Book Reviews -- 2005
As in previous years,
this page of book reviews is updated regularly. As my photography and
Photoshop have overtaken my reading time, there are fewer books on this list
than in previous years. Still, I do find a little time to read, and there are
plane trips on the itinerary...
I'm always looking for book recommendations, so please let me know what books you've enjoyed lately, or better yet, just send them on!
These ratings are on a 1 to 5
scale, 5 being "The Best!" DNF means I did not
finish the book. For a list of my favorite books, click
here. Click
here to see the
complete author-sorted list
of books read in the last six years. From this author list you can get to
the review. Also there's a recommended list with
My Favorite Books
|
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Other Short
Stories Capote, Truman |
With the movie, Capote, now out, Truman is back on the best seller list. He writes so marvelously, making the characters and stories come to life with simple but compelling prose. Breakfast at Tiffany's, the Holly Golightly story, is one of his most famous -- deservedly so. An easy read that's highly recommended | 4.8 |
|
The Sound and the Fury Faulkner, William |
My first Faulkner. A somewhat confusing, yet fascinating book. The story of the Compson family is told in the first person from five perspectives. The punctuation could have been greatly improved, though it is part of its charm, but the story and it's nuances are totally engrossing. Still powerful today. | 4.7 |
|
Reading Lolita in Tehran Nafisi, Azar |
An unlikely intersection of veiled women and classical writers. This memoir about a literature professor and her advanced reading group pits the characters of Nabokov, James, Fitzgerald and Austen against the backdrop of ideologues at the University of Tehran, the turbulent times in Iran after the fall of the Shah, and the ascendance of Ayatollah Khomeini and the religious right. A fascinating glimpse into recent history. | 4.5 |
|
the curious incident of the dog in the
night-time Haddon, Mark |
This NY Times bestseller, was June's book club selection at the Verona WI library. I was sick the week I picked it up, and -- for the first time EVER-- I can say I finished the book in a day! Christopher is a 15 year-old autistic savant; he loves math and has a photographic memory. His quest for a dog murderer leads him to discover things about the lives of his father and his (not- so-) dead mother. This novel is surprisingly entertaining, as we view the world from Christopher's perspective. | 4.5 |
|
The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing Bank, Melissa |
A NY Times bestseller, this entertaining collection of stories is more subtle and better written than Bridget Jones. Easy reading and definitely entertaining. | 4.1 |
|
The Good Earth Buck, Pearl S. |
Selected by Oprah for her book club, this Nobel Prize winning classic of pre-revolutionary China tells the story of farmer Wang Lung, his wife O-lan (a former slave) and their children. From his humble beginnings, Wang's love of the land and his hard work guide him through draught and plenty. But no matter the circumstances, there are always troubles. | 4.0 |
|
Housekeeping Robinson, Marilynne |
Robinson only wrote one novel, Housekeeping, before her second novel, Gilead, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005. Housekeeping is story of Ruth and her sister Lucille, and the women who raise them. It's written in a way that makes the implausible seem ordinary; the eccentric (or even crazy) seem only somewhat unusual. I loved the imagery, but the book seemed too difficult at the end | 3.8 |
|
Split Second Baldacci, David |
Sometimes, you just want to try one of those authors of mystery books that has a huge following with people regularly propelling their books to the top of best seller lists. This year it was Baldacci. Split Second started off well enough, and I did finish it since I was sick and didn't have anything else to read. But the ending got tedious and contrived. I is likely to be my one and only Baldacci novel. | 3.0 |
|
Mystic River Lehane, Dennis |
Perhaps the movie is better. The book was rather predictable and not especially well written. Still, I had a some time with not much else in hand, so somehow I skimmed through to the end. Looks like it recieved some good reviews, but not from me. | 2.0 |
|
Jean Genet
in Tangier Choukri, Mohamed |
French writer Genet spent some time in Algiers and for some reason befriended the author -- at least they spent a few hours together. The writer was so honored he wrote this short and boring book about his very limited experience. | 1.0 |
|
Sons and Lovers Lawrence, D.H. |
This semi-autobiographical novel relates the story of Paul Morel and his love hatred relationships with women -- his mother, his childhood friend, Miriam, and his married older woman lover Clara. After reading 4/5 of this novel I finally gave it up. The ups and downs of these relationships and the story of the lower classes just didn't resonate with me. | DNF |
|
Islands Siddons, Anne Rivers |
Another try at reading one of today's popular authors. This drawn out tale of a group of friends, mostly Charleston well-to-do's, started off interesting, but after a while the narrative seemed to drift into slow irrelevant descriptive trivia. I skimmed some parts, but we finally arrived in the USA, and I found a book store. | DNF |
|
My Sister's Keeper Picoult, Jodi
|
The Verona (WI) library had this as their July book-club book. Wanting to join in, I started this story of Anna who parents conceived her so that she could provide blood, marrow and other organs for her sister with leukemia. Anna now a teenager decides she's had enough and hires a lawyer. The soap opera begins. | DNF |
|
Mazel Goldstein, Rebecca
|
Picking books by wandering the library aisle is not the best of methods, but it seemed like a plan at the time. I ended up with this book and The Edge of Heaven this time for a week at Curry Lake . Unfortunately neither was my cup pf tea. Each had a beginning that just seemed to go on and on, and by page 50 I'd had enough. |
DNF |
|
The Edge of Heaven Golden, Marita
|
I'm a little bit interested in how our heroine's mother killed her younger sister and ended up in jail, but not enough to read past page 50! Like Mazel, this book had a beginning that just never ended. | DNF |
|
Under the Banner of Heaven Krakauer, Jon
|
Krakauer has written some terrific books; I highly recommend Into Thin Air and Eiger Dreams. So when I saw this book I was excited. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish this one. This documentary about Mormonism and the god-decreed Lafferty brothers murder of their sister-in-law was too rambling and detailed to keep my interest. The book started well but fizzled. | DNF |