Thursday, July 10, 2014
Recently Read
As usual, skip it if you wanna.
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Novel about a young girl in Germany in the 1940s, I found it stilted and disjointed. I didn't finish it.
2. Couldn't Keep it to Myself by Wally Lamb - Life stories written by women prison inmates. Interesting, but they were all kind of the same: "I got involved with a bad man, and now I'm in prison." Eh.
3. Bootstrapper by Mardi Jo Link - Memoir about a single mom raising three sons. The subtitle of the book - "From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm" made me think they were back-to-the-landers, but other than a few chickens, no. Still, a fairly interesting read.
4. A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen - I tend to stay away from cat biographies, because, well, we all know how they end, but this one, about a recovering addict street busker in London and his stray cat, was a charming, quick read. Recommended as a gift for the cat nut in your life.
5. Hunter's Horn by Harriette Arnow - Novel about a backwater Apalachian family in the runup to WWII. Very, very good. I loved her book "The Dollmaker", so I'm not surprised I loved this one as well. Hated for it to end.
6. A Way of Life, Like Any Other by Darcy O'Brien - I thought this was a memoir about growing up in old Hollywood, but instead it was a novel. Meh.
7. The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig - Novel about a little boy and his father, who runs a western saloon, in 1960. Good.
8. Sisters - Coming of Age and Living Dangerously in the Wild Copper River Valley by Samme Gallaher and Aileen Gallaher - Memoir of two sisters in Alaska in the 1920s. Very interesting.
9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I don't know why I pick up murder mysteries; I don't like them. This one got rave reviews, but I found it contrived and only got about fifty pages in before I gave up.
10. Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller - Memoir of a woman who grew up in a hoarding household. Interesting.
11. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash - Novel, told through different viewpoints, of a boyhood tragedy. Good.
12. Mary Coin by Marisa Silver - Novel about a Depression-era mother, told from three different viewpoints. I read the parts that were set in the Depression, and skipped the other eras (60s and modern-day), and it was good.
Okay, guys, I'm looking for some good books to read. Whaddaya got?
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7 comments:
I'm surprised every time when you produce such a long list of books read in such a short time....When do you read? And where do you find the new titles?
(Throwback Thursday memory of Silk writing about spend godawful Hurricane Sandy aftermath under her blankets with her Kindle....reading until it conked out. Then, regular books.)
Ginny, I actually read a lot less than I used to ... I used to read two or three books a week, and now it's down to about one a week. I've always got a book at hand at home, except for when I'm in the foster room. I read when I'm watching TV, I read when I'm sitting out in the back yard, I read when I'm in the bathroom ... TMI? Sorry!
Do you remember that Twilight Zone episode - the one where the bookworm survives the apocalypse and finds that he's finally got all the time he needs to read? But given how that episode turned out, I'll take my stolen moments. Ha.
Sometimes if I'm looking for something to read, I'll go to Amazon, choose a book I know I like, and then use the "if you liked that, you might like this" feature. Sometimes I just browse library shelves. Sometimes I buy books at the thrift store. Anything that catches my eye.
That said, I'm not particularly fond of "literature". I need a book I can connect with, not a book I need to dissect to appreciate.
My mom was an avid reader. Maybe it's genetic.
I am loathe to recommend something that: a) is going to end up in the throne room, or b) is going to earn a "meh" posted for all to see. But I like almost all Anne Tyler's work......also, Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman....Adrift by Steven Callahan. I'm not one for killin' or steamy scenes. My Brilliant Career by somebody (a 16 year old Australian girl wrote it years and years ago). I'm thinkin'.
P.S. Hope your readers know that it's ME (Ginny) and not James who is offering book suggestions. Yikes. His would have lots of killin'.
Thanks for the suggestions, Ginny. My Brilliant Career looks really interesting - I'm going to look for that one. Wasn't it a movie? - I seem to remember the name.
p.s. I give most stuff a "meh" - don't worry about it.
James is watching a C Span book review of Finding the Dragon Lady....about Madame Nhu. Sounds like something you could get into....She was a real piece of work, going back to French rule in the '40s.
I just googled her - not somebody you'd wanna meet in a dark alley, I'm thinking.
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