January Book List (thanks for the reminder, jmcphers)
I was jealous of all the people in December posting their annual tallies of books they'd read. Our friend Nate does his old-school (just like everything he does, I think): a sheet of notebook paper taped on the wall. Most years, he breaks 100 books. I'm not even going to aim for a number, I think. I'll just read and see what happens. :o]
1. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai: That does it. No more books about India. I mean it. I know that there are lots of stories in the world without a happy ending, but seriously. This book was OK, but not fabulous. I didn't get lost in it or really invested in the characters, which is usually my (self-calibrated) measure of good writing. There were a couple of insightful passages, but overall not something I'd re-read.
2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: A sweet book. I think I was expecting it to end in a really depressing way, after just having read the sad-India book (see #1). But it was a much more tolerable ending than all that. A nice story, told by the same lady who wrote The One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
3. Triumphs of the Imagination: Literature in Christian Perspective by Leland Ryken: A very gracious loan from dondlion, as it's out of print and costs around $1k. Lots of good thoughts on what it means to read, write, and/or criticize literature as a Christian. Debunking some of the extreme attitudes about "secular" literature (e.g., "all literature is Christian because it addresses the human condition and the divine component of our nature" vs. "Christians should only read what is explicitly Christian - regardless of its quality.") Good food for thought, and put into words some thoughts that I'd already had about these issues.
February may be a lighter tally - work is about to crank into high gear. :o]
1. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai: That does it. No more books about India. I mean it. I know that there are lots of stories in the world without a happy ending, but seriously. This book was OK, but not fabulous. I didn't get lost in it or really invested in the characters, which is usually my (self-calibrated) measure of good writing. There were a couple of insightful passages, but overall not something I'd re-read.
2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: A sweet book. I think I was expecting it to end in a really depressing way, after just having read the sad-India book (see #1). But it was a much more tolerable ending than all that. A nice story, told by the same lady who wrote The One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
3. Triumphs of the Imagination: Literature in Christian Perspective by Leland Ryken: A very gracious loan from dondlion, as it's out of print and costs around $1k. Lots of good thoughts on what it means to read, write, and/or criticize literature as a Christian. Debunking some of the extreme attitudes about "secular" literature (e.g., "all literature is Christian because it addresses the human condition and the divine component of our nature" vs. "Christians should only read what is explicitly Christian - regardless of its quality.") Good food for thought, and put into words some thoughts that I'd already had about these issues.
February may be a lighter tally - work is about to crank into high gear. :o]