Winter Reads

Clash of Kings

I'm not going to lie. After Game of Thrones, this second book in the series was a bit of a snoozer. I still read all 5 million pages but was hoping for more action. I'm also still waiting for this series to get a little romantic. I mean, I love dragons and warriors as much as the next girl, but when are these lonely teenagers going to finally discover each other? And is Shae really just humoring Tyrion? I'm told that book 3 is where it's at, so perhaps I won't drop this series after all, but I will admit to being tempted.

The Sparrow

This was a book club read and while this isn't something I would have picked out for myself, I'm really glad I read it. And it was a great discussion book. The book follows a Jesuit mission to a recently discovered planet containing sentient beings. I was a little bothered by the main character who everyone worshipped, and the creepiness of what happens to him on this new planet stuck with me far longer than I wanted, but there's no denying it was a well written and fascinating book.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

This has been on my bed side table for ages. I will admit to being slightly disappointed by this much awaited read. It was more like a collection of short stories, and I've never been a fan of short stories - preferring a heavy plot that sucks me in and in depth character development that attaches me to the people in the story. I kept thinking all the stories/characters were going to link up, but mostly the chapters just hop around in time and (I suppose on purpose) make you work awfully hard at the start to figure out WHO is narrating each particular chapter. Sometimes I would read the first 5 pages of a chapter totally confused, trying to figure out what year it was and who was narrating. I will grant that the author has a knack for capturing a huge variety of distinct "voices", but that skill was a bit lost on me. I mostly just wanted this book to be about Bennie and Sasha, as the back of the book description promised. And while I suppose you could argue that it WAS about them, it was too peripheral for me.

Night Circus

I very much enjoyed this read. This is a book club pick that we haven't discussed as a group yet, so I'm hesitant to say too much. But I will say that it reminded me of an old timey favorite of mine - A Trip To the Stars in that it's very magical, filled with smart and sad characters and takes place in an other-wordly space. Someone recently compared it to a combo of Harry Potter and Water for Elephants and I guess that's not too far off?  My main criticism is just that the plot felt a little rushed at the end. I wish she'd taken more time with the ending, built the conflict up to a higher pitch before wrapping it up.

The Man from Beijing

While the plot was totally addictive, I remember being disappointed a little by this book.  Time magazine sold me on this being even better and/or more sophisticated than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I disagree.  I kept waiting for the plot to turn more legit thriller on me, but I was never on the edge of my seat like I wanted to be.  Truthfully, it's been too long since I read this book to now review it, so I guess I'll just stop there with my vaguely negative review... 

A Game of Thrones

I just finished A Game of Thrones and woah. Bold move at the very end there George RR Martin, BOLD. Consider it a done deal that I will now move on to the next book, like immediately.

This book was all sorts of mythical and magical, which is not so much my game, but whatever. If I can get into Outlander and Enders Game, then I can't really turn my nose up at dragons and unicorns can I? I'd write more, but I need to star the next book in this serious to find out WTF Daenerys?!

Last books of 2011

Before I take the plunge into A Game of Thrones and disappear for however long it takes to plow through that series, I thought I'd play a quick game of catch up and try to remember the last few books I read in 2011.

The Last Werewolf: This was a juicy read, if gory at times. If you're able to suck it up and read about killing and eating humans every 200 pages or so, this is a worthy read. It's about a 200 year old misanthropic werewolf in present day who finds out he is officially the last living werewolf on earth. I found it fascinating to read a first person narrative told from the perspective of a (mostly likable) villain. It's an epic adventure with quality (read: Adult) writing style. Also, I totally smell a sequel.

At Home: Major bore. Bill Bryson seems like a charming man but DUDE. This was a book club pick that I couldn't finish. Every time I picked it up I had flashbacks to 1997 during my freshman year of college when my roommate Maggie and I would need to take official nap breaks during reading assignments. This book induced many a nap break before I gave up on it.

An Echo in the Bone: After reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes (the 6th book in the Outlander series) I took a year or two long break. Then I recently saw An Echo in the Bone on the Buy 2, get 1 free table at Barnes and Noble and I snatched it up. It had been so long since reading the previous book that I had a hard time remembering some of the secondary characters, but eventually I fell back into the easy rhythm of Diana Gabaldon. I feel sad that Jamie and Claire are getting old, but am starting to find my groove with Brianna and Roger, who I assume are going to start playing a more major role in the next book. Thumbs up Diana. And way to leave us hanging until 2013 for book number 8. Rude.

Open: Andre Agassi's autobiography. Jeff got this book for his birthday and I read it to kill time, assuming it would be snoozeville but I loved it. Totally addictive and fascinating, despite my utter ignorance of tennis. This made me think I should be reading more autobiographies.

No Great Mischief: Boring. A little interesting, but mostly boring. I couldn't quite finish this book about sad Scottish immigrants living in Canada.

Can I interject for just one moment?

