A Year of Reading: June 2011
1. The First Verse by Barry McCrea
2 stars on Goodreads
This is about a young and closeted gay man - very young, I kept forgetting he was not even 20 as he often seemed older to me - who goes to university and meets some people who bring him into their book-based cult: they consult random books and random passages to answer questions about their lives and to divine the future. Great concept but I, like other reviewers, found the ending abrupt and tacked on - interesting but somehow unsatisfying.
2. What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
4 stars on Goodreads
I thought this was fantastic. I had seen the movie first (a year ago?) but didn't remember the details although that didn't stop me from having Judi Dench's voice (and Cate Blanchett's face) in my mind as I read. What an interesting and horrible character Barbara is - scary and formidable and yet sympathetic ... to a point. (When her cat was ill I was weeping along with her, thinking of my sweet kitties who have passed on.)
I want to see the movie again, I seem to recall some differences I'd like to remember more clearly.
3. Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading From Home by Susan Hill
2 stars on Goodreads
This is OK. There's a lot of name-dropping - which, good for Susan Hill that she has met all these famous English authors, but perhaps that could have been an essay on its own? Most of our reading taste doesn't overlap - she's big into British Victorian writers and I most decidedly am not. And I had anticipated that she was going to spend a year reading books she already owned but hadn't read - it seemed to me that she spent time rereading classics instead. So, she has a way with words but ultimately I was disappointed in this book.
4. Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky
3 stars on Goodreads
A few too many coincidences and (to me) an unsatisfying ending, but the character of Marie was fascinating and it was great to be in her thoughts for a while. She seemed truly to have no moral compass and no compunction about stealing (clothes, things, husbands, etc.) or using people. It's difficult to imagine a person like that being at all likeable, but Marie was - most of the time.
5. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
3 stars on Goodreads
** spoilers below**
I liked this a lot. The idea of Graces and how they are dealt with in the world was interesting. The book was maybe a bit too long, I did skim somewhat towards the end just waiting for the resolution. And I thought the villain needed more screen/page time - I wanted to know more about him and his actions from his own point of view.
The combination of characters called Po and Randa made me think of Kung Fu Panda as I read this. (I kept imagining Prince Po as a panda - not the best mental image for the hero character.)
Some other reviewers seem very upset that Katsa will sleep with Po without wanting marriage or children, but it didn't bother me at all. (And since I think people in a committed relationship can be "married" without "having a wedding" I would generally consider Katsa and Po's relationship to be that of a marriage - without a ceremony.)
6. Ratha's Creature by Clare Bell
2 stars on Goodreads
Yes, this is a book about prehistoric cats who solve crime discover fire as a tool/weapon. This was OK. I think I would have liked it much better as a pre-teen or teen, which is when I read the second book in the series and loved it.
7. Private Lives by Noel Coward
2 stars on Goodreads
2 stars, I know, I know, how can I only give two stars to Noel Coward, he's a genius, etc. [I already got "told" on Twitter for this review. Call me uncouth.] But I didn't really like any of the characters, nor could I relate to them or their stories. I do want to see it performed, though. (And it is coming to Toronto starring Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross.)
8. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (reread)
5 stars on Goodreads
Originally read in 2008. Loved it then, loved it this time, too.
9. Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days by Douglas Brown
3 stars on Goodreads
This was a fairly entertaining read about a couple - married 14 years, two kids under 10 - who decide to re-connect emotionally and physically by having sex (they do define it as intercourse for the project) for 100 days in a row. (Through parenting woes, illness, stress, and more.)
I'm kind of a sucker for the - as another GoodReads reviewer put it - "someone did something for a set amount of time and their random project gave them deep insights into universal human truths" genre, and this was one of the more entertaining ones I've read so far.
The whining about living in Denver and not living in Baltimore anymore - the author and his family had moved before the events in this book - did get old after a while, though.
10. The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
2 stars on Goodreads
I was so-so on this book. I really liked the first couple of chapters, and was sure I was headed to a four-star review. I was interested in Fidelis and his post-WWI immigration story, but he disappeared quite quickly from the narrative and I was not nearly as interested in anyone else. The 'mystery' of Delphine's mother seemed tacked on, and the events in the last couple of chapters seemed very sudden when so much time had been spent on these stories. (I also felt the title was very mis-leading, the singing club was not a main theme and barely showed up in the story.)
11. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (reread)
5 stars on Goodreads
A very well-written and compelling book. The only part I didn't think *quite* fit with the whole was Krakauer's account of his near-death climb, but I do understand his desire to share it.
12. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (reread)
I find somehow that this book helps me feel more balanced, and since I was very stressed, I read it again to feel that balance.
13. Royal Pains: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds by Leslie Carroll
2 stars on Goodreads
I like the idea of this book, but the informality of the language ('BFF' is so not an appropriate term to be using in a non-fiction history book!) is really turning me off.
14. Unclutter your Life in One Week by Erin Rooney Doland (reread)
I had read this before, I thought it might give me the push I needed to do some uncluttering/cleaning around the house while 'on vacation on the way to unemployment'... it's still readable but did not motivate me at all.
Currently reading:
-The Vinyl Cafe Notebooks by Stuart McLean
-The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan
What are you reading lately? What do you recommend? Are you on GoodReads? If so, please feel free to add me there!