Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield.
I received this book as a gift after talking endlessly about my love of The Thirteenth Tale by the same author. That book, which I read years ago, has stayed with me and I still call it one of my favorites. I was a bit nervous starting to read this potential rival to a book that will probably remain permanently on my favorites list. However, not only did Bellman & Black not leave an impression on me, I'm still debating whether or not I'm even going to keep my beautiful hardback copy. The book tracks William Bellman from careless adolescent through to his death. Along the way, he establishes himself as a prominent businessman after discovering inventive new ways to dye wool. First he loses his mother suddenly, as notices a mysterious man in black at the funeral. Eventually he also loses his wife and all but one chil to a very contagious fever (smallpox? TB?) and the man, "Mr. Black," reappears again. Bellman has a single discussion with this man, and completely misinterprets the significance of Mr. Black is his life. Because of this, he leaves his successful factory, and starting a new venture as the owner of a very successful department store selling only funerary supplies, clothes, coffins, etc. The book is more atmospheric than plot-driven and didn't have quite the same panache as her previous book.
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold.
Everyone knows Alice Sebold from The Lovely Bones, and to a lesser extent, Lucky. I read both at the height of their respective heydays whilst in college and then forget about Sebold. I found The Almost Moon at a used book store and bought it immediately. Unfortunately this didn't live up to her other two. Helen Knightly is tired of taking care of her agoraphobic mother, and in a fit of panic, kills her mother by smothering her with a pillow. The book really chronicles details in Helen's life, her turbulent childhood, father's suicide, life with her mother, her divorce, her two children, that all merge together to lead Helen to her moment of killing. The book doesn't conclude well, it just sort of ends and left me with an unsatisfactory feeling. Despite all her life challenges, none of it justified her killing her mother with a pillow.
Current reads: Room with a view This is on my classics list and I'm loving it!
Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore. I heard about this book from a friend's FB post. I liked the beginning, but now I'm in the mid-book lull and its really slowed down. It's gotten a bit fantastical so I'm a bit eh about it, but still hopeful it's going to veer off course and surprise me.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Jane Austen Marriage Manual by Kim Izzo
Jane Austen Marriage Manual might make Jane Austen roll over in her grave.
I received this book as a gift, but I liked the idea of it and eagerly started reading it. It started off well enough; Kate is a freelance magazine writer, approaching forty, single, and living at home. In a very short time span, she loses her job, the family home, and her beloved grandmother. A lifelong Austen fan, Kate decides to make some cash writing an article about how Austen's marriage advice is still applicable in modern society. The story drastically shifts when Kate decides to actually live it, and starts pursuing rich men to marry.
Her friends, Brandon and Marianne (Sense & Sensibility anyone?), purchase her a tiny plot of land in Scotland as part of a conservation project (what??), and thereby the plan unfolds to pass Kate off as a wealthy landowner of Scottish descent who was born and raised in New York. To start, she travels to Florida to pursue the wealthy polo set, and befriends Fawn, a recent divorcee. Together they meet some men, who are rich and single and therefore eligible for Kate to marry. She returns to NY, then flits off to Switzerland (thanks to wealthy Fawn), and finally to London. Along the way, she steals a wealthy investment banker, Scott, from his very young Slovenian girlfriend, and the two finally get engaged.
Despite Kate's insistence that she's a big Austen fan, (and carries around a dog-eared copy of Pride & Prejudice as proof), she fails to grasp the concept that Austen's heroine's may pursue a wealthy husband, but they marry for LOVE, not for money (Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightly, Mr. Bingley, Colonel Brandon).
As Kate starts pursuing these men, she becomes a very dis-likable, self-absorbed, rather vile person who cares about no one other than herself. Even knowing her motivations for doing it, (get the family home back, pay back her mothers gambling debts, etc), it still doesn't excuse her behavior.
I won't read this again, and will probably donate my copy. I think Izzo needs to re-read her Austen!
I received this book as a gift, but I liked the idea of it and eagerly started reading it. It started off well enough; Kate is a freelance magazine writer, approaching forty, single, and living at home. In a very short time span, she loses her job, the family home, and her beloved grandmother. A lifelong Austen fan, Kate decides to make some cash writing an article about how Austen's marriage advice is still applicable in modern society. The story drastically shifts when Kate decides to actually live it, and starts pursuing rich men to marry.
Her friends, Brandon and Marianne (Sense & Sensibility anyone?), purchase her a tiny plot of land in Scotland as part of a conservation project (what??), and thereby the plan unfolds to pass Kate off as a wealthy landowner of Scottish descent who was born and raised in New York. To start, she travels to Florida to pursue the wealthy polo set, and befriends Fawn, a recent divorcee. Together they meet some men, who are rich and single and therefore eligible for Kate to marry. She returns to NY, then flits off to Switzerland (thanks to wealthy Fawn), and finally to London. Along the way, she steals a wealthy investment banker, Scott, from his very young Slovenian girlfriend, and the two finally get engaged.
