June - December 2008 Book List (belated)
OK, this list has been sitting around (on paper) waiting to be typed up forever; need to get it out of the way to clear the decks. So here goes. Can't remember too much about some of them. Such is life.
13. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: Book club selection from last summer. Written well with a heavy sprinkling of Spanglish, and an interesting read. 4 stars.
14. Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot: A re-read and a good one. Very practical, applicable wisdom. 5 stars.
15. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and light by Mort Rosenblum: A gift from my wonderful husband for Valentine's Day; it combines two of my greatest loves - chocolate and books. The author went on trips all over the world, researching the history of and current usage of chocolate in various forms. So delicious, and a great way to increase my already intense appreciation of chocolate. 4 stars.
16. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder: Another book club selection; last summer we branched out to some non-fiction. This is the story of a doctor who worked (still works?) in Haiti. Most of the medical work there ends up involving tuberculosis. It's a sign of my ridiculous amount of privilege that I had no idea tuberculosis was still a problem. The best part of this story (to me) was the doctor's philosophy that caring for people should be holistic, when possible. Very touching and inspiring. 5 stars.
17. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver: I love every word this woman has ever written. This is the third book in a trilogy and I'd already read the first two a while back; it's the crowning glory of the trilogy. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin: Steve Martin is, in my opinion, a modern Renaissance man. He sings, he does comedy, he writes. This book annoyed me because the main character was OCD, and it hit me as rather arrogant. I know it's a real problem, but it bugged me. 3 stars.
19. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: So I think this completes my reading of Austen's work. I held out as long as I could. Have to say, it wasn't totally my favorite, but she's still Austen. 5 stars.
20. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin: See above discussion of Steve Martin's genius. This is his autobiography, and a pretty good read. 4 stars.
21. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst: Borrowed from my friend Megan in Atlanta; a murder mystery in which the family dog is the only eyewitness. A fun, quick read. 3 stars.
22. The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2005) ed. Dave Eggers: A collection of short works, which I mistakenly took on a train trip (for hours of reading). It's a little dizzying switching stories every 15 minutes. Very little memorable work. I think it may have been mistakenly on my Amazon wishlist, since one of our friends was published in the 2003 edition. 2 stars.
23. Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster: A choose-your-own adventure amalgamation of all Jane Austen's books; entertaining, if vacuous. 3 stars.
24. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri: Sad. 3 stars.
25. The Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler: I love Anne Tyler, but this just wasn't her best work. If I remember correctly, it was her second novel, and I think they just pushed her too hard to write again. I'll give her another shot someday. 1 stars.
26. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan: Picked this up haphazardly in the library; the guy who wrote it is a lawyer and this is his first novel. A cheeky crime story and a fun read. 3 stars.
27. White Teeth by Zadie Smith: I've heard Zadie Smith praised up one side and down the other, and this is proof she deserves it. Motifs and themes here enough for any AP English class, and beautiful prose. 4 stars.
28. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: Book club selection, plus we watched the movie at discussion time. It's totally chiling and a great story. Lee and I watched Capote around this same time, and I'd read a biography of Harper Lee a couple years ago, both of which gave me a little insight into the context of Truman Capote's writing the book. It's a tough story to read, but worth it. Pretty crazy that Capote changed the American novel. 4 stars.
29. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block: Stories with a post-modern fairy-tale vibe. I've been saying almost all these books are fun, and I'm tired of saying it, but this was fun. 3 stars.
30. The Hours by Michael Cunningham: A brilliant piece of prose I bought for $0.25 at the Ottumwa, Iowa public library. I love stories that weave several narratives together. This was fantastic. 5 stars.
31. The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker: This was a recommendation from jmcphers, and I may have enjoyed it more if I'd been in a different mood. Evidently I need to be more careful about selecting my reading material for train trips. The author approaches an ordinary day/life/environment with a supremely detailed inner monologue; his style also includes footnotes that are often longer than the text on the page. This could be interesting or amusing; I was mostly annoyed. But I'll chalk that up to my mood. 3 stars.
32. The Road by Cormack McCarthy: Book club selection; we were going to do a combo with the movie, which ended up not getting released. No matter. This. Book. Is. Great. And it convinced me that the end of the world is just around the corner. We should can food. And buy tarps. And you should read this book. 5 stars.
OK, there. I did it. 32 books in a year! Not too shabby. I'm keeping this year's list electronically, so maybe I'll have a better shot at posting it (although it's already May). See you around, LJ. :o]
previous lists
13. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: Book club selection from last summer. Written well with a heavy sprinkling of Spanglish, and an interesting read. 4 stars.
14. Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot: A re-read and a good one. Very practical, applicable wisdom. 5 stars.
15. Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and light by Mort Rosenblum: A gift from my wonderful husband for Valentine's Day; it combines two of my greatest loves - chocolate and books. The author went on trips all over the world, researching the history of and current usage of chocolate in various forms. So delicious, and a great way to increase my already intense appreciation of chocolate. 4 stars.
16. Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder: Another book club selection; last summer we branched out to some non-fiction. This is the story of a doctor who worked (still works?) in Haiti. Most of the medical work there ends up involving tuberculosis. It's a sign of my ridiculous amount of privilege that I had no idea tuberculosis was still a problem. The best part of this story (to me) was the doctor's philosophy that caring for people should be holistic, when possible. Very touching and inspiring. 5 stars.
17. Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver: I love every word this woman has ever written. This is the third book in a trilogy and I'd already read the first two a while back; it's the crowning glory of the trilogy. Loved it. 5 stars.
18. The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin: Steve Martin is, in my opinion, a modern Renaissance man. He sings, he does comedy, he writes. This book annoyed me because the main character was OCD, and it hit me as rather arrogant. I know it's a real problem, but it bugged me. 3 stars.
19. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: So I think this completes my reading of Austen's work. I held out as long as I could. Have to say, it wasn't totally my favorite, but she's still Austen. 5 stars.
20. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin: See above discussion of Steve Martin's genius. This is his autobiography, and a pretty good read. 4 stars.
21. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst: Borrowed from my friend Megan in Atlanta; a murder mystery in which the family dog is the only eyewitness. A fun, quick read. 3 stars.
22. The Best American Nonrequired Reading (2005) ed. Dave Eggers: A collection of short works, which I mistakenly took on a train trip (for hours of reading). It's a little dizzying switching stories every 15 minutes. Very little memorable work. I think it may have been mistakenly on my Amazon wishlist, since one of our friends was published in the 2003 edition. 2 stars.
23. Lost in Austen by Emma Campbell Webster: A choose-your-own adventure amalgamation of all Jane Austen's books; entertaining, if vacuous. 3 stars.
24. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri: Sad. 3 stars.
25. The Tin Can Tree by Anne Tyler: I love Anne Tyler, but this just wasn't her best work. If I remember correctly, it was her second novel, and I think they just pushed her too hard to write again. I'll give her another shot someday. 1 stars.
26. The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan: Picked this up haphazardly in the library; the guy who wrote it is a lawyer and this is his first novel. A cheeky crime story and a fun read. 3 stars.
27. White Teeth by Zadie Smith: I've heard Zadie Smith praised up one side and down the other, and this is proof she deserves it. Motifs and themes here enough for any AP English class, and beautiful prose. 4 stars.
28. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: Book club selection, plus we watched the movie at discussion time. It's totally chiling and a great story. Lee and I watched Capote around this same time, and I'd read a biography of Harper Lee a couple years ago, both of which gave me a little insight into the context of Truman Capote's writing the book. It's a tough story to read, but worth it. Pretty crazy that Capote changed the American novel. 4 stars.
29. Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block: Stories with a post-modern fairy-tale vibe. I've been saying almost all these books are fun, and I'm tired of saying it, but this was fun. 3 stars.
30. The Hours by Michael Cunningham: A brilliant piece of prose I bought for $0.25 at the Ottumwa, Iowa public library. I love stories that weave several narratives together. This was fantastic. 5 stars.
31. The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker: This was a recommendation from jmcphers, and I may have enjoyed it more if I'd been in a different mood. Evidently I need to be more careful about selecting my reading material for train trips. The author approaches an ordinary day/life/environment with a supremely detailed inner monologue; his style also includes footnotes that are often longer than the text on the page. This could be interesting or amusing; I was mostly annoyed. But I'll chalk that up to my mood. 3 stars.
32. The Road by Cormack McCarthy: Book club selection; we were going to do a combo with the movie, which ended up not getting released. No matter. This. Book. Is. Great. And it convinced me that the end of the world is just around the corner. We should can food. And buy tarps. And you should read this book. 5 stars.
OK, there. I did it. 32 books in a year! Not too shabby. I'm keeping this year's list electronically, so maybe I'll have a better shot at posting it (although it's already May). See you around, LJ. :o]
previous lists