Can't Stop Book Blogging

#4: Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:20:59 -0500

I love this series. It’s probably one of my favorites, and the author Ally Carter is one of my favorite bloggers. While reading Cross My Heart I was struck by the many similarities between it and Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, which is not necessarily a criticism, but…it was a little strange. There’s a Grand Hall, a beginning-of-the-year dinner (probs a common tradition in boarding schools), a mansion with secret passage ways, a withholding font of infinite wisdom (Rachel in this series, obvs Dumbledore in HP), another school that comes for an extended visit, and even a special ball! All with the Gallagher Girl twist, of course. Anyways. I have to say, I enjoyed this book a lot, because Cammie is a nice but rational yet sympathetic main character and her life is never dull, and Carter’s writing is great, but the whole Zach/Josh dichotomy reminds me a lot of the whole Jess/Dean dichotomy from Gilmore Girls and WE ALL KNOW WHERE I FALL WITH THAT ARGUMENT. I mean, I just don’t understand the nice girl falling for the guy who is basically a jerk to her all the time. This is Ally Carter, and she’s a really thoughtful writer, so obvs Zach has some redeeming qualities, but I’m skeptical about him and Cammie as a romantic couple. It just doesn’t ring true to me. Now, the tough, flinty girl/raw angry mean bad boy thing, THAT I understand. Veronica and Logan, Blair and Chuck…gimme more! But not when the girl is good and nice and normal like Cammie. Then I just don’t understand what she sees in the guy who never says a kind word to her. Maybe that’s just me.

#3: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:21:57 -0500

This book is incredibly sad. Jeannette Walls lived what was at once a fascinating and horrifying childhood, characterized mostly by poverty and hunger caused by her rather ridiculous dreamy parents. They were selfish and insecure and needy and immature and their four children, who had practically no care from the time they were toddlers, carry the scars (some literal, some figurative) of their parents’ neglect to this day. On the other hand, the Wallses had experiences almost nobody can claim, a self-sufficiency that no one can question, and a drive that no one can sully. So there’s that. Also, Jeannette Walls is a really great writer; she knows exactly how to tell her story and the book has no saggy spots, and the prose is solid and functional, like the author herself appears to be. If nothing else, this book made me grateful for the vastly different way in which I was raised, and for my mother, who lent me the book, in particular.

#2: Wings by Aprilynne Pike

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:12:33 -0500

So I picked up this ARC at work recently and I read it quickly and while I liked it well enough, I wasn’t really blown away by it. It has a blurb from Stephenie Meyer, the author of Twilight, who is apparently a friend of Pike’s, and while I’m not like, “I must read anything Stephenie Meyer has read” because obvs I don’t care about that, I’ve never seen a blurb from her on a book and I can’t imagine she does it very often and thus I was intrigued. There’s nothing really wrong with Wings, it just didn’t thrill me the way Twilight did. I guess it wasn’t campy or over-the-top enough, or maybe I don’t like faerie stories (this is the first one I’ve read), I have no idea. Plus, nothing makes me blank out faster than when someone says the word “vegan.” Still, the book stopped long before you find out anything really concrete about the faerie world Pike has created, so I’ll probably pick up at least one sequel, to see where this train is headed.

#1: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:00:41 -0500

Actually, I read most of East of Eden in 2008, but I didn’t finish the last 100 pages until 2009, so…it’s a straddler, but I’m following the rules and counting it in the year I turned the last page. Anyway, Steinbeck considered East of Eden his masterpiece, and even though I’ve only read one other book of his and a short story, I can pretty much guarantee that it is, even though it was The Grapes of Wrath that won the Pulitzer. A retelling of the first stories of Genesis (Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, etc.), the book is sometimes obvious in its parallels, but nevertheless it is a beautifully written, emotionally resonant, thoughtful novel that was an actual joy to read. Kathy Ames and Cal were my favorite characters, though, and that worries me. I also had a little “you-are-there reading” moment when I was driving through the Altamont Pass last week; it’s not Salinas, but it’s close enough, and it was really stirring.