Despite Kate's insistence that she's a big Austen fan, (and carries around a dog-eared copy of Pride & Prejudice as proof), she fails to grasp the concept that Austen's heroine's may pursue a wealthy husband, but they marry for LOVE, not for money (Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightly, Mr. Bingley, Colonel Brandon).
As Kate starts pursuing these men, she becomes a very dis-likable, self-absorbed, rather vile person who cares about no one other than herself. Even knowing her motivations for doing it, (get the family home back, pay back her mothers gambling debts, etc), it still doesn't excuse her behavior.
I won't read this again, and will probably donate my copy. I think Izzo needs to re-read her Austen!
Saturday, September 13, 2014
We were liars by E. Lockhart
I read Gone Girl a while back and loved it. I knew really nothing about it and loved the suspense and intrigue of it; I couldn't put it down.
I found We were Liars on a book list titled something like "If you liked Gone Girl, you might like..." I downloaded on my Kindle and read it a few weeks later.
Since I was expecting the suspense! intrigue! mystery! I had high expectations of this book.
It didn't quite deliver. I read with so much anticipation of being shocked, that it diminished the actual shock value.
Cady (Cadence) is the oldest grandchild of a wealthy New England family that summers on the same idyllic beach island that they own. One summer, Cady wakes up on a beach with a head injury and no memory of what happened. Her besties, Gat, Mirren, and Johnny are vague and don't have contact with her for the next two years until Cady returns to the beach. Although her injuries cannot be medically explained, Cady is left with debilitating headaches, fails out of high school, drops sports, hobbies, and essentially falls off the life grid.
Eventually the mystery is explained. I didn't quite see it happening, so that was a welcome surprise, but I also didn't quite buy the story. It is a good book, worth the read and its a very quick read, I just should have read it with lesser expectations.
I found We were Liars on a book list titled something like "If you liked Gone Girl, you might like..." I downloaded on my Kindle and read it a few weeks later.
Since I was expecting the suspense! intrigue! mystery! I had high expectations of this book.
It didn't quite deliver. I read with so much anticipation of being shocked, that it diminished the actual shock value.
Cady (Cadence) is the oldest grandchild of a wealthy New England family that summers on the same idyllic beach island that they own. One summer, Cady wakes up on a beach with a head injury and no memory of what happened. Her besties, Gat, Mirren, and Johnny are vague and don't have contact with her for the next two years until Cady returns to the beach. Although her injuries cannot be medically explained, Cady is left with debilitating headaches, fails out of high school, drops sports, hobbies, and essentially falls off the life grid.
Eventually the mystery is explained. I didn't quite see it happening, so that was a welcome surprise, but I also didn't quite buy the story. It is a good book, worth the read and its a very quick read, I just should have read it with lesser expectations.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Chasing Shakespeares by Sarah Smith.
I was introduced to the concept
(conspiracy theory) that William Shakespeare may not have have written
any or all (depending on the theory) of the works attributed to him in a
book called Interred with their bones. I LOVE the book, read
it a few years ago and still think about it. Ironically, the sequel was
God awful and I couldn’t even finish it. Many people, usually called
“Oxfordians” believe the actual author was the Earl of Oxford. Either
way, Chasing Shakespeares compounds upon this notion
that Shakespeare may not be the glover’s son from Stratford who was an
essential nobody, wrote the greatest things ever produced in the English
language, and then died.
Chasing Shakespeares follows Joe, his friend Mary Cat who leaves graduate school to pursue the convent, and Joe’s new friend Posy, a very wealthy Harvard student, who are all obsessed with Shakespeare. Joe was given free reign over the (fictional) Kellogg collection, which is a collection of Shakespearian things collected over a lifetime by a Shakespeare horder. In it, he finds a letter he thinks is authentic, leading credence to the theory that Shakespeare was actually Edward de Vere, a little known noble connected to the Earl of Oxford. Posy and Joe go to London to pursue leads and get the letter authenticated.
The ending was surprising; it was startlingly vague. I read the afterward in which the author stated she wanted the book to be less about finding out who Shakespeare was and more about pursuing the imagination of researchers. Joe and Posy are grad students, who imagine a different way of thinking and pursue their thoughts relentlessly. It worked for the book. My single legit complaint was that the author is female (Sarah Smith), and does not write men well. At all. Until it was specifically addressed, I thought Joe was female.
Otherwise, I’m always up for a good literary book about literary things.
Chasing Shakespeares follows Joe, his friend Mary Cat who leaves graduate school to pursue the convent, and Joe’s new friend Posy, a very wealthy Harvard student, who are all obsessed with Shakespeare. Joe was given free reign over the (fictional) Kellogg collection, which is a collection of Shakespearian things collected over a lifetime by a Shakespeare horder. In it, he finds a letter he thinks is authentic, leading credence to the theory that Shakespeare was actually Edward de Vere, a little known noble connected to the Earl of Oxford. Posy and Joe go to London to pursue leads and get the letter authenticated.
