book reviews!
So, there have been a few good things to come out of this lack of Internet (and a social life) here at the farm. I have been reading a lot. A few weeks ago, I started writing mini-reviews of all the books I've read and finished since December. I decided to keep my reviews to three sentences, for the sake of brevity, but I recognize in some cases I'm really stretching the definition of a "sentence".
Counting the book I just finished today, at the bottom of the list, I've read six books since arriving on the farm, and finished a seventh. I read a couple more books over the holidays that I haven't reviewed here, because I didn't like them so very much, but everything else is in roughly chronological order - I wrote them mostly as soon as I finished the books.
Three sentence book reviews
HOLDFAST, by Kathleen Dean Moore: A collection of essays blending philosophy with the author’s observations of the natural world, and especially the northwest coastal forest. While I didn’t always agree with her conclusions, overall I found these essays settling and profound, not unlike a walk in the woods. I like Moore’s way of connecting some pretty heavy stuff with tangibles, like the movement of the tides, or the call of lone wolves, and her words ring true.
THE WISDOM OF DONKEYS, by Andy Merrifield: An impulse purchase that turned out to be exactly right - this is a lovely book. While ostensibly chronicling the author’s journey through southern France with only a donkey for company, this book is really about journeying through life, staying settled in the midst of tumult, and the importance of following your true desires. And yes, there’s a good bit about donkeys, too.
BALKAN GHOSTS, by Robert Kaplan: Somewhat dated (I have an original edition), but absolutely fascinating examination/travelogue by journalist Kaplan of the Balkan states right after the fall of Communism. He interweaves historical facts with interviews of people he encounters through his travels, and though he is in no way unbiased, he still illustrates just how diverse, and how deeply seeded with hatred, the region really is. At times the descriptions feel like massive foreshadowing of future conflicts, which, in effect, they are.
BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxley: The most unsettling aspect of this story is the fact that if I lived in this world, there would be nothing I could do to stop my fate from being predetermined, and my personality programmed from conception - one literally has no choice who or how one will be. But the part of this book I am already repeating to myself is the conclusion of the Savage’s conversation with the Controller, in which the Savage claims the right to be unhappy, claims the right to feel sadness, melancholy, grief and pain - for what is happiness worth without the risk of all that darkness? This is a book worth reading again (and again).
THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins: I’ve heard so much about this book that I decided, finally, to give it a try. I immediately detested the first person present tense perspective, especially since I found the narrator rather selfish and cold, but the premise and setting were intriguing enough to keep me going. I am not sure the book is worth all its hype, but I did come to like the characters, and I appreciated how the narrator evolved through the story into someone with whom I could at least sympathize; I will probably read the sequel.
THE GRAND SOPHY, by Georgette Heyer: I’ve enjoyed every Heyer I’ve read so far, but this may be one of my favorites. While I wish I could’ve believed in the final romance a bit more, the titular character is so marvelous - witty, undaunted by her cousin’s tempers, a “regular whip,” and a great shot - that I was reading it not for the romance, but to see what Sophy would say or do next. It’s a little absurd, as every Heyer story is (ducklings ftw!), it’s laugh-out-loud funny, full of words I need to look up, and altogether delightful.
THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan: Another first person present tense book, although I did like this narrator better. I really enjoyed the premise of this story - what is life like a dozen generations after zombies take over the world? - and I like how narrator struggles with the beliefs dictated to her from childhood as she realizes how much bigger than her protected village the world really is. I do feel like the author could’ve further explored some of the more complicated themes she introduces, and I’m left feeling a little frustrated that she left me hanging; probably won’t read the sequel.
BLACK HILLS, by Nora Roberts: When LaNora writes them well, she writes them pretty darn well, and this is one of those. As always, the dialogue and the secondary characters make the book more than the love story does - the happily-ever-after is a guarantee in a romance novel, but the details change with every book. Here, I liked the farm and wildlife refuge settings, maybe because I could so relate to the getting-up-early-to-do-chores descriptions, and although the stunning conclusion was extremely unrealistic for a book so grounded in the “real world” (dude, they talk about 9/11!), I liked the way it worked out - Roberts set the, er, climax, up pretty well.
CATCHING FIRE, by Suzanne Collins: The sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES, this book was not only nearly impossible to put down, but the story, and the narrator I’d initially found so annoying, have evolved to the point that I now look back on the first book with a much better understanding of the depths to which Collins is taking this tale. Through her narrator, Collins introduces and explores themes of violence, grief, PTSD, and even anarchism (as I read it) with such skill that the teacher in me is itching to get a bunch of young people in a group to discuss these books, alongside works like MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING and A LONG WAY GONE. As of this writing, I have not read the third book in the trilogy, but I will say that the first two are absolutely worth all the attention they’ve received. FYI: the Powell's reviews for CATCHING FIRE contain spoilers for the first book. You've been warned.
