Books 1-5 of 2007
1. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (407 pgs)
The daughter of a book dealer is commissioned by a reclusive author to write her biography. It starts out normal, and then you realize it is set in the Moors of England, and when has a book set in the Moors not ended up being Gothic in tone? A good read, not your average story. I look forward to more from this author.
2. Bhagwan: The God That Failed by Hugh Milne (322 pgs)
The last book I read about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was written by someone who grew up with his mother following the guru. Milne was actually one of Bhagwan's inner circle for quite some time. The story is as intriguing as ever, with pictures of some of the practices that you just do not see everywhere.
3. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert (334 pgs)
Elizabeth Gilbert gets divorced and has to find herself, so she travels across the world to do it. Some of it seemed contrived, but I'm a sucker for spiritual journeys and travel writing, and this had both! I didn't identify much with her severe codependency issues, and felt like the Indonesia section was boring, but all in all it was an interesting read.
4. The Development of Library Collections of Sound Recordings by Frank W. Hoffman (169 pgs)
This book is from 1979, and I found it on the music library's shelves. Part of me wants to withdraw it, if it were not for the illuminating section highlighting the benefits of reel to reel tape over the collection of LPs. Hee hee. It does have some preservation information that might be helpful, but frankly, even that information has become dated now that we know that even the best reel to reel tape stored at optimum conditions still has a deterioration rate. Ooh, and the chapter explaining why music collection should include more than classical was entertaining, since it seemed to be targeted at public libraries, and I can't imagine public libraries considering onlycollecting classical music. Times have changed indeed.
5. A Darker Justice by Sallie Bissell (319 pgs)
The first mystery I've actually cared enough about to finish from the year, even though my pile from the library had at least four. I have found that setting matters almost more than everything, and this one is set in the mountains of North Carolina, not far from where I am living. So just the discussion of the landscape alone was enough to peak my interest. And I didn't hate the detective - she was somewhat amateur, as a DA but not a trained cop or detective, but she was smart. And being part Cherokee was interesting too.
The daughter of a book dealer is commissioned by a reclusive author to write her biography. It starts out normal, and then you realize it is set in the Moors of England, and when has a book set in the Moors not ended up being Gothic in tone? A good read, not your average story. I look forward to more from this author.
2. Bhagwan: The God That Failed by Hugh Milne (322 pgs)
The last book I read about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was written by someone who grew up with his mother following the guru. Milne was actually one of Bhagwan's inner circle for quite some time. The story is as intriguing as ever, with pictures of some of the practices that you just do not see everywhere.
3. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert (334 pgs)
Elizabeth Gilbert gets divorced and has to find herself, so she travels across the world to do it. Some of it seemed contrived, but I'm a sucker for spiritual journeys and travel writing, and this had both! I didn't identify much with her severe codependency issues, and felt like the Indonesia section was boring, but all in all it was an interesting read.
4. The Development of Library Collections of Sound Recordings by Frank W. Hoffman (169 pgs)
This book is from 1979, and I found it on the music library's shelves. Part of me wants to withdraw it, if it were not for the illuminating section highlighting the benefits of reel to reel tape over the collection of LPs. Hee hee. It does have some preservation information that might be helpful, but frankly, even that information has become dated now that we know that even the best reel to reel tape stored at optimum conditions still has a deterioration rate. Ooh, and the chapter explaining why music collection should include more than classical was entertaining, since it seemed to be targeted at public libraries, and I can't imagine public libraries considering onlycollecting classical music. Times have changed indeed.
5. A Darker Justice by Sallie Bissell (319 pgs)
The first mystery I've actually cared enough about to finish from the year, even though my pile from the library had at least four. I have found that setting matters almost more than everything, and this one is set in the mountains of North Carolina, not far from where I am living. So just the discussion of the landscape alone was enough to peak my interest. And I didn't hate the detective - she was somewhat amateur, as a DA but not a trained cop or detective, but she was smart. And being part Cherokee was interesting too.