen meet the Boatwright sisters, May, June, and August (yes, like the months). Lily tells a made-up story of being an orphan traveling to Virginia. The sisters don't buy the story, but accept the runaways into their home and look after them for the summer. Lily becomes August's pupil in beekeeping and quickly develops a crush on the black boy Zach, who also helps with the beekeeping.
Eventually, summer ends and Lily fesses up to August about her past and some obvious plot lines are revealed about the connection the sisters have to Lily's mother. No surprises.
The book was OK. It was a little too sister-sisterly for me, with too much female support and care (not that I don't like girls sticking together, but it was just an overload). That being said, the intended audience is women - of any age, mostly single/divorced. And the storyline was so obvious, of course she falls for the black boy (which was taboo in the South in the 60s), and of course the sisters knew her mother. Looking back, the novel seems like a young adult book because of the limited plot and the story being told by a 14-year-old, and for that I label it "coming-of-age." I would have preferred the story to be told from August's perspective or in third person.
However, it was interesting to see how even a young teenager was so aware of racism and social inequality - she didn't care about color, but she knew that others did and tried to keep the peace when there was racial turmoil. Very astute for a young girl.
I give myself kudos for unintentionally reading a book dealing with race and civil rights around MLK Day, kismet.
DD rating: C
Next read: The Book Thief and/or Multiplication Is for White People. One of these I have to read for a grad class (two guesses which), and the other has been sitting in my Kindle library for over a year.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Remember Me Like This
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston
Genre: Fiction, Family Drama
Publication date: May 2014
Reason for read: I don't honestly remember. The kindle book was checked out from the Palm Beach Gardens library (even though I no longer live in FL, I still have my PBG library card memorized).
Interesting note: This is the debut novel for Bret Anthony Johnston, who is a lecturer in the English department at Harvard. Discovering that he is employed at such a prestigious university, I am surprised that I have never heard of him. I wonder if Stephen King ever taught at an Ivy...
First, I am not a fan of the title. The title makes you think the book is about someone who is lost or who has passed away. But the book is about the opposite, a missing boy is found 4 years after his kidnapping. The title makes no sense to me, unless it's a literary device or meant to be ironic.
Second, there is an affair. This isn't a spoiler, don't worry. I absolutely loathe cheating. I hate how last night Showtime's The Affair won a Golden Globe (I won't watch). I hate how entertainment and society condone and endorse cheating in relationships. I protest the movie Something Borrowed, which is a love story emerging from an affair. TL:DR - I hate cheaters/affairs.
Justin goes missing four years ago and is miraculously spotted at a flea market in a neighboring town. A big flag to me, why wasn't he spotted sooner? The family claims to have posted flyers with his picture on them all over their town and county, so how did it take four years to spot him? Justin had friends and a girlfriend, but none of these people saw the fliers or heard about him on the news and radio. I find that unbelievable. The book didn't really try to touch on what Justin went through during his time away - what was done to him, how he felt being away, should he try to escape. The novel is written from the point of view of different family members, the father, the mother, the brother, the grandfather, but not once from the point of view of Justin. Not even a concluding chapter about what's going through his head once he's home and supposedly safe from his kidnapper. Having his perspective would add a meaningful layer to this story.
However, I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this novel. Obviously I sympathize and empathize with the younger brother who is sometimes overlooked as his older brother is more important and requires more attention and care. Johnston portrayed the Campbell family well, how each dealt with the developments of Justin being found and resuming life as normal. After a crisis, it is difficult to go back to the way things were, and everyone is changed by how events play out.
Finished reading Monday, January 12th.
DD's Rating: B
Next read: TBD, I have reached maximum title holds for PBG and Lower Merion libraries. The holds most likely to come up are The Secret Life of Bees and The Pillars of the Earth. However, graduate classes resume tonight, so I will be reading endless Education articles and textbooks and my leisure reading may fall to the wayside. Maybe a Liane Moriarity or fluff novel since I'm ahead of reading schedule.
Genre: Fiction, Family Drama
Publication date: May 2014
Reason for read: I don't honestly remember. The kindle book was checked out from the Palm Beach Gardens library (even though I no longer live in FL, I still have my PBG library card memorized).
Interesting note: This is the debut novel for Bret Anthony Johnston, who is a lecturer in the English department at Harvard. Discovering that he is employed at such a prestigious university, I am surprised that I have never heard of him. I wonder if Stephen King ever taught at an Ivy...
First, I am not a fan of the title. The title makes you think the book is about someone who is lost or who has passed away. But the book is about the opposite, a missing boy is found 4 years after his kidnapping. The title makes no sense to me, unless it's a literary device or meant to be ironic.
Second, there is an affair. This isn't a spoiler, don't worry. I absolutely loathe cheating. I hate how last night Showtime's The Affair won a Golden Globe (I won't watch). I hate how entertainment and society condone and endorse cheating in relationships. I protest the movie Something Borrowed, which is a love story emerging from an affair. TL:DR - I hate cheaters/affairs.
Justin goes missing four years ago and is miraculously spotted at a flea market in a neighboring town. A big flag to me, why wasn't he spotted sooner? The family claims to have posted flyers with his picture on them all over their town and county, so how did it take four years to spot him? Justin had friends and a girlfriend, but none of these people saw the fliers or heard about him on the news and radio. I find that unbelievable. The book didn't really try to touch on what Justin went through during his time away - what was done to him, how he felt being away, should he try to escape. The novel is written from the point of view of different family members, the father, the mother, the brother, the grandfather, but not once from the point of view of Justin. Not even a concluding chapter about what's going through his head once he's home and supposedly safe from his kidnapper. Having his perspective would add a meaningful layer to this story.
However, I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this novel. Obviously I sympathize and empathize with the younger brother who is sometimes overlooked as his older brother is more important and requires more attention and care. Johnston portrayed the Campbell family well, how each dealt with the developments of Justin being found and resuming life as normal. After a crisis, it is difficult to go back to the way things were, and everyone is changed by how events play out.
Finished reading Monday, January 12th.
DD's Rating: B
Next read: TBD, I have reached maximum title holds for PBG and Lower Merion libraries. The holds most likely to come up are The Secret Life of Bees and The Pillars of the Earth. However, graduate classes resume tonight, so I will be reading endless Education articles and textbooks and my leisure reading may fall to the wayside. Maybe a Liane Moriarity or fluff novel since I'm ahead of reading schedule.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)