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Meagan's Reading Goal for 2010
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I want to do a quick review of all the books I read before book #5. The first Sookie Stackhouse book, "Dead Until Dark" was amazing to me and was a great way to kickoff a series...the rest of the books I've read, including "Dead to the World" haven't been as wonderful to me, although I do enjoy them. I think part of my problem is I am a BIG TIME fan of the HBO show "True Blood" and I saw that first before I read the books...so the fact that the show, naturally, goes from multiple points of view (which I enjoy) to the book with just Sookie's point of view is jarring to me and makes me annoyed with Sookie sometimes. Nothing has made me even come close with wanting to call it quits on the whole series, but the first book is still my fav so far. "The Road" was an amazing story that hit me real hard at times. I have a 9 month old daughter and it was all too easy to try and put myself in the same situation and ask myself if I could do what the man does. And I really can't say if I'm as strong as he. The simplicity of it was all that was needed to absorb the universe and not only see it but feel it at times. When the boy was scared, so was I, and when the man felt the relief of finding the bunker with food after coming so close to starving to death, I almost cried at my own relief. I recommend this book highly...but I also recommend a lighter read afterwards.
"Olive Kitteridge" was an amazing book. Deserving of the Pulitzer Prize. It's a novel told in a series of short stories and this style was interesting and very imaginative. As a reader, your better able to get a sense of Olive through reading another characters story for a short time. I loved this book and I definitely recommend it to everyone.
"Dead as a Doornail" was actually refreshing for me. I can't say why, but I feel like the story flowed much more smoothly without getting boring like some of the previous books. I liked that there were consequences to actions in "Dead to the World". The characters and relationships are growing and changing and that's what's keeping things interesting. Although Harris needs to watch it cause in "tv land" there is nothing that makes fans hate the main female character more then when every man falls in love with her; but she is keeping Sookie pretty grounded and I like that. I haven't liked Sookie this much since the first book. The mystery flowed and was actually a little suspenseful...I was surprised a lot, didn't expect a lot of what happened.
This may make me unpopular, but I think what I liked most was how little Eric was in it. I just don't find the same appeal in him as most do I guess.
Overall I really liked it.
"Push" was an intense and emotional read at times...by now most have at least seen the previews for the movie and have heard/read the synopsis, so I don't have to go into detail...the book itself was okay, it is definitely driven more by the subject then story, if that makes any sense. I had issue with the literal way it was written, although I do understand how it puts you more into Precious's head during the story. Luckily it is also a short book, less then 200 pages, because I don't know if I could have handled it being longer and in more detail. I definitely recommend this book for the people who are interested, but be warned it is very graphic in its subject matter.
Sounds like you are off to a good start in meeting your reading goal. I loved the Sookie Stackhouse series, but I read them before I saw the first season of True Blood, which was rather jarring in some of the ways it deviates from the books. Haven't yet decided whether I'll watch season two when it finally comes out on DVD. Enjoy whatever you are currently reading!
"Definitely Dead" was good except for the fact that it took over 100 pages before it even touched on the synopsis for the book, that and the main subject was a continuation from a short story in another book made this book very off putting. I never felt lost because Harris tends to recap everything for you anyway, but I was confused and felt like I missed something...which took me out of the story for a while. Other then that, I liked the pace and action of the book. The revelation by Bill was very sad and I felt for Sookie...her involvement with Quinn was alright, but there is something about him...he just seems like he's hiding something...I also think he thinks waaay too much about getting Sookie in the sack, and that was a little off putting as well.
I find it funny that for a series about vampires, the last few books have been very werewolf centric, although I'm sure the next book brings the vamps back front and center.
"Running with Scissors" was an interesting book to say the least, lol. I did enjoy it, I found it very amusing in certain parts and very disturbing in others. I thought it was written very well in the sense that I thought it was a real page turner. I was always starting every chapter thinking "what could possibly happen next?". Memoirs are very interesting to me because the events being told by the author seem so fantastical that you couldn't make stuff like that up, and this definitely falls into that expression, lol. Overall I liked it, although I found myself laughing and feeling disturbed at the same time quite often.
Just finished "All Together Dead". It took me forever for a few reasons, one being I'm trying to workout again, and my husband is home for a while, so I never quite read as much as when he's not. The other reason it took me so long is because I truly thought this book was soooo boring...half way through I actually got frustrated because it seemed like nothing was happening...the last quarter of the book is what saved it for me and making me want to start the next one right away. I think I actually missed parts because I think I zoned out a bit while reading...thats how boring it was.