Books Read in 2008

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:49:11 -0500

1. The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
2. Hons and Rebels by Jessica Mitford
3. Book for work
4. Book for work
5. The Year of Magical Thinking (play) by Joan Didion
6. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
7. The Mitfords: Letters Between Sisters ed. by Charlotte Mosely

8. Book for work
9-10. The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford
11. Book for work
12. Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott
13. Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence
14. The Gathering by Anne Enright
15. Book for work
16. Under the Rose by Diana Peterfreund
17. On Writing by Stephen King
18. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
19. I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
20. I Wish Someone Was Waiting For Me Somewhere by Anna Gavalda
21. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
22. Book for work
23. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
24. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
25. A View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro
26. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
27. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
28. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
29. Paper Towns by John Green
30. Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
31. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion
32. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
33. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
34. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
35. Rights of Spring (Break) by Diana Peterfreund
36. In the Woods by Tana French
37. At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman
38. The Likeness by Tana French
39. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
40. Who the Hell is Pansy O’Hara? by Jenny bond and Chris Sheedy
41. Breaking Dawn (caution, spoilers) by Stephenie Meyer
42. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
43. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
44. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster by Dana Thomas
45. The Night Villa by Carol Goodman
46. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
47. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn
48. Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin
49. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
50. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
51. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
52. Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
53. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
54. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
55. The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie
56. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
57. Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
58. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
59. Book for work
60. Book for work
61. Book for work
62. Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
63. Cleopatra’s Nose by Judith Thurman
64. Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino
65. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
66. Museum by Danny Danziger
67. Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
68. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
69. Book for work
70. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
71. Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins
72. The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

#72: The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:12:00 -0500

I feel like my count is off somewhere, because while I don’t think The Gum Thief is the last book I read in 2008, I can’t at the moment think of what book that was. Sigh. Anyway, I’m a huge Douglas Coupland fan, so I liked The Gum Thief, but if you’d never read any of his books and I raved at you about him and you picked this one (his latest) up and read it, you’d be like, “What’s the big deal about this guy?” The Gum Thief is not his best work by a mile. It’s entertaining and thought-provoking and well-written like all his other books, but for some reason it just didn’t get me in the same place as Hey Nostradamus! (my personal favorite), Microserfs, or even Girlfriend in a Coma.

wordplay: 52books: What we lack in graphic design skills, we...

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:07:39 -0500

wordplay:

52books:

What we lack in graphic design skills, we make up for in fun. So, it would really behoove you to join us in this fine gathering. Bring a book (or several) and we’ll see you there!

#71: Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:51:00 -0500

For some reason, despite the fact that I read a lot, I have a hard time keeping up with the award-winning titles, and invariably the short list for a presitigious award will be announced and I will say, “Wow, I have neither read nor heard of ANY OF THESE BOOKS.” But this year, at least I’ve read one Printz honor book! And what a great one to read. Repossessed was incredibly engaging, hilarious and awesome with a really choice narrator, but what I liked most about it was that it managed to balance humor and good storytelling with a perspective on faith and spirituality. The main question the book asks, “How can a benevolent creator fashion a being with a certain nature and then reject it for fulfilling that nature?” It’s a rhetorical question, for the most part—Kiriel doesn’t necessarily get the answer he seeks—but it’s an interesting thing to think about. Repossessed doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it also doesn’t shy away from engaging the tough religious questions inherent to the narrator’s experience.

"It’s amazing how you can be a total shithead, and yet your soul still wants to hang out with..."

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:26:22 -0500

“It’s amazing how you can be a total shithead, and yet your soul still wants to hang out with you…I don’t deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts.”

- Douglas Coupland, The Gum Thief

#70: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:25:15 -0500

Okay, here’s a question: why does the cover of a book about a secret society called the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds have a dachsund on it? I’ve never liked this cover much (too plain and boring for such a cool book), but now that I’ve noticed that I’m just annoyed.

Anyway, this book has been getting a lot of attention in the YA community; it was nominated for a National Book Award, even. It deserves the accolades. It’s really great. It’s fun and it’s smart and it has something to say and it’s empowering and it’s rebellious and it’s tenacious and it’s exciting. I didn’t exactly buy the romance, but I guess that’s all for the best anyhow, and I thought it would turn out a little differently than it did, but that’s way more realistic. I loved this book, devoured it, couldn’t put it down, which is saying a lot since I haven’t been feeling that way about books a lot recently, for whatever reason. This is exactly the sort of book I should be reading now, the sort of book I press into my sister’s hand and say, “Please, for the love of God, read this because it will mean something to you.”

glitterati: (via scout) That’s lookin’ pretty good.

