This is what I'm reading....

NaBloPoMo post#1: Books I need to review

2007-11-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've got a few, but I need to actually sit down and write something about them. In any case, here is what you will get from me in the near future.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
Songs Without Words by Ann Packer
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (I'm currently reading this one, so my write-up will be down the road a bit)

WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY by Amy Scheibe

2007-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Jennifer is a stay-at-home-mom (better known as a SAHM). She used to work and she misses it--sometimes, sort of. Her husband leaves for days at a time and her mother-in-law is a monster. Her ex-boyfriend of her youth shows up, her husband's boss makes passes at her and she has a gay boyfriend. And her father admits that her step-mother is her mother but he's her step-father.

Yeah, there is a lot going on in this book, most of which is predictable and contrived. However, this is chick lit and one shouldn't expect art from such books. As I said in my earlier post, I was just look something to "bring me down" from A Thousand Splendid Suns and What Do You Do All Day fit the bill.

The story is, well, nothing fantastic. However, if this book is read as a collection of related essays or short stories without trying to impose a plot, it's actually quite entertaining. Scheibe is a good wordsmith, if not a strong plotter. Jennifer, the central SAHM, is a complex character--one to whom I think most women could relate.

I would recommend this book...just don't think too hard about it.

Black Sheep Literary Fan

2007-08-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

I love to read, but I've realized that I just don't fit in with serious "readers." This is not to say that I read crap by Ms. Nicholas Sparks or Danielle Steele--I read good, serious stuff. The stuff that Oprah ends up picking (I extolled the wonders of Middlesex far before she ever found it!). But there is one belief that I hold that I fear will always keep me from being considered a true reader of taste and I realize that this belief will never change.

Sadly, for my own sake, I think Jane Austen is crap.

It's true...not only do I hate her novels (Sense and Sensibility is passable, but don't even get me started on the oh-so-wonderful Pride and Prejudice) but I go one step farther. I commit the sin that all true readers will despise me for.

I think the movies of her books are better than her actual books. Yes, Emma Thompson was far too old to be in Sense and Sensibility and I still have no clue what Hugh Grant was doing there, but I would much rather watch that movie (and fall just a little bit more in love with Greg Wise and Alan Rickman--I hate you Kate Winslet!) than read the book. Heck, I preferred Clueless to Emma. Yet even more pathetic, I hated the book Bridget Jones Diary but enjoyed the movie (a MUCH better role for Hugh Grant!).

Truly, I think she was a fraud....a faker....an affront to femininity!

You see, the truth is that I'm a Bronte girl. I'd name one of my yet-to-be-born daughters Bronte if I thought my Studmuffin would let me get away with it. Passionate (which may also mean slightly mentally unstable) women roaming the wilds and falling in love with inappropriate men...yes, that's more my style. And, while I think Mr. Darcy is a closeted homosexual, Heathcliff is just plain hot Hot HOT!

So, all you Austen fans...I hope you have fun at your silly little balls where you go to manipulate boys and convince yourself that you're oh so much more mature than anyone else. I'm off to roam the moors with some real men!

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini

2007-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Boy, that Khaled Hosseini must be a lot of fun at dinner parties. I love The Kite Runner, but I felt that I needed about 12 therapy sessions once I finished it. At least with A Thousand Splendid Suns, I think I only need 6 therapy sessions.

This is an excellent book, although not quite as excellent as The Kite Runner. It centers around the relationship of two women, Mariam and Laila, who are married to the same abusive man. The story is set against the turmoil of afghanistan from the 80's until the early 2000's--fun times, indeed.

When I first heard about the story line, my first thought was, "Big Love, Taliban style." But it's nothing like that. At the risk of sounding too trite and cliche, it's the story of the triumph of the human spirit (I warned you, trite and cliche!). It's not a pleasant book by any means, although it is an easier read in those terms that The Kite Runner. And, unlike The Kite Runner, the protaganists are actually likeable and you don't spend the entire book hoping they get a door in the face (which they actually do get in this book) or walk out in public with their fly open (which does not happen--I don't think burqas have zippers).