2 out of 5 stars!
Where "All Together Dead" was boring till the end for me, "From Dead to Worse" was on go from the beginning. Even I felt exhausted from the climactic battles and familial reveals. The flow of major events and smaller ones were well written and interesting to read. It was like stacking blocks on top of each other and I was wondering how much could be stacked in one book. I'm not quite sure how I feel about Sookie...I think all the adventure and near death experiences have really taken a toll on her character. She seems so worn down now, I was glad in the end when she had the alligence of pretty much everyone. Although it seems like everything that has happened has made her...rough around the edges if that makes sense.
Her breakup with Quinn was rough, and at first I did think she was a b**ch...but then I thought about it, and I could see her reasoning. There's nothing wrong with him being there for his mother and sister, but he didn't even stick around that night to see if she was okay...he didn't say anything till the next morning...and that actually says a lot and I understood what she was saying. But she didn't have to be angry about it...just because she has been screwed over by the vamps and weres so many times doesen't mean she can now take it out on one guy.
Ugg, and don't get me started on Jason and Crystal.
Lol, okay...now that I got my bitterness out of the way :) I really did enjoy this enstallement, and the ending really opens up a lot of things for Sookie...I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5
Hmm, "The Time Traveler's Wife" was an interesting read in moral ambiguity. I have some likes, some dislikes, and alot of "hmm" moments. The Likes:
-Even though it deals with a sci fi premise, I liked that it dealt with this very out of this world problem and set it in my reality. I always looks at emotional ramifications in stories and this delivered immensely.
-For the most part, it was written very well.
sadly that's all I can think of.
Dislikes:
-Clare is a case of poor rich girl. I didn't really feel much for her till she made a comment about adoption, "it would be pretending"...my jaw dropped and while I don't hate her or anything, I couldn't view her in the same light the rest of the book.
-There were so many descriptive moments about food I kept skimming...I didn't get it and it just got in the way.
-There was a lot of talk and not a lot of showing...I was being told a lot Henry was a real bad man before Clare, but I never really saw it.
Now my "hmm" moments:
-I don't know how to feel about Henry and Clare. Their relationship is so one sided and so manipulated by Henry. His involvement in her childhood completely skews their relationship, you don't know what happens naturally and what happens because he's stearing the course.
-Not to mention the skeevy undertones of him spending time with his wife as a child, and then when she turned 18?!?!? I didn't really find it sexy or romantic.
-Clare apparently has no other aspirations then waiting for Henry. That makes me really sad for her. Yea she does paper art, but her whole life...all she does and all she ends up wanting is to wait for him.
The ending seems so weird because it just jumps to it. Its hard to explain without giving anything away.
All in all, I give it a 2 out of 5 stars.
"Dead and Gone" felt like a departure from formula for me. Sookie has definitely become jaded through her experiances, and it's understandable really, it's called progression and I can respect that. With everything she's been through, it makes sense her character would change. Although I miss the Sookie from the first few books, especially the first book. I'm hoping the fairies won't be featured much in the future...although this entire series deals with the supernatural, it's dealt with in the realm of our reality, but adding the fairies seems to dip major into the fantasy and I'm not completely down with that. In addition, Sookie's life was made much more worse when the fairies took a primary role in this book.
Her relationship with Eric took some major steps forward...but I have the same problem with them that I did with Henry and Clare in "The Time Traveler's Wife"; how much of their relationship is natural and how much is because of the blood bond? (I know, not quite like TTTW, but if you've read the book you get my meaning :P) I am glad Sookie realizes this and voices it.
The ending climax was more suspenseful then action packed, like the previous books. Wasn't as gripping to me as the previous ones.
Overall it was an engaging book and I was into it. Seems like a natural progression in the story and I am interested in seeing what happens next.
Just saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" the movie today and I wanted to say, I liked the ending in the movie better then in the book. I think it gave it a real sense of closure for not just the story but for the characters. I also loved how Clare addressed the fact that Henry left a huge imprint on Clare at an early age and that it affects her life greatly.
Finally finished "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass". Oh my goodness, maybe it's because I am a jaded adult now, but it was one of the most frustrating reads I have ever read. I can totally see why Tim Burton wanted to make a movie out of this because it reads like one long acid trip. It truly was reading a dream with how confusing and seamless and pointless it was. It's definitely something I'd like my daughter to read when she gets to the age to do so, cause she may enjoy it more then I did. I am glad to have finally read it though and I may read it again sometime in the future, maybe a second read will help me appreciate it more.
