April Reading
25. Leeway Cottage
by Beth Gutcheon
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 413
26. Away
by Amy Bloom
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 235
27. An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination
by Elizabeth McCracken
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 184
28. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 279
29. Prayers for Rain
by Dennis Lehane
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 337
30. The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 302
31. Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal
by Julie Metz
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 342
32. Bite Me: A Love Story
by Christopher Moore
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 309
33. Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans
by Dan Baum
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 320
Possibly some mild spoilers.
I can tell that Beth Gutcheon is a good writer, but Leeway Cottage is a book that suffers from an identity crisis. It can’t quite decide if it’s a book about the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II or the history of a family as told through their experiences at their summer house in Maine. Confused yet?
The book begins with Annabelle Brant, a young girl with an emotional distant mother and a wealthy father who drinks himself to death. Annabelle inexplicably changes her name to Sydney and marries a Jewish pianist from Denmark named Laurus Moss. When World War II breaks out, Laurus goes to London to join the military. His family is still in Denmark and we eventually get to hear the story of his sister, Nina, who helps in the Danish Resistance. That story is the most compelling part of the book. Meanwhile, Laurus and Sydney have three children and Sydney turns in to a complete hose beast who doesn’t even have empathy for a concentration camp survivor. I don’t understand why Gutcheon decides to have the main character change her name halfway through the book. Annabelle/Sydney transitions from sympathetic character to evil bitch without much warning or character development. The other issue that bothers me is that much is made of Annabelle’s father’s first wife who committed suicide and felt like I was being prepared to find out that the first wife is Annabelle’s real mother, but this never happens.
In Away by Amy Bloom, Lillian Leyb immigrates to America after her entire family is killed in a Russian pogrom. When she receives word that her young daughter, Sophie, may still be alive, Lillian sets out on a journey across America, through Chicago and Seattle and into the wilds of Alaska. Lillian is emotional and intense and she meets many interesting characters during her sojourn. This is a short but stunning book.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination is Elizabeth McCracken’s memoir of the birth and death of her first son, who was stillborn, and the birth of her second son almost a year later. There is some lovely writing here, but a memoir of grief is a dark book. I felt anxious reading it and had trouble getting through it, and I don’t have children or even particularly care for children for the most part. It’s a traumatic sort of book that I wouldn’t suggest to someone who was pregnant or had a young child.
In Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, Elizabeth Gilbert is sentenced to wed her boyfriend in order for him to stay in the United States. This memoir explores the institution of marriage and her ambivalence towards it. The book is okay, but lacks the charm of her first novel Eat, Pray, Love. I enjoy Dennis Lehane’s wild cap, thrilling, page turning detective novels, and Prayers for rain did not disappoint me.
I liked The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje the first time I read it, but this re-reading left me cold. I enjoy the love story, but reading this book is like wading through quicksand. I’m the kind of reader who likes to be told a good story and I don’t like to have to deal with all the pretentious meandering that abounds in this book. There is a dream-like quality to this work that does suit the story but all gets annoying. I feel like I’m supposed to like these literary novels such as this one, but they’re often boring.
Christopher Moore’s books are always a good time, and Bite Me: A Love Story, the third book in his vampire series, is a quick, fun read. It’s not nearly as good as his best works Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends and Coyote Blue.
Julie Metz’s memoir, Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal, has a fascinating premise. Her husband, Henry, drops dead of a sudden cardiac arrest and she is instantly transformed from a happily married woman to a widow with a small child. A few months after Henry’s death, she discovers that he had been carrying on a series of adulterous affairs. It all sounds very interesting, but it soon becomes rather dull and narcissistic. As the book goes on, it becomes obvious that she should have seen her husband’s infidelities coming from a mile away. Metz starts sleeping with one of her husband’s much younger colleagues soon after his death, so she’s not exactly the picture of grieving widowhood. I felt like I should have felt sorry for her but the fact that she’s an annoying yuppie who is more concerned with her love life than her daughter’s well-being makes her dislikeable.
Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum is a fantastic book that follows the lives of nine New Orleans residents, ranging from a transsexual bar owner, a wealthy king of Carnival, a police officer and a criminal, from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The real main character is the uniquely vibrant city of New Orleans. This is a fantastic book. Read it.
by Beth Gutcheon
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 413
26. Away
by Amy Bloom
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 235
27. An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination
by Elizabeth McCracken
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 184
28. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
by Elizabeth Gilbert
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 279
29. Prayers for Rain
by Dennis Lehane
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 337
30. The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 302
31. Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal
by Julie Metz
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 342
32. Bite Me: A Love Story
by Christopher Moore
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 309
33. Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans
by Dan Baum
Genre: Non-fiction
Pages: 320
Possibly some mild spoilers.
I can tell that Beth Gutcheon is a good writer, but Leeway Cottage is a book that suffers from an identity crisis. It can’t quite decide if it’s a book about the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II or the history of a family as told through their experiences at their summer house in Maine. Confused yet?
The book begins with Annabelle Brant, a young girl with an emotional distant mother and a wealthy father who drinks himself to death. Annabelle inexplicably changes her name to Sydney and marries a Jewish pianist from Denmark named Laurus Moss. When World War II breaks out, Laurus goes to London to join the military. His family is still in Denmark and we eventually get to hear the story of his sister, Nina, who helps in the Danish Resistance. That story is the most compelling part of the book. Meanwhile, Laurus and Sydney have three children and Sydney turns in to a complete hose beast who doesn’t even have empathy for a concentration camp survivor. I don’t understand why Gutcheon decides to have the main character change her name halfway through the book. Annabelle/Sydney transitions from sympathetic character to evil bitch without much warning or character development. The other issue that bothers me is that much is made of Annabelle’s father’s first wife who committed suicide and felt like I was being prepared to find out that the first wife is Annabelle’s real mother, but this never happens.
In Away by Amy Bloom, Lillian Leyb immigrates to America after her entire family is killed in a Russian pogrom. When she receives word that her young daughter, Sophie, may still be alive, Lillian sets out on a journey across America, through Chicago and Seattle and into the wilds of Alaska. Lillian is emotional and intense and she meets many interesting characters during her sojourn. This is a short but stunning book.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of my Imagination is Elizabeth McCracken’s memoir of the birth and death of her first son, who was stillborn, and the birth of her second son almost a year later. There is some lovely writing here, but a memoir of grief is a dark book. I felt anxious reading it and had trouble getting through it, and I don’t have children or even particularly care for children for the most part. It’s a traumatic sort of book that I wouldn’t suggest to someone who was pregnant or had a young child.
In Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage, Elizabeth Gilbert is sentenced to wed her boyfriend in order for him to stay in the United States. This memoir explores the institution of marriage and her ambivalence towards it. The book is okay, but lacks the charm of her first novel Eat, Pray, Love. I enjoy Dennis Lehane’s wild cap, thrilling, page turning detective novels, and Prayers for rain did not disappoint me.
I liked The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje the first time I read it, but this re-reading left me cold. I enjoy the love story, but reading this book is like wading through quicksand. I’m the kind of reader who likes to be told a good story and I don’t like to have to deal with all the pretentious meandering that abounds in this book. There is a dream-like quality to this work that does suit the story but all gets annoying. I feel like I’m supposed to like these literary novels such as this one, but they’re often boring.
Christopher Moore’s books are always a good time, and Bite Me: A Love Story, the third book in his vampire series, is a quick, fun read. It’s not nearly as good as his best works Practical Demonkeeping, Bloodsucking Fiends and Coyote Blue.
Julie Metz’s memoir, Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal, has a fascinating premise. Her husband, Henry, drops dead of a sudden cardiac arrest and she is instantly transformed from a happily married woman to a widow with a small child. A few months after Henry’s death, she discovers that he had been carrying on a series of adulterous affairs. It all sounds very interesting, but it soon becomes rather dull and narcissistic. As the book goes on, it becomes obvious that she should have seen her husband’s infidelities coming from a mile away. Metz starts sleeping with one of her husband’s much younger colleagues soon after his death, so she’s not exactly the picture of grieving widowhood. I felt like I should have felt sorry for her but the fact that she’s an annoying yuppie who is more concerned with her love life than her daughter’s well-being makes her dislikeable.
Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans by Dan Baum is a fantastic book that follows the lives of nine New Orleans residents, ranging from a transsexual bar owner, a wealthy king of Carnival, a police officer and a criminal, from Hurricane Betsy in 1965 through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The real main character is the uniquely vibrant city of New Orleans. This is a fantastic book. Read it.