To say how much I HATE BLOGGER? It's too bad I'm so supremely lazy that I will probably never do anything other than complain about it. Granted I'm not amazingly tech savvy, but isn't that the whole point? That even an idiot can have a blog? Then why can I only upload one photo at a time instead of just uploading a folder of 4 images? And why can I sometimes click on images within my post and resize them manually and other times have a completely different response (i.e. NONE) that requires me to edit it manually in html? And I don't need to ask why, because I know why editing html makes me want to slit my wrists - because it's ANNOYING. And tedious. And so unnecessary!

Anyways, I tried to add images of the book jackets to my post below but it looks like shite because I grew tired of fighting blogger and ... whatever. I'm wasting too much energy on this rant.

Apologies.

August, September and October Books

Beat by Amy Boaz- This was a book club read and it was sort of "meh". It's about a woman who flees her marriage with her 7 year old daughter to Paris. Sounds exotic, but in the end most to all of the characters are unlikeable and ... who am I kidding? As soon as you read "meh" you skipped to the next book review, because who is going to go out of their way to find a book at the library (because something tells me it would be hard to find this one at Barnes and Noble (it's currently for sale on Amazon for 1 penny) that was summed up as "meh"?

Super Sad True Love Story - So I totally hated this book, BUT I get the impression it's very polarizing and many people really love it. As opposed to "Beat" which I think most people would agree is unanimously mediocre, this book is probably still worth reading despite my strong dislike for it. This book smacked of all sorts of things that rubbed me wrong and while I could go on and on, I'm not feeling like picking a fight right at this moment.

Essentially, it boiled down to the fact that this was an extremely negative book that paints a very grim picture of the US in the not too distant future. It's filled with what I guess could be described as very dark humor that I did not think was very funny. I would compare it to that person you know who says things like, "I'm just kidding" or "I'm just being honest" when really they are just being an asshole. It wore the costume of humor, but under the mask, I felt a sea of bitterness, anger and pettiness lurking.

I read for pleasure and escape, not to have all the terrible things about America made more terrible and rubbed in my face. I have a 2 year old - I have enough unpalatable things thrown in my face all the time; I don't need to add Debby Downer books to the list.

The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins - Loaned to me by my Mom. I really enjoyed this book, but it wasn't until a third of the way through that I really dug my heels in and felt addicted. This is narrated by a 12 year old Irish boy who lives with his father and extended family as "Travelers" (aka gypsies) in the 1950s. Solid plot, well told and it captured an interesting slice of life that I don't think I've read about before.

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - I read this quite a long time ago now and barely remember it. I do remember being alternately very into this book and then going through phases of boredom. To sum up my vague memory of this book: a kind of creepy story about a female prisoner in a women's facility in the early 1900's (I think? Maybe it was the 1800's) for a double murder where you can't ever quite figure out whether she killed the guys or not. Which I suppose is the point, but I like a reward at the end of chugging through a thick mystery and while this one had a bit of a reveal, it wasn't quite enough to satisfy me.

Library book that I couldn't finish - It was called Something and Something... maybe George and Aurther? Something like that. Two dudes names. Anyways, the author sounded vaguely familiar and the plot sounded interesting but in reality it was quite boring. I kept waiting for the two guys to cross paths like was promised on the book jacket. But once I got like 400 pages in and still no sign of path-crossing, I grew irritated and returned it before racking up crazy late fees at the Library.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett- Amazing, wonderful and totally consistent with everything from Ann Patchett. Boy do I have an author crush on her. She really knows how to make up a good story and then develop fascinating characters. I could care less about how implausible some parts may be - it was still one of the best books I've read this year and you should totally choose this for your next book club pick.

The Brightest Star in the Sky - The latest Marian Keyes book. Not bad I guess. I should probably just reread Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and see if it's still as good (in a guilty pleasure way) as I remember, because none of Marian's recent books have lived up to that standard for me. But maybe it's like my memory of that show Rags to Riches from the 80's - entirely colored by the fact that I was like 7. Except with Marian Keyes I was probably more like 23. Maybe Marian Keyes is just better left for the 23 year olds out there.

Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater - this is a weird book my Dad gave me. It's kind of meant for kids, but not really. It was smart, amusing and took a day or two to read but I never would have picked it up myself. It's about some kids who like comic books and go hunting for a giant chicken that supposedly roamed the streets of their small NY suburb 20 years ago. I told you it was weird.

May, June and July - Quick recap-style

Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy - there are no words to tell you how bad this book was. For reals Maeve? Is it possible that Circle of Friends was this bad and I just didn't notice because I was 15?

Some other book my Mom gave me that sucked slightly less than Nights of Rain and Stars. I can't remember the name or find the book.


Swamplandia! by Karen Russell - and yes, the exclamation point is a part of the title. Loved this book, maybe my favorite from our year of book club reads.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford- local book by local author about the internment camps during WWII. It was a sweet romance with interesting history about that period of time in the northwest.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain- A book about Earnest Hemingway's first wife Hadley and their time in Paris. How great is the name Hadley btw? The book was pretty good too. Despite it making me like Earnest Hemingway slightly less than I already did. The Sun Also Rises? SNOOZE alert.