The time it took me to read "Nurtureshock" does not reflect my enjoyment and interest in it. My daughter is turning one on March 29th and these last few weeks have been nothing but planning and dealing with an 11 month old. I think all parents, whether first time or seasoned, should read this book. It's not so much a parenting book in the style of step by step guides, but a case for doing and thinking of certain situations differently. There very interesting topics such as the inverse of praise, how a child learns/views race, the development of language in babies, the importance of sleep in children and more. I found all interesting and well thought out and very well researched. All of these topics were dealt with scientifically...experiments were performed and the findings were analyzed, so nothing is just the willy nilly thoughts of some new-ager. :)
Enjoyed it and like I said, I recommend it for all parents...heck, even for adults without children but interested in child development. I'm going to try and get my husband to read it.
i really wanna read the time travelers wifei'm planning on buying it!
Whew, what was supposed to be a light read took waay longer then it should have. But I had a lot going on in the last few weeks...my daughter turned one (yay!), I had a lot of planning and setting up to do for that, plus I had a lot of family visiting and my mom and brother were staying with me...so a lot of things to get together. Then after they left my daughter, my husband, and I got sick :(...then I found a new obsession called swap-bot...but I am not giving up on my challenge! This is just always the time of year that whatever I promised myself I would do in January would kind of fall apart...but I am working forward and am determined not to let that happen. So "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is what I consider to be a light read. Just a little over 200 pages and pretty straight forward in the story and especially the story telling. The main character, Christopher who is also narrating, has what I believe to be Aspergers Syndrome, although I don't recall if it was ever specified. But the little I know about it explains Christophers behavior...or really what drives his behavior. It all starts when his neighbor's dog is found dead stabbed with a pitch fork, and he takes it upon himself to find the killer, like in a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
At times I found the narration frustrating because it is over explaining and sometimes overly explaining little trivial things...but this is on purpose and to further get you in the mind of a kid with Aspergers. So in that regard, I found it very fascinating. The overall story seemed a bit soap opera-ish but it does work for the story.
So I liked it and do recommend it as a light read or for anyone interested in Aspergers.
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by: Steig LarssonI really liked this story. Wasn't anything incredibly new and original and I had a feeling of the who and why halfway through, but I was still intrigued and couldn't put it down for the last half of the book. I thought it dragged a bit in the beginning and the ending, but when it got going in the middle, it REALLY shot into gear and that's where the strength in the story was, in the "not knowing what's gonna happen next" and for a moment I thought it could have gone anywhere. I haven't read the synopsis for the second book so I genuinely didn't know.
The moment that shocked me completely was attack done to Lisbeth Salender, and her backround story was just really sad to me. I don't want to give much away, but that part of the story really surprised me and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like I said before, I don't know what the second book is about, although I will be reading that next.
All in all, I'm glad I read this and I am glad I read this first. I only bought it on my kindle because I friend read "the girl that played with fire" and she gave it to me saying she really loved it. But I knew that was the second in the trilogy so I bought "...dragon tattoo" first.
There are parts where I think the imagination has to be stretched a bit and I kept getting confused as to who was talking in a two person conversation. But it was nothing too distracting and I was able to keep up for the most part.
So I really liked this and I will be starting the next one tomorrow.
"The Girl who Played with Fire" by: Steig LarssonThe second installment of "The Girl..." series is just as good if not better then the first in my opinion. The action, suspense, and general story are written extremely well and keeps the reader always wanting to know more. Makes it hard to put down.
The book isn't without it's flaws though: Larsson has a tendency to go into detail very mundane activities which I am sure is to show a person's character quirks, but it just makes for lulls in the story. Another thing was I don't get Salander's reasons for completely shutting out Blompski...well, I guess I actually do and I think the reasons are completely childish but it makes sense for Salander to act that way. So while frustrating, not out of character.
I really liked this story. A friend had given it to me after she spent an entire day (while she was flying from one side of the country to the other) reading it. She had never heard of it before and she didn't know there was a book written before. You don't need to read the first one because while it is referenced, it doesn't really matter to this story. Although reading the first one may clear up some things as to Lisbeth's character, but enough gets covered here to not feel lost.