The ending was surprising; it was startlingly vague. I read the afterward in which the author stated she wanted the book to be less about finding out who Shakespeare was and more about pursuing the imagination of researchers. Joe and Posy are grad students, who imagine a different way of thinking and pursue their thoughts relentlessly. It worked for the book. My single legit complaint was that the author is female (Sarah Smith), and does not write men well. At all. Until it was specifically addressed, I thought Joe was female.
Otherwise, I’m always up for a good literary book about literary things.
Friday, August 29, 2014
The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones
I just...no. This entire book takes place within a 24 hour time span, in a house about to be "foreclosed" in 1912 England. While the home, Sterne, is preparing for the birthday party of Emerald, a ragged bunch of strangers appears per the direct orders of the local railway station. A train derailed nearby and there were no other places to put the non-critically injured passengers. Um, what? And since when does a railway company demand that homes accept survivors for an undisclosed amount of time?? Emerald, her vain and slightly narcissistic mother Charlotte, brother Clovis, who might be either bipolar or just a moody twenty-something, younger sister Smudge who suffers from borderline neglect, friends John, Patience, and her brother Ernst, all have a dinner planned when the strangers arrive at the doorstep.
Eventually, another passenger arrives, Charlie, who coincidentally was once friends with Charlotte, and the housekeeper Florence. The group puts the ill-fated railway passengers into the morning room, essentially locking them in with no food, water, toilets, and no one to check over their wounds. Eventually, the group is fed, hours later, using most of the fancy dinner planned for Emerald's birthday, who eat the leftovers. That must have been a very fancy dinner that food for 8-10 people can also serve 20+, then the original dinner party could still have some left to eat. Anyway, after dinner, Charlie, proposes to play a game in which everyone goes around in a circle and says brutally honest things about one person. First everyone picks on Patience, then Charlie goes after Charlotte. He calls her a whore, telling her family that she was a prostitute before her respectable marriage. Once the dust settles, Charlie corners Charlotte in her bedroom, and tells her her family will now abandon her. He also implies he's supernatural and the railway party is no coincidence. (what?). He's dying and needed to see her one last time. When she yells, her entire family comes to her rescue, against the prophecy of Charlie who then disappears.
And that's the book.
Side stories: Smudge sneaks her pet pony upstairs at one point to trace her shape onto her bedroom wall. And of course can't get her back down the stairs because stairs + horse hooves = disaster.
Charlotte's husband, Edward, away during all this to try to save the house, was mysteriously given a letter saying that a dead benefactor of Smudge's left her large amounts of money that will save Sterne.
Okay then.
I want the (few) hours of my life back that I spent reading this book.
I just...no. This entire book takes place within a 24 hour time span, in a house about to be "foreclosed" in 1912 England. While the home, Sterne, is preparing for the birthday party of Emerald, a ragged bunch of strangers appears per the direct orders of the local railway station. A train derailed nearby and there were no other places to put the non-critically injured passengers. Um, what? And since when does a railway company demand that homes accept survivors for an undisclosed amount of time?? Emerald, her vain and slightly narcissistic mother Charlotte, brother Clovis, who might be either bipolar or just a moody twenty-something, younger sister Smudge who suffers from borderline neglect, friends John, Patience, and her brother Ernst, all have a dinner planned when the strangers arrive at the doorstep.
Eventually, another passenger arrives, Charlie, who coincidentally was once friends with Charlotte, and the housekeeper Florence. The group puts the ill-fated railway passengers into the morning room, essentially locking them in with no food, water, toilets, and no one to check over their wounds. Eventually, the group is fed, hours later, using most of the fancy dinner planned for Emerald's birthday, who eat the leftovers. That must have been a very fancy dinner that food for 8-10 people can also serve 20+, then the original dinner party could still have some left to eat. Anyway, after dinner, Charlie, proposes to play a game in which everyone goes around in a circle and says brutally honest things about one person. First everyone picks on Patience, then Charlie goes after Charlotte. He calls her a whore, telling her family that she was a prostitute before her respectable marriage. Once the dust settles, Charlie corners Charlotte in her bedroom, and tells her her family will now abandon her. He also implies he's supernatural and the railway party is no coincidence. (what?). He's dying and needed to see her one last time. When she yells, her entire family comes to her rescue, against the prophecy of Charlie who then disappears.
And that's the book.
Side stories: Smudge sneaks her pet pony upstairs at one point to trace her shape onto her bedroom wall. And of course can't get her back down the stairs because stairs + horse hooves = disaster.
Charlotte's husband, Edward, away during all this to try to save the house, was mysteriously given a letter saying that a dead benefactor of Smudge's left her large amounts of money that will save Sterne.
Okay then.
I want the (few) hours of my life back that I spent reading this book.
