may book update

May was a good reading month—I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth and got through a few more books fairly quickly.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone was another book club book which we are actually discussing tonight. It’s another fantasy trilogy, but a bit different than the others I’ve read. The first book was a lot of buildup and background to what will follow in the next 2 books. A majority of the story takes place on Earth, however you learn more about a war that’s happening in another world between the angels and chimaera. As with most books with war, there’s also star-crossed love. I’m looking forward to reading about the adventures of Karou; however I will have to wait until November to read Days of Blood and Starlight. I seem to get in this trap a lot.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I finally finished The Pillars of the Earth. I had read a couple of other books in the middle of this one and since it’s about 1000 pages long, I didn’t get through it as quickly as I wanted to. However, it was really good, and I really don’t mind good, long books. The story takes place in the 1100s in medieval England. It centered on the building of Kingsbridge Cathedral. Over the course of 50+ years, you get to know the key characters and either love or hate them. Obstacles are overcome by the ‘good’ guys and somehow the ‘bad’ guys succeed more often than not, but in the end, they get what they deserve. I now want to watch the TV miniseries to see how they bring the story to life. That'll be a summer project.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Ernest Hemingway was an asshole. The Paris Wife is a fictional take on the marriage of Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, when they lived in Paris. I thought the book was really good and gave you a good perspective of Hemingway’s life. Not that I knew much before. You understand a bit more about his personal life and of those around him, including F. Scott Fitzgerald. This reminds me, I want to re-read The Great Gatsby later this year before the movie comes out. As much as Hemingway annoyed me, I wasn’t too pleased with Hadley either. I get that this was the 20s and she was supporting her husband, but she put up with too much and should have left him much earlier than she did.  

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster

This is the 2^nd memoir by Jen Lancaster. I had read the first one a few years ago and since my book club recommended it, I decided to give it a go—even though I missed the discussion. It was pretty funny. Jen chronicles her life in the city (Chicago) while her first book in getting published. As a NYC-dweller, I can definitely relate to some of the hilarious stuff that happens to her. It was a pretty quick read and a nice reprieve.

I’m currently reading The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and will probably finish it pretty quickly. I’ll also try to check off another book off my list below.

-       The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

-       The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

-       The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

-       The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

-       Anthem by Ayn Rand

-       1984 by George Orwell

17/30 books in 2012.

april book update

I only completed one book last month. I guess that’s what happens when you start a 1000-page book. It’s taking a bit longer than expected.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

This was a recommendation for book club. And since Opening Day was a few weeks ago, it seemed fitting. The book isn’t necessarily all about baseball, but more about the lives that are affected when a standard throw to first base goes off course.

You get to know various people at this small college on Lake Michigan, when Henry—who’s been errorless so far in his career—throws a ball that doesn’t hit the first baseman’s glove like it should have. You see how the lives of students, administration and outsiders are affected. I thought it was a pretty good book and would highly recommend it.

I started to read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet and have gotten to the middle—actually 49%. Next month (assuming I finish it), I’ll go a bit deeper into it. So far so good.

13/30 books in 2012.

march book update

I of course got some more reading in last month, but only got through 3 books. I was very busy with work, and took a vacation where I didn’t spend a lot of time reading.

Faithful Place by Tana French

I finally read Faithful Place, the 3^rd book in Tana French’s Dublin crime squad series. I read the last one a few years ago and really liked it. I do enjoy reading crime novels and especially like the Irish aspect of them.  

An undercover detective is drawn back to his childhood neighborhood when his old girlfriend’s suitcase turns up in an abandoned building. It was thought she had run off to London to start a new life. As the investigation starts, it’s quickly established that never made it to London. Since this is a murder mystery, I couldn’t put the book down. Now I need to get my hands on the 4^th one in the series.

Entangled by Barbara Ellen Brink

I read Entangled while on vacation and it was perfect for it. It was a quick read. Not the most well written book (I guess that’s why it was free on my kindle), but it did the job. This woman inherits her uncle’s winery and old childhood memories start to crop up. They had been blocked out for a few decades since it was pretty traumatic. Definitely some heavy stuff, but I thought it could have been a much better book.

Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I decided to re-read Scarlet Letter since I remember liking it in high school. It took a little while to get through the old Puritanical English. Parts of it infuriated me and it’s kind of amazing that this is what it was like when our country was born. Damn Puritans. I don’t condone adultery at all. But I didn’t appreciate Hester taking all the slack for it. It was nice to read this book again. I enjoy having a new perception on books that I read over 10 years ago.

Now it's time to read The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet!

12/30 books in 2012.

february book update

Time for my February book update! I had a nice mix of classics, young adult and comedic books to round out the month.

Bossypants by Tina Fey

I started Bossypants towards the end of January and finished it pretty quickly. It was pretty funny. I mean it is Tina Fey. Of course it was going to be funny. But as someone who doesn’t really watch 30 Rock or followed her SNL career too closely, I wasn’t too familiar with her as much as others. I of course have seen a few SNL skits, including her impersonations of Sarah Palin. You would have to live in a bubble if you've never seen them.

Tina puts a comedic spin on various points of her life and how she got to this point in her life. I did think she was funny before reading the book, but now I definitely need to catch up on 30 Rock. I guess it’s time to get my hands on the last few seasons.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

I borrowed Slaughterhouse Five from a co-worker. This has been a book that I kept seeing at the bookstore and on various lists of books to read. I saw my co-worker Dan reading it, so I figured it was time to do it.

It was a pretty good book. Like with any book that has time travel or flips back and forth between different decades, it takes a while to adjust to that style. Billy Pilgrim is a POW of WWII and experiences time travel, or so he thinks, all the way from his childhood to the point when he is murdered. The murder isn’t really that exciting. Just some dude who vows revenge for his war buddy that falsely states that Billy had something to do with his death.

Not only does Billy time travel through his life, but he is also captured by aliens. Yup. Aliens. The story mainly centers on the bombing of Dresden during the war. Apparently this was supposed to be funny. I didn’t find it too humorous. I seriously considered Billy was experiencing post-traumatic syndrome. Or at least somehow it was a dream.

Fall Girl by Marybeth Smith

My theme has been reading a classic, and then reading some random easy book that I downloaded for free on my kindle. And this was one of them. This definitely wasn't a classic, and didn’t require much thinking. A bunch of teenage drama that was slightly entertaining. An interesting element was one of the characters had bipolar disorder. At the end of the book, I found that that author actually has bipolar. It was free and super quick to read so I didn’t mind it too well.

The Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker

This was suggested for my book club since one of the members knows the author. Again, this was another Young Adult book with some teenage drama. However, less drama that the previous book. It takes place in small town Kentucky, where a teenage girl is trying to fit in her high school. The small-town girl in me could relate to some of the aspects of the story.

We actually had a Q&A over Skpe with the author a couple of weeks ago. Which was pretty cool. It was nice to hear a bit more how the book was related to her own life. And I’m now headed to Kentucky in April. Bring on Derby Days!

Anthem by Ayn Rand

Ok. Enough with the teen drama. Time for another classic. Another dystopian book. I didn’t realize there were so many of them. All futures are apparently very bleak.

I enjoyed reading this book and it was also very quick read.  Literally, it was one page=1%. The shortest book so far on my kindle.

Like other Ayn Rand books, I liked it. I do feel it is time to re-read The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. I will plan to do that soon, since it’s been more than 6 years.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? By Mindy Kaling

Another funny book! So I don’t watch The Office. I know lots of people who do. And apparently it’s funny. I believe them. However, I had never heard of Mindy Kalning before my friend recommended it for book club.

It was funny. Definitely some very humorous parts. My friend thought it was way funnier. She was laughing out loud when I was reading Slaughterhouse Five. Very rude I thought. I was reading something depressing and she was laughing out loud. Anyway I do recommend this book for a good laugh.

I’m currently in the middle of Faithful Place by Tana French. Another Dublin crime drama. The 3rd in the author's series and it’s a page turner. I’ll let you know how it goes next month!

9/30 books in 2012.