The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon- Loved. But then again, I also loved his first book Shadow of the Wind. Complicated and confusing, but in the best sort of way.

Bossypants by Tina Fey - Double loved. Despite the fact that it's a bit disjointed/rambly at times, it's still brilliant. I particularly loved the chapter about her father, Don Fey and the suggestions she makes for beauty and grooming. Oh, and the ideas of how to gain more "me time" when you have a baby. I ask you, is there anything funnier than self-deprecating humor? I don't think there is.

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht - Did I already mention this one? I don't think so. Mostly I felt annoyed reading this book that someone who is approximately 10 years old wrote it and somehow manages to sound like someone with 50 years of wisdom under her belt. It's too late for me to be a child prodigy! Sigh.

Just Kids by Patti Smith - One time, I got to see Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye perform in a tiny room with only like 30 other people. It was awesome. She is so FASCINATING! And while punk rock isn't really my bag, it's hard to deny that Patti is a bad ass chick. She talks about her early days in New York City, living in the Hotel Chelsea and hanging out with Janis Joplin. This book is good stuff.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen - You guys. As I type this list, I'm realizing how many great books I've read this summer! Many. This is another one of them. Don't be scared by it's bajillion pages, or by the fact that The Corrections was hard to slog through (for me, maybe not for you). Franzen is a bit of a relentless downer, but his writing is so smart and cutting that I was willing to ignore that.

Catch Up - 6 books

An inarticulate summary of the books I've read in the last month or so...


Russian Winter - This is a book from my Mom's book club that she loaned me. Lots of ballet and Russian cold war drama. It's been a while since I finished it, so my memory isn't very specific, but I loved all the ballet and the story is engaging. That said, I remember finding something a bit lacking overall - like the plot was missing a piece that would make it all a bit more sophisticated. A little less obvious which way the plot was going...






Peace like a River - This book surprised me. Another freebie from my Christmas haul, I didn't expect to feel very engaged. Namely because it sounded a bit wild west to me and I'm not a fan of cowboys and horses. That said, I remember finding the writing to be pretty top notch, surprising me occasionally with such smart prose that I was caught off guard. The story is narrated by a young boy (12ish?) in the 60's, who along with his clever little sister named Swede and his quirky Father go on a cross country adventure, looking for his older brother Davey who is accused of killing two of his peers and has escaped jail on a horse.




You Remind me of Me - My latest book club pick, which we meet about tomorrow. This book was beautifully written and sadder than sad. The characters are fascinating and real and the plot captivating, but given the sadness of it, I have to recommend it with a caveat. The book starts out with a few different stories - a 6 year old boy is attacked by his Mother's doberman, a young girl living in a house for pregnant teens in the 70's, and a teenage boy contemplating becoming a drug dealer. Eventually the author connects the dots until all the characters are sharing a story.





The Last Child - I plowed through this mystery in one weekend. My friend Jessie who always gets me hooked on the most addictive books (The Hunger Games, The Outlander series) gave me this book for my birthday last month and while there are definite flaws to the book, it sucks you in like nobodies business. The narration is a bit "cowboy" for my liking in the beginning, filled with swaggery sentences that when added up are a bit eye rolly. The characters aren't exactly original, but the plot is! The story follows Johnny Merrimon, a 13 year old boy who's twin sister was abducted the year prior. He's determined to track her down himself and will stop at nothing to find her (swaggery sentence anyone?). Then there's Clyde Hunt, the rule breaking detective who's lost everything trying to solve the case and is worried about Johnny and his beautiful and fragile Mother. But don't let my mockery sway you - it's not on the NYTimes Bestseller list for nothing! And I'm totally going to check out his other books. If you're looking for an engrossing mystery - this is a good one. It would be the perfect vacation read.

The Binding Chair - Foot binding is creepy! And gross! This was another freebie book and while it's not bad, it's not great either. I'm finding it hard to summarize this plot, so I peeked at the back of the book's description and it's vague - "Set in alluring Shanghai at the turn of the century, The Binding Chair intertwines the destinies of a Chinese woman determined to forget her past and A western girl focused on the promises of the future." I found this to be kind of a frustrating read. It's interesting and well written, but missing a solid plot to tie it all together.





The Historian - Creepy vampire book! And not in an Edward and Bella way, more of a Vlad Dracula in the middle ages way. The woman narrating this book is supposedly telling the story of her Father and his search for the story of the real Dracula - Vlad Teppes Dracula from the 1400's. It's creepy and jumps around in time and is full of weird and interesting facts. I read the whole thing wondering how much of it was real and how much of it made up. It's all conspiracy theoryrific - teasing you with the idea that there is a modern group of men and women (typically historians) who anonymously receive a creepy book with Dracula's seal on it that sends them into a spiraling search for Dracula. Is he still alive/undead? Are there really vampires? Follow the unlucky historians over time that track down the origins of the book to Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and other mysterious countries. I don't want to sell this too hard, because the truth is that it gets a bit tedious at times, but I still found it creepily fascinating.