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Devil in the White City: Turns out in 1893, Chicago hosted a much
celebrated and acclaimed World’s Fair. The book tells two parallel
story lines; that of the construction, development, and execution of the
World’s Fair, and the serial killer who preyed on the young women
flocking to Chicago during the same time period. I’ve had a bit of a
history with this actual book before I just read it. My friend
Elizabeth lent me this book; she brought it to me on a girl date at a
Mexican place. I didn’t finish my enchiladas, so I through her book
into my to-go bag. We walked around shopping (and drinking) for awhile
afterwards. By the time I got home and went to retrieve the book, my
enchilada juice had leaked everywhere and the book was ruined. I bought
a replacement book for E, and another copy for myself to keep, since I
obviously can’t be trusted to borrow books. I put my copy on my shelf
and never got around to reading it. Then Lovey’s roommate’s girlfriend
brought it over to their place and RAVED about it. Remembering I owned
it, I told her I’d read it and started it promptly once I got home.
Eh, not such a fan. The concept was awesome, but the mundane details about the background of the fair was tedious. Not being an architectural guru, I cared a lot less about building plans and construction than the author probably would have liked. I’m always up for a good serial killer novel, but this mystery contained very few details. There were a lot of cool points about the book: 1. Englewood at the time was a fancy, happening neighborhood. It is now a very rough, poverty stricken, gang and drug infested neighborhood. Anyone other than blacks need not enter. 2. The first Ferris wheel debuted at the fair. 3. Walt Disney’s father worked on construction at the fair, and people say the White City established at the fair inspired construction at DisneyLand, namely Cinderella’s castle. 4. One fair building still standing is now the Museum of Science & Industry, which is an awesome building. 5. The fair also inspired architectural geniuses Frank Lloyd Wright (who was fired by the Fair architect), and Mies van der Rohe. 6. Apparently the fair changed America’s viewpoints on electricity, transportation, and architecture. People began to realize Europe did not have to have a monopoly on architecture, and American cities could, and would, benefit from architectural advances. Some architects for the fair went on the design Central Park and the Flatiron building in New York, the Washington Monument and the Mall in DC.
Eh, not such a fan. The concept was awesome, but the mundane details about the background of the fair was tedious. Not being an architectural guru, I cared a lot less about building plans and construction than the author probably would have liked. I’m always up for a good serial killer novel, but this mystery contained very few details. There were a lot of cool points about the book: 1. Englewood at the time was a fancy, happening neighborhood. It is now a very rough, poverty stricken, gang and drug infested neighborhood. Anyone other than blacks need not enter. 2. The first Ferris wheel debuted at the fair. 3. Walt Disney’s father worked on construction at the fair, and people say the White City established at the fair inspired construction at DisneyLand, namely Cinderella’s castle. 4. One fair building still standing is now the Museum of Science & Industry, which is an awesome building. 5. The fair also inspired architectural geniuses Frank Lloyd Wright (who was fired by the Fair architect), and Mies van der Rohe. 6. Apparently the fair changed America’s viewpoints on electricity, transportation, and architecture. People began to realize Europe did not have to have a monopoly on architecture, and American cities could, and would, benefit from architectural advances. Some architects for the fair went on the design Central Park and the Flatiron building in New York, the Washington Monument and the Mall in DC.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See:
This book was really popular a few years ago, but the description on the back never seemed interesting to me so I never read it despite the hype. A few weeks ago Lovey and I were perusing a used book store and I saw it. Not only was it cheap, it was also 50% off. I read this book in 24 hours; the old adage of not judging a book by its cover definitely stands true with this book. Old world China is really interesting to me, despite the mess that modern China has become. Not women friendly and life was brutal, but the Chinese culture was so unique. I guess as the world's oldest continuous civilization, unique facets would emerge to keep it going.
This book follows the story of Lily and Snow Flower; two young Chinese girls living in separate small villages. They are linked by a matchmaker to become 'same olds,' which doesn't have a good translation, but its like life-long best friends that sign a contract as children. Lily moves up in the world, financially, through the arrange, but Lily also has perfect feet for binding that made her very marriageable. The book tracks the girls, who undergo the brutal feet-binding process, through girlhood, adolescence, and marriage in their small villages. Along the way, they learn the womanly arts in the women's only chamber upstairs; knitting, embroidering, cooking, gardening, the women's secret language, as undergo the heartbreak of marrying someone they've never met, leaving their natal families, learning to cope being at the bottom of the social ladder in their new homes, with their mothers-in-law being in charge and their sole purpose to produce sons.
As a reader, we learn about political instability, the consequences of opium addiction, cholera, feet-binding, family structure, expectations and roles of women, the importance of birth signs and Chinese festivals. It's a really interesting read. Lily is grounded, pragmatic, and naive; Snow Flower is exotic, intelligent, and a dreamer. They remain friends through all of it. At the end the author has an afterward that explains the existence of a women's secret language (the language reserved for men is, I'm assuming, either Mandarin or Cantonese, but women wrote letters, poems, and stories in nu shu), that was discovered during the Cultural Revolution. For thousands of years women utilized a language men couldn't read, although now its fallen by the wayside and is seldom used and rarely passed down to girls. Fascinating home women find ways to survive in cultures that value them only for their uterus.