I definitely recommend this book though. It's about 630 pages and it only took me seven days to read it because I couldn't sit and read all day, although I wanted to! :)
"When All is Said and Done" by: Robert HillThis book gets three stars because I think it goes way overboard with the metaphors. I like that this story wasn't so much a story of who did what to get to there and how this situation happened...but more a snapshot into the lives of Myrmy and Dan and their family, and when it did that I enjoyed what the story was about and thought it was at it's strongest. It's when the descriptions become existential and the sentences last for two paragraphs that my mind would wander.
Maybe it's just me because this is definitely a different style of writing and I can appreciate it for what it is and for trying to tell what may have been a boring story in an interesting way. This style just isn't for me though.
But this is not to say I didn't like it altogether. I loved the dynamic between Myrmy and Dan and how their gender roles were challenged, this being set in the 60's and while both worked, Myrmy is the main bread winner. It was interesting that Dan never seemed to harbor any resentment toward her for that...there were others reasons for resentment, but that comes with a long marriage.
I thought it was interesting, if a little unbelievable, that Mrymy being who she is made out to be in the book did both roles, mother and working girl, so well. But maybe some people have it in them to make both roles work.
What I dislike most is the style of writing, it took me out of the story many times and I would have to re-read what I just read because I would turn a page and not know what happened. I just zoned out.
What I like most is that this book makes you think. I can always appreciate books that do that.
This is a book I had seen around forever and never read. Then I was given a $50.00 gift card to barnes and noble, and I thought now was as good a time as any. I must say, I liked it. It reflects a simpler time and therefore was a simple read. Everything is straight forward and the adventures are exhilarating and interesting. Mind you now, when I say simpler times, I don't necessarily mean it as a good thing. I mean it more as people played the roles they thought they had to.
I thought the characters were fully developed and I loved the relationship between Atticus, Jem and Scout. I liked how in a very traditional time, Atticus was in many ways, a modern father. Scout was a wonderful narrator for this story, she encompassed the precociousness of childhood with out the entitlement. Jem and his journey to adulthood was written very well and the specter roles, from villain to hero and all the shades in between were very well expressed.
I have to say nothing really surprised me, but I was intrigued the whole way.
"The Mermaid Chair" by: Sue Monk KiddLet me start off by saying I loved "The Secret Life of Bees", so naturally I wanted to read something else by the same author. But I feel that the heart and soul of "...Bees" was missing in "The Mermaid Chair". Or maybe it's my aversion to stories of cheating to find one self. Especially with the "meet-cute" of Jessie and Brother Thomas, I just find justifications for cheating annoying and an all too easy of a go to for a woman "finding one's self". Yet, I was surprised and bored about the ending, nothing seemed to jump out at me.
When the story focused on Nelle, I was way more intrigued. But the characterizations seemed hollow at times.
It was an easy enough read to get through a six hour road trip.
"The Help" by: Kathryn StockettI bought this book months ago but I had been a little intimidated to read it at first due to it's size. I was afraid of how long it would take me to read it. I don't know what made me do it this month, the month of my midway point on my goal, but I picked it up and said what the heck.
I'm only sorry I didn't do it sooner. I started it on the first, but I've read 3/4's of it just in the last three days, it was that good I didn't want to put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next. That feeling doesn't happen often for me, or the feeling of being jazzed after finishing it. It's midnight and I couldn't sleep till I wrote a review.
So if you haven't figured, I loved it very much!!! "The Help" is set in the 60's in Jackson, Mississippi and follows three women during a period when they decide to write a "tell all" of sorts.
I realized early on that what was making me want to continue and making me figuratively sit on the edge of my seat was the tension the book conveys. The 60's was such a tension filled time and when your reading about black maids to white upper class women, you could cut it with a knife. So the tension was built it, but Kathryn Stockett does a wonderful job of writing it in a way that makes you want to turn the page even if your afraid someone is gonna die. And really, in the 60's, there is little to be surprised about unfortunately.
The characters and their relationships to one another was so beautifully written, they are so rich and colorful and you feel what they feel...you felt Aibileen and Minny's bond and Skeeter's awkwardness and the racism is just dripping like a leaky faucet in the backround.
This book made me want to get up and cheer.
Great review. I think that in ten to twenty years, The Help will be up there with To Kill a MockingBird as a must read classic.
@Betsy- Thank you and I completely agree. There are only a few books I want to keep so my daughter could read when she's older...one of them is "To Kill a Mockingbird" and another is "The Help"...there is so much to take away from both of them...I'm so glad I've read both and so close together, because I think there is more to take in when you read "...Mockingbird" first and then "The Help".
