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.