This book was really popular a few years ago, but the description on the back never seemed interesting to me so I never read it despite the hype. A few weeks ago Lovey and I were perusing a used book store and I saw it. Not only was it cheap, it was also 50% off. I read this book in 24 hours; the old adage of not judging a book by its cover definitely stands true with this book. Old world China is really interesting to me, despite the mess that modern China has become. Not women friendly and life was brutal, but the Chinese culture was so unique. I guess as the world's oldest continuous civilization, unique facets would emerge to keep it going.
This book follows the story of Lily and Snow Flower; two young Chinese girls living in separate small villages. They are linked by a matchmaker to become 'same olds,' which doesn't have a good translation, but its like life-long best friends that sign a contract as children. Lily moves up in the world, financially, through the arrange, but Lily also has perfect feet for binding that made her very marriageable. The book tracks the girls, who undergo the brutal feet-binding process, through girlhood, adolescence, and marriage in their small villages. Along the way, they learn the womanly arts in the women's only chamber upstairs; knitting, embroidering, cooking, gardening, the women's secret language, as undergo the heartbreak of marrying someone they've never met, leaving their natal families, learning to cope being at the bottom of the social ladder in their new homes, with their mothers-in-law being in charge and their sole purpose to produce sons.
As a reader, we learn about political instability, the consequences of opium addiction, cholera, feet-binding, family structure, expectations and roles of women, the importance of birth signs and Chinese festivals. It's a really interesting read. Lily is grounded, pragmatic, and naive; Snow Flower is exotic, intelligent, and a dreamer. They remain friends through all of it. At the end the author has an afterward that explains the existence of a women's secret language (the language reserved for men is, I'm assuming, either Mandarin or Cantonese, but women wrote letters, poems, and stories in nu shu), that was discovered during the Cultural Revolution. For thousands of years women utilized a language men couldn't read, although now its fallen by the wayside and is seldom used and rarely passed down to girls. Fascinating home women find ways to survive in cultures that value them only for their uterus.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
recents read.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I enjoyed this one, although did not experience the total all-consuming awesomeness that many experienced while reading it. Some parts of it dragged for me, but I thought the POV idea was amazing and creative. It was one of those books in which I finished and felt like nothing really happened in the book. I think Zusak was moderately successful in pulling that off. Liesel was likeable and endearing, but I thought Max was the highlight of the book for me. It's a shame he didn't stick around for the entire time.
Pack up the Moon by Anna McPartlin. I picked this up for a couple of dollars at my parents' library's used book sale. The book takes place in either Dublin or the area right outside of it. Emma's boyfriend dies in a vehicular crash, and she is 'forced' to continue living her life with the help of her close friends. It's a cute story, but nothing I would read again. I also found the Irish component rather flat. Although obviously not a travel book, I despise it when I read books taking place in other parts of the world and it doesn't make me want to go there. Having been to Dublin, I couldn't even conjure up enough memories to make me feel like I was there, or gain inspiration to make me want to go back. Until she mentioned Dublin, I never would have known where the book was set.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. This was my favorite of the three. Multiple story lines all take place simultaneously, all interwoven together. The concept reminds me of six degrees of separation, in which everyone is somehow connected to others, even in different geographic locales. My favorite part was actually the end, in which the reader is told how certain events impacted the life of the characters and took them on a different path. For instance, a young girl hit by a car would have been a tennis star had she not lost her arm, and that split second mistake irrevocably changed her life course. It's a throw to the idea of wondering where life would lead had you chosen option B, or had 'that' not happened, and a slap to the concept of everything happens for a reason. I may not believe that, but I appreciated and enjoyed the author's attempt.
Currently reading:
Brave New World. I keep picking this up and putting it down. I just need to finish it already.
Anna Karenina. I put this down awhile ago after reading about half of it and I'm really enjoying it now that I've picked it back up again.
Water for Elephants. I'm reading a book with Robert Pattinson on the cover. It's shameful, but I got tired of hearing the rave reviews about this book even though I didn't particular care about it when it was released. I found it for $2 somewhere and finally bought it. It's interesting, although I'm only 1/3 of the way through it and I don't see what all the hype is about.
Pack up the Moon by Anna McPartlin. I picked this up for a couple of dollars at my parents' library's used book sale. The book takes place in either Dublin or the area right outside of it. Emma's boyfriend dies in a vehicular crash, and she is 'forced' to continue living her life with the help of her close friends. It's a cute story, but nothing I would read again. I also found the Irish component rather flat. Although obviously not a travel book, I despise it when I read books taking place in other parts of the world and it doesn't make me want to go there. Having been to Dublin, I couldn't even conjure up enough memories to make me feel like I was there, or gain inspiration to make me want to go back. Until she mentioned Dublin, I never would have known where the book was set.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. This was my favorite of the three. Multiple story lines all take place simultaneously, all interwoven together. The concept reminds me of six degrees of separation, in which everyone is somehow connected to others, even in different geographic locales. My favorite part was actually the end, in which the reader is told how certain events impacted the life of the characters and took them on a different path. For instance, a young girl hit by a car would have been a tennis star had she not lost her arm, and that split second mistake irrevocably changed her life course. It's a throw to the idea of wondering where life would lead had you chosen option B, or had 'that' not happened, and a slap to the concept of everything happens for a reason. I may not believe that, but I appreciated and enjoyed the author's attempt.
