I have been reading like a mad woman for the last month or so. I made it through all of the books that Brian bought me for Christmas and had to buy another $100+ worth from Amazon. I only have four of those left so I’ll be ordering more soon. What I do is try to pick out 4-1/2 or 5 star books on Amazon or I read the reviews for Pulitzer Prize winners (or other kinds of prize winners). I’ve bought a few of Oprah’s books (but typically find them too depressing). And, a couple of years ago, I bought most of the Today Show book suggestions.
I still have a bunch of “mini reviews” I want to write, but here are several books I’ve read over the last couple of years:
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards: a good read with an interesting plot though it’s sad.
The Kite Runner by Kahlid Hussein: I put off reading this for two years because it takes place in Afghanistan, and I thought that would be too depressing. I finally picked it up, and (I hate to admit this, but…) it’s a really good book. It’s also very sad (WHY are they all sad?), violent, very disturbing, but worth checking out.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: this is another one I put off reading simply for the sheer volume of the stupid thing. It’s almost 1000 pages long! GREAT book! It’s a real page turner. I couldn’t wait to find out how that monster (Richard, I think–I forget his name) would meet his end! This has almost 1400 customer reviews on Amazon.com!
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Ugh. That’s all I can say about this AWFUL book. I managed to trudge through it, but I was NOT impressed. It’s a piece of garbage.
Foul Play by Janet Evonovich. Anything by this author is a fun, light read!
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz: 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner. This is another sad one. It is laden with Spanish phrases. I sat in front of the computer with a translator website for some of it, but for most of it I was left in the dark. That said, though, it is a really good book.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Wonderful book. It takes place in 19-century China and is an interesting peek into the culture of China–the excrutiating practice of foot binding (“golden lillies”) where a 3″ foot was desired; nu shu; laotong; arranged marriages… great read!
The Road by Cormack McCarthy: OMG! What a very, very sad and freaky book. Really makes you think. Odd for sure. 2007 Pulitzer Prize winner.
Empire Falls by Richard Russo: 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner. Enjoyable read! I’m surprised it won a Pulitzer, though, since it’s just a regular ol’ fiction book.
Cane River by Lalita Tademy. This is a really good book about four generations of black French-speaking slaves in 1800s Lousiana. It is a piece of fiction based on the author’s family. I liked that it has pictures of the real life characters. Slavery is very difficult for me to read about, but this is an excellent book.
The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living by Martin Clark. This is touted as being the “drinking man’s John Grisham” and got lots of rave reviews on Amazon.com and from book critics all over the place. After reading so many sad books, I wanted something funny! Well this is a piece of crap. There is NOTHING funny about it. The plot is stupid (what is up with the “white tears” part???) and the characters drink and drive. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Total waste of money.
The Book Theif by Markus Zusak. LOVED IT!!! Okay… this book takes place in Nazi-occupied Germany (which is also hard for me to read about), but is such a wonderful book I couldn’t put it down. The publisher is Knopf Books for Young Readers, and is recommended for grades 9 and up. Hmmm…??? I really don’t think of this is a book for high schoolers. It’s narrated by Death which is very interesting.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: this book takes place on the channel island of Guernsey after World War II. Guernsey was a strategic location for the Germans to overtake Europe, and the island was occupied for five years with no contact with the outside world. The islanders formed a book club during that time, and the main character of the book (Juliett Ashton) travels to Geurnsey to write a book about the occupation. This is a really good book.
The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring. Great book! Hmmm… I think of the 1950s as a bunch of prudes for some reason. Maybe because my mother always tells me that the 1950s were the “perfect” times which makes me think of innocence and, well…, PRUDES! Not the case in this book; Freeda’s got the mouth of a sailor and they don’t go to church on Sunday! Loved it!
Some Things that Stay by Sarah Willis: five star book with 51 reviewers on Amazon.com. Another great read, but (again) it has an air of sadness: the dad is an idiot, the mom has TB, the cow gets killed, and the family is moved to every year (because the dad is an idiot). It is a really, really good book, though.
What Comes After Crazy by Sandy Kahn Shelton: Okay… this one has a quote on the cover by People that says “Plenty of laughs here.” Again, after reading some many “heavy” books, I wanted a light read. I liked it, but I didn’t think it was funny at all. I thought the Madame Lucille character was flat out TRAGIC (why is everything SAD, SAD, SAD???) and Maz (the main character) is totally spineless. If somebody stole my kid, I would at least make SOME effort to get her back (call the police, you big idiot!!!).
Cold Rock River by J.L. Miles: This is just a great book. It’s a story-within-a-story; half about slavery, half about 1960s Georgia.
Whistling in the Dark by Lesley Kagen: it’s about that bitch (!), Troo (funny I could think that about a 9-year-old, but I did!), and her sister, Sally (the narrator). Another good book. (P.S. I figured it out as soon as the bad guy was introduced!).
The Ballard of Frankie Silver by Sharon McCrumb: I got this book in the library on Johnston Island before I left. It’s a good book, but (once again) SAD! It’s about the first woman to be hanged in North Carolina.
The Old Fox Deceiv’d by Martha Grimes: Another one I got on JI, but didn’t get around to readying for 8 years! Okay, for once, NOT SAD! It’s a good little “who-done-it?” mystery.
A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George: Funny thing is: I read this once before, but I must have only made it partially through because I totally didn’t remember the ending. It’s not bad.
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde: LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! How very, very original. The burbing, farting bookworms are just too clever. And best of all: NOT SAD!!!
The Dogs of Babel by Carlyn Parkhurst: Hmm… I read it… I’m not sure I liked it. The guy tries to teach his dog to talk–but “ruff” isn’t good enough; he wants human language. I know I’m supposed to use my imgination, but I just wasn’t that inspired. And, I thought the wife was a total nut-case. She made love to the husband while wearing a papier-mâché mask she made from a dead girl’s face. Too damn creepy!
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende: I really enjoyed this book. It takes place during the California Gold Rush of 1849 of which I know nothing. It’s a great story of an unlikely friendship. What I really want to know is how people could write letters back and forth across the country to each other, and the letters actually made it to intended recipient…??? NOT SAD!
That Quail, Robert by Margaret A. Stanger: Okay… out of all of the sad books I’ve read this year, this one absolutely takes the cake. Despite being a WONDERFUL book, this one made tears stream down my face.
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz: I guess if you like laughing at schizophrenics then you’d think this is funny, but otherwise, IT’S SAD! There were some really good philosphical-make-you-think parts, but as a whole, I had to trudge through this book because it didn’t really hold my attention.