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by: Junot DiazAfter thinking about it over night, I think this is one of those books that you don't quite understand the point of it until you've read the whole thing. Even now, I still don't get the why of it all...but I still liked it. I liked how the narrator was revealed to be an actual person involved in the story and not just a third person narrative. The history the story was involved in is as rich as it is bloody. The characters were real. It only gets three stars from me though because there were definite points through out the book that I just didn't understand or care why we were going there, like pretty much anything not having to do with Oscar. Considering he is the title's namesake, I thought he'd have more to do except for the last act. It's confusing at times whether the story is truly about Oscar or Yunior.
Despite this I still think it was a good read and would recommend this to friends.
"Dead in the Family" by: Charlaine HarrisLike many others, I eagerly anticipated this book because I am in love with Sookie and Bon Temps, and for me, reading this series at this point, is like visiting old friends whom I love but don't see often. So in that aspect, the book was fine for me.
Glimpsing others reviews before I finished the book, I understand where some were coming from when they said not a lot happened. Not a lot did, till the end, and it was tied up neatly. I am interested in some of the plots points that will probably carry over to the next book, like the registering of the were-people and Eric's situation with Victor. I have a feeling the next book will be more tense and eventful because of that, so I'm looking forward to it.
This book seemed like a segue to the next book or it could have been a short story for all that happened and all we learned. Despite this, I still liked it, although it's definitely not as memorable to me.
I have to say too, that while I get that after everything Sookie has been through, her character was bound to change, it wouldn't have been realistic if she hadn't...but I miss the Sookie from "Dead Until Dark".
I wonder too, if Charlaine Harris writes the characters now being influenced by the show. I felt this was while reading "The Lost Symbol" and thinking Dan Brown was totally writing Robert Langdon with Tom Hanks in mind. It could be just me because I am imagining the characters from the show while reading the book.
"Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by: David SedarisI found this book at a library sale which I thought was really kool since I've seen this book all over the place. I've been wanting to read Sedaris for a while cause I've also seen his other books, "Naked" and "Me Talk Pretty One Day" all over the place for years.
I only still want to read the others because I've seen other reviews who feel the same way as I do.
I think the gamble with memoirs is that it can be subjective. Every chapter was a mini essay of sorts and there was never a feeling of end. There was always a beginning, a build-up, then it limped to an end and then we started a while new tale. Nothing really flowed for me, and a good chunk of this was not very interesting to me.
Also, I realized this towards the end...in real life, I don't think I would like David Sedaris as a friend. It's amazing how that made me view the book. It was funny in parts and boring in parts and I never had the urge to finish it. I finished it to finish it.
"Getting Mother's Body" by: Suzan-Lori Parks (2 out of 5 stars)I have been so out of sorts with my goal and it's a combination of the book and other events in my life. But sticking with the book, it uses the same narrative (in a sense) as "Olive Kitteridge" but O.K did it a lot better. I feel like the story was supposed to have this big emotional pay off, and it doesn't...at the end, it just sort of limps into the sunset. I didn't hate it, and it was an easy read once I actually sat and read it...but I couldn't get into any of the characters and really feel for them.
"Testing Kate" by: Whitney GaskellAhh...nothing like some chick lit to get me out of my reading funk, lol. I thought the story was very intriguing, setting it in a law school setting was great as a backdrop. There were moment where I was genuinely shocked, but it was like watching a romantic comedy...I still got love for it though.
Meagan wrote: "The time it took me to read "Nurtureshock" does not reflect my enjoyment and interest in it. My daughter is turning one on March 29th and these last few weeks have been nothing but planning and dea..."Best advice I ever got was "Have fun with your children", I was sorry when they got too old to play "Slap Jack with mother.
"P.S I Love You" by: Cecelia AhernOh my goodness this book was sooo much better then the movie. lol. This was a story about loss and grieving and how grueling that can be...no matter how much time passes by. It was about hope and realizing what you had and what you still have even when you feel there is nothing left.
It's sappy but it's supposed to be...I laughed out loud at parts and cried (not bawl like a baby though, lol) at parts and by the end, I felt like the journey was over, but there was still more to look forward to.
So generally, I liked this book. I've been in a slump with my reading goal and some other things, but this book really kicked my reading behind back in gear.
I recommend this to anyone looking for a light read but with heart and soul to it.
"Catch-22" by: Joseph HellerThis was definitely not a light read. I didn't think it was going into it, but it was a lot more complicated then I initially thought it would be. It's a 450 plus page book and I was a little over half way through with it before I started to "get" it and even enjoy it a bit.