Currently reading:
Brave New World. I keep picking this up and putting it down. I just need to finish it already.
Anna Karenina. I put this down awhile ago after reading about half of it and I'm really enjoying it now that I've picked it back up again.
Water for Elephants. I'm reading a book with Robert Pattinson on the cover. It's shameful, but I got tired of hearing the rave reviews about this book even though I didn't particular care about it when it was released. I found it for $2 somewhere and finally bought it. It's interesting, although I'm only 1/3 of the way through it and I don't see what all the hype is about.
Friday, June 13, 2014
books lately.
In the past couple of weeks, I've knocked out a few books that I want to hold close and maybe slip under my pillow each night.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green.
Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
Currently reading
Brave New World by Aldophus Huxley
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
I started reading Unbroken but couldn't get into it, so I'm going to place it back on the shelf and attempt it another time.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green.
Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
Currently reading
Brave New World by Aldophus Huxley
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
I started reading Unbroken but couldn't get into it, so I'm going to place it back on the shelf and attempt it another time.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Born to Run by Chris McDougall
This book speaks to me as a runner and sparks my interest in things previously unknown as a person. This book has been collecting dust on my shelf for at least a year, and as I progress farther and farther as a runner, I finally felt intrigued enough to pick it up.
It did not disappoint.
The book follows the linear paths of the runners called the Tarahumara in Mexico, running injuries in the US, a mysterious man called Caballo who is a gringo who somehow incorporated himself in the Tarahumara part of the world, and and ultramarathoners everywhere, culminating in the crescendo that everyone is, in, fact, biologically and evolutionarily born to run.
It starts pretty slow, so much so that at one point, I was going to just put it down. Luckily I kept going and fell in love with it a little before the halfway point. Since I do not know much about the Tarahumara, the initial chapters of the book were a bit dull to me. As the book transitioned from Mexico to Coloroado, I was instantly hooked. I know people who have done the Leadville 100, which made it very relatable. Ultramarathoners are crazy, but in the best way possible!
As a runner with constant knee problems from running , the controversial statements that running shoes are in general crap and the professional aspect of running now as a money making machine as changed the running world not necessarily for the better really stirred something in me. Is everything a die-hard fact? No. But some comments like heel striking isn't a natural running behavior made me smack my forehead in an 'oh duh' moment.
I do believe everyone can run, and believed it long before I had even heard of this book. Is running barefoot for everyone? No. Is it something that should be considered by every runner? Maybe. I have gotten caught up in the swirl of running shoes, running magazines, and running advice, some of which I knew was utter crap because of the lack of logic behind it. Everyone knows their body well, we have just been conditioned to listen to "experts" over our own instincts.
It's a shame that running has come down to the bottom line, instead of focusing on the joy of the sport. Born to Run really brought some of that joy back to me, especially after a really frustrating 10 mile race I ran yesterday.
It did not disappoint.
The book follows the linear paths of the runners called the Tarahumara in Mexico, running injuries in the US, a mysterious man called Caballo who is a gringo who somehow incorporated himself in the Tarahumara part of the world, and and ultramarathoners everywhere, culminating in the crescendo that everyone is, in, fact, biologically and evolutionarily born to run.
It starts pretty slow, so much so that at one point, I was going to just put it down. Luckily I kept going and fell in love with it a little before the halfway point. Since I do not know much about the Tarahumara, the initial chapters of the book were a bit dull to me. As the book transitioned from Mexico to Coloroado, I was instantly hooked. I know people who have done the Leadville 100, which made it very relatable. Ultramarathoners are crazy, but in the best way possible!
As a runner with constant knee problems from running , the controversial statements that running shoes are in general crap and the professional aspect of running now as a money making machine as changed the running world not necessarily for the better really stirred something in me. Is everything a die-hard fact? No. But some comments like heel striking isn't a natural running behavior made me smack my forehead in an 'oh duh' moment.
I do believe everyone can run, and believed it long before I had even heard of this book. Is running barefoot for everyone? No. Is it something that should be considered by every runner? Maybe. I have gotten caught up in the swirl of running shoes, running magazines, and running advice, some of which I knew was utter crap because of the lack of logic behind it. Everyone knows their body well, we have just been conditioned to listen to "experts" over our own instincts.
It's a shame that running has come down to the bottom line, instead of focusing on the joy of the sport. Born to Run really brought some of that joy back to me, especially after a really frustrating 10 mile race I ran yesterday.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl was amazing, it is as simple as that. I found it on a list of 'books to read before the movies come out,' and liked the plot synopsis so much that I ordered it from amazon aling with two other books. It was so engrossing I carried the book with me everywhere for two days until I finished it.
Amy and Nick are New York newlyweds, living a perfect, fun existence. They both get fired from their jobs and leave their NY home to move to Missouri to care for Nick's ill parents. Amy hates Missouri, and Nick is frustrated his mother passed away first, leaving him and his twin sister to care for their emotionally abusive, angry father.