Counting the book I just finished today, at the bottom of the list, I've read six books since arriving on the farm, and finished a seventh. I read a couple more books over the holidays that I haven't reviewed here, because I didn't like them so very much, but everything else is in roughly chronological order - I wrote them mostly as soon as I finished the books.
Three sentence book reviews
HOLDFAST, by Kathleen Dean Moore: A collection of essays blending philosophy with the author’s observations of the natural world, and especially the northwest coastal forest. While I didn’t always agree with her conclusions, overall I found these essays settling and profound, not unlike a walk in the woods. I like Moore’s way of connecting some pretty heavy stuff with tangibles, like the movement of the tides, or the call of lone wolves, and her words ring true.
THE WISDOM OF DONKEYS, by Andy Merrifield: An impulse purchase that turned out to be exactly right - this is a lovely book. While ostensibly chronicling the author’s journey through southern France with only a donkey for company, this book is really about journeying through life, staying settled in the midst of tumult, and the importance of following your true desires. And yes, there’s a good bit about donkeys, too.
BALKAN GHOSTS, by Robert Kaplan: Somewhat dated (I have an original edition), but absolutely fascinating examination/travelogue by journalist Kaplan of the Balkan states right after the fall of Communism. He interweaves historical facts with interviews of people he encounters through his travels, and though he is in no way unbiased, he still illustrates just how diverse, and how deeply seeded with hatred, the region really is. At times the descriptions feel like massive foreshadowing of future conflicts, which, in effect, they are.
BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxley: The most unsettling aspect of this story is the fact that if I lived in this world, there would be nothing I could do to stop my fate from being predetermined, and my personality programmed from conception - one literally has no choice who or how one will be. But the part of this book I am already repeating to myself is the conclusion of the Savage’s conversation with the Controller, in which the Savage claims the right to be unhappy, claims the right to feel sadness, melancholy, grief and pain - for what is happiness worth without the risk of all that darkness? This is a book worth reading again (and again).
THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins: I’ve heard so much about this book that I decided, finally, to give it a try. I immediately detested the first person present tense perspective, especially since I found the narrator rather selfish and cold, but the premise and setting were intriguing enough to keep me going. I am not sure the book is worth all its hype, but I did come to like the characters, and I appreciated how the narrator evolved through the story into someone with whom I could at least sympathize; I will probably read the sequel.
THE GRAND SOPHY, by Georgette Heyer: I’ve enjoyed every Heyer I’ve read so far, but this may be one of my favorites. While I wish I could’ve believed in the final romance a bit more, the titular character is so marvelous - witty, undaunted by her cousin’s tempers, a “regular whip,” and a great shot - that I was reading it not for the romance, but to see what Sophy would say or do next. It’s a little absurd, as every Heyer story is (ducklings ftw!), it’s laugh-out-loud funny, full of words I need to look up, and altogether delightful.
THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan: Another first person present tense book, although I did like this narrator better. I really enjoyed the premise of this story - what is life like a dozen generations after zombies take over the world? - and I like how narrator struggles with the beliefs dictated to her from childhood as she realizes how much bigger than her protected village the world really is. I do feel like the author could’ve further explored some of the more complicated themes she introduces, and I’m left feeling a little frustrated that she left me hanging; probably won’t read the sequel.
BLACK HILLS, by Nora Roberts: When LaNora writes them well, she writes them pretty darn well, and this is one of those. As always, the dialogue and the secondary characters make the book more than the love story does - the happily-ever-after is a guarantee in a romance novel, but the details change with every book. Here, I liked the farm and wildlife refuge settings, maybe because I could so relate to the getting-up-early-to-do-chores descriptions, and although the stunning conclusion was extremely unrealistic for a book so grounded in the “real world” (dude, they talk about 9/11!), I liked the way it worked out - Roberts set the, er, climax, up pretty well.
CATCHING FIRE, by Suzanne Collins: The sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES, this book was not only nearly impossible to put down, but the story, and the narrator I’d initially found so annoying, have evolved to the point that I now look back on the first book with a much better understanding of the depths to which Collins is taking this tale. Through her narrator, Collins introduces and explores themes of violence, grief, PTSD, and even anarchism (as I read it) with such skill that the teacher in me is itching to get a bunch of young people in a group to discuss these books, alongside works like MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING and A LONG WAY GONE. As of this writing, I have not read the third book in the trilogy, but I will say that the first two are absolutely worth all the attention they’ve received. FYI: the Powell's reviews for CATCHING FIRE contain spoilers for the first book. You've been warned.