One thing that truly hit, that did not in The Kite Runner, was the living conditions in Kabul. I would read pages and pages, thinking that this is something that happened ages ago, when all of a sudden people are watching bootlegged copies of Titanic and going ga ga over Leonardo diCaprio. I think that Hosseini's greatest gift is not necessarily his stories, as excellent as they may be, but his ability to open the eyes of Western Society to the hell that was, and may still be, Afghanistan.

My verdict...read it. Don't wait for the paperback copy.

Now, I'm off to read something a little less taxing...like chick lit.

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS by J. K. Rowling

2007-08-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I was able to finish it within a month. In my own defense, though, I do have many other things going on in my life right now and Harry Potter just wasn't at the top of my list of priorities.

That being said....what did I think of this particular book?

Did I think this particular book was outstanding? No...

Did I think this particular book is the best J.K. Rowling has written? No...

Did I thoroughly enjoy this particular book? No...

But, the thing is, it isn't about this particular book. I firmly believe it is impossible to take apart the Harry Potter series and look at it book by book, especially now that the series has been completed.

That being said...what did I think of the Harry Potter series?
Did I think it was an outstanding series? Yes!
Did I think it was the best J.K. Rowling has written? Yes (but then, I have no other Rowling material with which to compare it)
Did I thoroughly enjoy this series? Yes!

This book does answer many questions--some of which weren't ever actually asked. It does drag from time to time and the "side plot" of the Deathly Hallows isn't even truly necessary. While I think some of the other books did need to weigh 10 pounds, this one had more than it's share of fluff.

But, if you've read the other book, you have to read this one. It's like seeing "The Return of the Jedi" after seeing "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" (I'm ignoring the existence of the newer prequels in that series). You just have to do it.

And it is an excellent series! I don't think anyone can argue that. And, rest assured, the series ending is satisfactory (that is, the way the story ends is quite good--and it ends in the second to last chapter. The very last chapter was incredibly stupid and had nothing to do with the story. I suggest just skipping it.) And I do think this is something everyone should read--if for no other reason than they will need to know all the Potter-isms to be able to carry a conversation. I was recently complaining about airline passenger conditions when I said, "Well, I guess we have to live with it until muggles learn to disapparate." A co-worker, who is smug and annoying and refuses to read or see Harry Potter, had no clue what I was speaking about. It was classic!

The sad thing is the vast majority of readers were unable to experience these books fully. Honestly, I believe the best way to read these is to start with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or "Philosopher's Stone," depending on what country you live in) when you are 11 years old and then read one book a year until you finish with this particular book when you are 17. Unfortunately, most of us will never have the chance to experience that.

Now, however, I'm off to another book. I began Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns last night and, thanks to the fact that my Studmuffin was finally able to start Harry Potter, I have some time to read again!

The Stash

2007-08-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

First off, I am ALMOST done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows--only about 100 pages more.

I have a stash of books at the office...it's apparently such a good stash that I totally forgot I had it. I really need to quit buying books. I did sign up with Zooba again--a great service where everything is $9.95. The monthly fee is $9.95 and they send you a book a month of your "reading list" automatically and, if you would like to order more books, they are just--you guessed it!--$9.95 each. It's a great deal if you want new releases not yet out in paperback.

Anyway, I found a pile of books at my office that I didn't know I had. Thus, here are EVEN MORE books to add to my TBR list (in addition to the ones on the earlier post AND all the ones I have at home and haven't read!). My one disclaimer...I have no clue why I have most these books!
For One More Day by Mitch Albom
The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis
Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (the only one I remember buying!)
Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Oh, I MUST get reading!

Starting off....

2007-08-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

So, it's August 9th and I'm still reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows....pathetic, I know. Plus, my Studmuffin is about to strangle me with a pillow just to get his hands on my (oh okay, our) copy.

Until I finally finish this thing, here's some things to look forward to:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields
Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende

Not necessarily in that order. And there will be others. I am not an organized reader--but I am an opinionated one!