When I am reading a book and I come to a part that surprises me, shocks me, or freaks me out, I slam the book shut and keep it closed until I'm ready to deal with what is happening in the book. It keeps those crazy plots and emotionally charged words trapped inside! I shut this book a lot during the 48 hours I read it.
Lessons learned: siblings are awesome, people are crazy, and never commit adultery.
My one gripe was the ending. I do think people are crazy enough that it is plausible, but raising a child with a sociopath to erase daddy issues is probably not the way to go.
Amy and Nick are New York newlyweds, living a perfect, fun existence. They both get fired from their jobs and leave their NY home to move to Missouri to care for Nick's ill parents. Amy hates Missouri, and Nick is frustrated his mother passed away first, leaving him and his twin sister to care for their emotionally abusive, angry father.
When I am reading a book and I come to a part that surprises me, shocks me, or freaks me out, I slam the book shut and keep it closed until I'm ready to deal with what is happening in the book. It keeps those crazy plots and emotionally charged words trapped inside! I shut this book a lot during the 48 hours I read it.
Lessons learned: siblings are awesome, people are crazy, and never commit adultery.
My one gripe was the ending. I do think people are crazy enough that it is plausible, but raising a child with a sociopath to erase daddy issues is probably not the way to go.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
While perusing the Interwebs one day, I stumbled upon a list of books categorized by arbitrary levels of disturbing-ness. I was surprised to find this was a fan favorite. I remember V.C. Andrews having a big following in my high school, but I think I read maybe one of her books and I don't even remember the title. I had never even heard of Flowers in the Attic. Since I like to keep tabs on popular books so I'm not (too far) out of the loop, I downloaded this onto my Kindle Fire.
Flowers in the Attic starts with a typical suburban family; loving parents and four beautiful children the neighbors call Dresden Dolls. Their parents doted on their children and each other. Christopher and Cathy are the two oldest, followed by a long gap by twins Cody and Carrie. The Dollangangers reside in Pennsylvania, three females, three males, a hardworking father and seemingly devoted mother. Tragically, their father dies in a car accident on his birthday, leaving behind a devastated family with no means to pay the bills. Out of options, the remaining 5 Dollangangers head to their grandparent's estate in Virginia. The one caveat is that the four children must remain locked away in the attic while Mrs. Dollanganger returns to the good graces of her father and becomes the sole benefactress of his will.
The short stay in the attic turns very lengthy. The children are brought food each day by their very stern grandmother who establishes an odd set of very strict rules. Eventually, the children learn that their parents were actually related and her father disinherited her after the Dollangangers were married. Her father is unaware that four children were born from that union, much less that they are living in the attic.
3 years go by. Their mother becomes a stranger to them, eventually seldom coming to visit them, and finally remarries a man who is also living in the house and has no idea she has four kids living above them. Her father eventually dies, but she never rescues the children, and continues to mislead her children. Meanwhile, upstairs Cathy and Christopher begin an incestuous brother/sister relationship and one of the twins dies. Finally, finally, finally, they hatch a rescue plan and leave the estate.
I know this book was written for the young adult genre, but it had a lot of frustrating flaws.
1. The house they are living in seems so large it cannot be real unless it is some of kind of palace.
2. There's nothing really to indicate the mother would turn so drastically on her children.
3. Despite being locked up with each other for a long period of time, even as teenagers, I really doubt that two siblings would begin an incestuous relationship even with blossoming hormones.
4. Cathy and Christopher are really smart, disciplined people and it took them 3 years to finally realize their mother didn't care about them and they finally escaped? Leaving didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't see their mother again anyway.
The book was dark and disturbing, but also boring in parts. Being locked up in the attic is only so interesting. The most disturbing part of the book for me wasn't even the incest, it was the incident in which the grandmother thought Cathy was being a slut by flashing around her hair and tarred in her hair in her sleep after drugging her. That is a sadistic grandmother.
Flowers in the Attic starts with a typical suburban family; loving parents and four beautiful children the neighbors call Dresden Dolls. Their parents doted on their children and each other. Christopher and Cathy are the two oldest, followed by a long gap by twins Cody and Carrie. The Dollangangers reside in Pennsylvania, three females, three males, a hardworking father and seemingly devoted mother. Tragically, their father dies in a car accident on his birthday, leaving behind a devastated family with no means to pay the bills. Out of options, the remaining 5 Dollangangers head to their grandparent's estate in Virginia. The one caveat is that the four children must remain locked away in the attic while Mrs. Dollanganger returns to the good graces of her father and becomes the sole benefactress of his will.
The short stay in the attic turns very lengthy. The children are brought food each day by their very stern grandmother who establishes an odd set of very strict rules. Eventually, the children learn that their parents were actually related and her father disinherited her after the Dollangangers were married. Her father is unaware that four children were born from that union, much less that they are living in the attic.
3 years go by. Their mother becomes a stranger to them, eventually seldom coming to visit them, and finally remarries a man who is also living in the house and has no idea she has four kids living above them. Her father eventually dies, but she never rescues the children, and continues to mislead her children. Meanwhile, upstairs Cathy and Christopher begin an incestuous brother/sister relationship and one of the twins dies. Finally, finally, finally, they hatch a rescue plan and leave the estate.