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:02:47 -0500

glitterati:

(via scout)

That’s lookin’ pretty good.

#69: Book for work

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:02:00 -0500

I’m sad I can’t review this book because I really really liked it, and I read another book by this author earlier this year (again for work) that I didn’t love so much, so this was a welcome surprise, kind of unexpected but really wonderful.

#68: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:41:00 -0500

I picked up this little novella at work and breezed through it (it’s only 120 pages long); it might interest you to know that it was written by Alan Bennett, the author of The History Boys, which should really tell you all you need to know about The Uncommon Reader, like for instance it’s charming and clever and makes the frosty Queen of England seem somewhat adorable, like you wouldn’t want her to be your grandmother but maybe you’d like to hang out with her one day and talk about books, now that she’s so into reading I mean, because she really likes the novels of Nancy Mitford (so do I) and she likes to gossip about all the Mitford girls (so do I), most all of whom are dead by now, and she calls herself “one”, as in “One does seem to be reading a lot lately, doesn’t one?” which I don’t do but which strikes me as very Cedric Hampton of her, and God knows I love me some Cedric Hampton.

"What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned,..."

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:33:39 -0500

“What she was finding also was how one book led to another, doors kept opening wherever she turned, and the days weren’t long enough for the reading she wanted to do.”

- Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader

100 notable books of 2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:03:48 -0500

100 notable books of 2008:

(via paperbackgirl)

I’ve read literally none of these, but I own quite a few of them, including that new translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, weirdly enough.

#67: Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:07:47 -0500

Despite what a big reader I am and what a prolific writer Jodi Picoult is, in the Venn diagram of books our paths never really crossed until a few days ago, when I borrowed Plain Truth from a friend of mine who is a big Picoult fan and has a whole slew of titles from the author’s backlist lining her shelves. (I’ve decided to abandon the one-sentence reviewing thing, as it’s hard to keep up and doesn’t give me as much room as I’d like.) I devoured Plain Truth in its entirety during two three-hour plane rides and one four-hour layover, and I have to say that I really liked it. It had the same pastoral feel as Pulitzer Prize-winning A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, and if it’s not necessarily as thematically deep and emotionally resonant as that novel, at least it has an original plot (Smiley steals hers from King Lear), not to mention a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the Amish. Picoult is a good writer, and although her plots sometimes veer towards the dramatic (there’s a reason why they’re always being made into Lifetime movies), there’s at least an emotional core to ground them.

#66: Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Danny Danziger

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:44:26 -0500

Okay, the truth is that I liked this book well enough, but I only have so much patience for the sort of people who work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, because, as you can probably imagine, they’re all ancient, hyper-educated, mostly Caucasian, mostly men, mostly priviledged (especially the trustees—oh, the trustees are the worst, because they’re millionaire art collectors who grew up in fancy Park Avenue apartments or France or some bullshit) snobs, and while some of them are likable and interesting (even Phillippe de Montebello, the director of the Met), it’s kind of infuriating to read about all these people who went to Harvard and talk about how you have to be independently wealthy to work at the Met because museum salaries just don’t cut it, etc. etc. cry me a river why don’t you!

#65: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:39:33 -0500

I’m not much for zombies usually, but there’s been so much buzz around Carrie Ryan’s debut YA novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, that when the opportunity came up to borrow an ARC I jumped on it and pretty much devoured the whole thing in a day and a half, and while I think that there are some things that could be improved upon—Mary, the narrator, was very well-developed, but her relationships with the other characters, particularly her best friend and her love interest, Travis, were a little spotty—it was a terrifying, sad book, which are my absolute favorite kind, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of what Ryan has in store for Mary, or at least her world.

#64: Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:19:31 -0500

At first when I was reading Smart Girls Like Me I was frustrated, because I thought the writing was only passable, the characters were unsympathetic and boring, and I found the narrator irritating and self-involved AT BEST, but I stuck with the novel out of sheer stubborness, as I am wont to do, and I soon fell into the groove of the story, finally appreciating what Vadino was trying to accomplish, and I while I would not list Smart Girls among my favorite novels or anything, I think it is a good novel that could’ve used a little bit more fine tuning and editing.

Belle and Sebastian - Wrapped Up In Books Our aspirations are...

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:27:27 -0500

Belle and Sebastian - Wrapped Up In Books

Our aspirations are wrapped up in books
Our inclinations are hidden in looks