Recording the Reading, 2007, #s 35-36
My mouth still hurts, but at least I'm getting some posting done:
35. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
The local book club read and discussed this for the meeting last week. I thought it was an awful book. I suspect it was chosen based on Ishiguro’s reputation for The Remains of the Day (which I have not read, and, after this awful book, have no intention to read). However, this book had a slow, improbable, frustrating, nearly non-existent plot in an absurd and illogical setting with an unbelievable, naïve, unlikeable, uninteresting, conceited, self-involved, stupefying protagonist. The other characters were remote, weak, stereotyped, wooden, and underdeveloped. Aspects of the storyline were implausible bordering on preposterous. The only reason I even finished it was due to the book club. Avoid When We Were Orphans.
36. Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini, audiobook read by Christina Moore
This is the ninth book in the Elm Creek Quilts Series (number 11 will be published next month). I read some of the earlier ones a few years back - easy, enjoyable reads, with interesting quilting-based storylines. I’ve attempted quilting and have great admiration for those who can do it. You don’t need to have read all of the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, although it helps to have read at least the first couple so one is familiar with Elm Creek Quilt Camp and its staff.
In this book, two of the original Elm Creek quilters are leaving, and the staff is looking for their replacements. They interview five people, whose paths cross before or after their respective interviews, and whose back-stories are also told. Chiaverini does a good job in making you care about these five people, and I found myself rooting for all of them to get the job, but was not too surprised about the two who were ultimately selected (and what happened to the others was also rather predictable). One of the applicants lives in Seattle, and I found most of the references to be accurate (except for the best friends who come “up from Olympia” to visit this applicant). Some of the female applicants need to learn to do a better job standing up for themselves with their (respectively) incredibly unsupportive husband/boyfriend/boss “friend.”
The narrator, actress Christina Moore, has recorded over 100 audiobooks, and it shows. She did an excellent job giving the many characters different voices. I particularly enjoyed her interpretation of Diane with a (to me) New England accent (Elm Creek Quilt Camp is in central Pennsylvania). This is also the first audiobook I've encountered that audibly identifies the beginning and end of each CD in the audiobook - I wish all audiobooks did!
35. When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
The local book club read and discussed this for the meeting last week. I thought it was an awful book. I suspect it was chosen based on Ishiguro’s reputation for The Remains of the Day (which I have not read, and, after this awful book, have no intention to read). However, this book had a slow, improbable, frustrating, nearly non-existent plot in an absurd and illogical setting with an unbelievable, naïve, unlikeable, uninteresting, conceited, self-involved, stupefying protagonist. The other characters were remote, weak, stereotyped, wooden, and underdeveloped. Aspects of the storyline were implausible bordering on preposterous. The only reason I even finished it was due to the book club. Avoid When We Were Orphans.
36. Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini, audiobook read by Christina Moore
This is the ninth book in the Elm Creek Quilts Series (number 11 will be published next month). I read some of the earlier ones a few years back - easy, enjoyable reads, with interesting quilting-based storylines. I’ve attempted quilting and have great admiration for those who can do it. You don’t need to have read all of the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, although it helps to have read at least the first couple so one is familiar with Elm Creek Quilt Camp and its staff.
In this book, two of the original Elm Creek quilters are leaving, and the staff is looking for their replacements. They interview five people, whose paths cross before or after their respective interviews, and whose back-stories are also told. Chiaverini does a good job in making you care about these five people, and I found myself rooting for all of them to get the job, but was not too surprised about the two who were ultimately selected (and what happened to the others was also rather predictable). One of the applicants lives in Seattle, and I found most of the references to be accurate (except for the best friends who come “up from Olympia” to visit this applicant). Some of the female applicants need to learn to do a better job standing up for themselves with their (respectively) incredibly unsupportive husband/boyfriend/boss “friend.”
The narrator, actress Christina Moore, has recorded over 100 audiobooks, and it shows. She did an excellent job giving the many characters different voices. I particularly enjoyed her interpretation of Diane with a (to me) New England accent (Elm Creek Quilt Camp is in central Pennsylvania). This is also the first audiobook I've encountered that audibly identifies the beginning and end of each CD in the audiobook - I wish all audiobooks did!