I know this book was written for the young adult genre, but it had a lot of frustrating flaws.
1. The house they are living in seems so large it cannot be real unless it is some of kind of palace.
2. There's nothing really to indicate the mother would turn so drastically on her children.
3. Despite being locked up with each other for a long period of time, even as teenagers, I really doubt that two siblings would begin an incestuous relationship even with blossoming hormones.
4. Cathy and Christopher are really smart, disciplined people and it took them 3 years to finally realize their mother didn't care about them and they finally escaped? Leaving didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't see their mother again anyway.
The book was dark and disturbing, but also boring in parts. Being locked up in the attic is only so interesting. The most disturbing part of the book for me wasn't even the incest, it was the incident in which the grandmother thought Cathy was being a slut by flashing around her hair and tarred in her hair in her sleep after drugging her. That is a sadistic grandmother.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Books I received for Christmas
As usual, I had a pretty lengthy book list on my Christmas list this year.
Lone Traveller by Anne Mustoe
Nine hills to Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman
A Half Forgotten Song by Katherine Webb
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
Paris Enigma by Pablo de Santis
Blythewood by Carol Goodman
And then the vulture eats you by John L. Parker
Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger (I've started this already!)
That is it! I'm really excited for all these, as they all look amazing. I'm trying to sneak in chapters in between work, school, and packing for vacation. :)
Lone Traveller by Anne Mustoe
Nine hills to Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman
A Half Forgotten Song by Katherine Webb
Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
Paris Enigma by Pablo de Santis
Blythewood by Carol Goodman
And then the vulture eats you by John L. Parker
Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn
George Washington's Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade & Don Yaeger (I've started this already!)
That is it! I'm really excited for all these, as they all look amazing. I'm trying to sneak in chapters in between work, school, and packing for vacation. :)
Monday, January 13, 2014
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Blind Assassin is on The List, and I've been meaning to read it for awhile after my sister fell in love with it. I have read Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, which I sort of liked. I wasn't nearly as interested in distopian societies when I read it probably 5 years ago, so it did not hold my attention well.
Blind Assassin held my attention very well. The book cover is full of hype, which frustrates me to read since books really hold up to their stellar, one line reviews. Iris is the older sister of Laura, a beautiful, pragmatic child who Iris helps raise, along with their housekeeper Reenie, after the early death of their mother. Iris and Laura are the heiresses of a large button factory located near Toronto that reaches its pinnacle of glory post WW1. In the intervening years, the sisters are schooled at home by tutors, mostly oblivious to the social changes happening in Canada, and all over the world, post WW1.
Iris marries young after the factory burns down and leaves the family with little options. She has little feelings for her husband, or his controlling sister who takes over Iris' life, but she dutifully does her wifely duties, including having one daughter. After their father dies, Laura moves in with Iris and her husband and is not so silent about her observances of her sister's marriage.
The book is interwoven by another story, The Blind Assassin, which is told by two unknown lovers who meet in secret. The female forces the male to tell her a story, which becomes The Blind Assassin, a book published after the death of Laura.
I love the writing in this book. It's so intelligent, thought provoking, and engaging. The ending was beautiful; simple, and somewhat unexpected. I know little of Canada, especially the history of social life in the time period between the two world wars. That was interesting for me. The book fluctuates between Iris telling the story as an old woman to Laura and Iris as children in the mansion. Changes in time and perspective can get confusing and boring if not done well, but Atwood does it beautifully.
One of my favorite books I read in 2013.
Blind Assassin held my attention very well. The book cover is full of hype, which frustrates me to read since books really hold up to their stellar, one line reviews. Iris is the older sister of Laura, a beautiful, pragmatic child who Iris helps raise, along with their housekeeper Reenie, after the early death of their mother. Iris and Laura are the heiresses of a large button factory located near Toronto that reaches its pinnacle of glory post WW1. In the intervening years, the sisters are schooled at home by tutors, mostly oblivious to the social changes happening in Canada, and all over the world, post WW1.
Iris marries young after the factory burns down and leaves the family with little options. She has little feelings for her husband, or his controlling sister who takes over Iris' life, but she dutifully does her wifely duties, including having one daughter. After their father dies, Laura moves in with Iris and her husband and is not so silent about her observances of her sister's marriage.
The book is interwoven by another story, The Blind Assassin, which is told by two unknown lovers who meet in secret. The female forces the male to tell her a story, which becomes The Blind Assassin, a book published after the death of Laura.
I love the writing in this book. It's so intelligent, thought provoking, and engaging. The ending was beautiful; simple, and somewhat unexpected. I know little of Canada, especially the history of social life in the time period between the two world wars. That was interesting for me. The book fluctuates between Iris telling the story as an old woman to Laura and Iris as children in the mansion. Changes in time and perspective can get confusing and boring if not done well, but Atwood does it beautifully.
One of my favorite books I read in 2013.
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