I joked to my mother while reading it that I need to find the Cliff's Notes for this book so I can understand which characters do what and who is in relation to who and to get the themes the author is conveying straight. Now that I'm finished I actually do think seeing the "Cliff's Notes" would help me understand it more.
This is what I did get from it...the story follows the character Yossarian, a WWII pilot who is convinced everyone is trying to kill him and was to go home after he's completed his set number of missions. Except the number keeps getting raised and he is forced to fly more and more till he can't take it no more.
The tension and the unfairness of war on soldiers was conveyed well here, and the absurdity of reason was the theme tying everything together.
I would probably have to read it again to truly appreciate it. Maybe someday I will, lol. Once I got over my large boring hump with this book and I really got into and enjoyed it.
"Was It Something I Said" by: Valerie BlockNothing like some chick lit after a complicated read...although what I was expecting was not exactly what I got with this book...and it's good and a bad thing.
This is billed as a "classic will-they-or-won't-they?" type of story between the characters of Barry and Justine. They meet when their plane crashes in the beginning of the book and they form a relationship from there. They are both in their late 30's and feel like the opportunities of finding a life partner have passed them by. For Justine because of work and for Barry because of his indifference.
The good: like I said, it wasn't what I expected. Both characters are very easy to not like and I thought that was a brave decision. I wanted to know how it was gonna end (although I had an idea) and I was sucked into it early on, which is always nice.
The bad: The characters are easy to not like, and I think for many different portions of the story, I didn't like either of them. Especially Justine. She struggles through out most of the book trying to decide if she's with Barry because of love or because her options are limited.
There were times I didn't even want them to stay together.
The supporting characters of Pippa and Vince served no purpose to the story. Pippa was interesting and I liked her and I would probably read an entire book following her...but for this story I didn't understand or care about her purpose. Vince was just a waste of space. I kept waiting for the "a-ha" moment to click in and it never did. I'm sure he's there to show the other side of the coin, so to speak, but I didn't care.
Speaking of not caring...I didn't believe a lot of things. Not in a "it could never happen" kind of way, but in a "I don't believe it when they are nice and loving towards one another" kind of way.
Is it possible to be hooked into a book where you come out the other end not liking the characters or the story?
"Little Earthquakes" by: Jennifer WeinerI picked this book up at the swap meet for a buck...I recognized the author and her previous works (although I had not read them) and thought why not? I'm falling behind on my goal for the year so I was in need of some chick-lit.
"Little Earthquakes" attracted me by it's premise...mothers dealing with real mother/wife/woman problems in the real world. Which is similar to what I've dealt with in the past 17 months...what I didn't quite expect from it were how real the characters were and how their stories affected me emotionally.
Lia, Becky, Kelly, and Ayinde were women who I would want to be friends with. That's how real they were written. The way they spoke and they way they thought were similar to my own and it made me totally invested in their lives. I laughed with them and cried with them and my time was much more richly spent reading this book then watching tv.
By the end of the book I was in tears, and while it's not what I signed up for when I chose this book, I recommend anything that makes me feel.
"A Bigamist's Daughter" by: Alice McDermottI have read many books were I didn't really like it, but was still able to appreciate it and finish it. This was different because I just didn't like it at all. (I did finish it though)
I feel like the whole book should be read with melancholy music in the background...imagine it and that's how the whole book is like...except a thousand times more pretentious. The main character of Elizabeth lives her whole life with herself as the tortured female lead in her own mental drama. She manipulates the people at work and in her personal life. She is an editor-in-chief at a vanity press and comes to enjoy the manipulation she doles out to people who believe her when she says their book is the stuff of great literary fiction.
The love story between her and aspiring author Tupper Daniels is crap. They hit all the points but there is no sincerity on either end...I think that's the way it's supposed to be for her...but I don't know if it was purposeful for him. Flat out, I didn't believe it from the beginning. I kept expecting something to be reveled that would explain everything, and it never came. I think what was supposed to pass as an explanation was just plain confusing...like I am supposed to read between the lines, but they criss cross.
In the end I thought this novel was pretentious, poorly executed, and way too reliant on melodrama.
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Bell Jar (other topics)A Bigamist's Daughter (other topics)
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story (other topics)
Little Earthquakes (other topics)
Was It Something I Said? (other topics)
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I think I will be able to make this goal because there are plenty I want to read, but the challenges ahead are balancing my love of reading along with raising my daughter and keeping house.
But here we go...
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