In a similar vein as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I was on the fence about John Irving, though swayed a bit more in his favor. The World According to Garp is one of my favorite books of all time, but I have tried to read Ciderhouse Rules three or four times and just couldn’t get in to it. I had heard amazing things bout “A Prayer for Owen Meany” and was pushed to tackle it after a friend a few states away said she was starting […]
Marquez: a good cup of tea, just not my cup of tea
This is my third adventure with Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read “Love in the the Time of Cholera” and really enjoyed it, but read “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and by the end of it felt as if I myself had lived through one hundred years of solitude: it was a chore. Thus, for me, “Of Love and Other Demons” would serve as the tiebreaker. The novel begins with a short introduction by Marquez about his inspiration for this novel, coming across the remains of […]
Hindsight is bittersweet, but the facts are hard
I rarely read non-fiction and even more rarely read memoirs so I went into this read with few expectations. It was the pick for my book club, so I picked it up dutifully, much like I would tackle required reading in school. I’m hesitant to say I enjoyed this book, because the subject matter was difficult and heart-wrenching, but I am glad that I read it. Alysia Abbott is the daughter of two free spirited parents in the 70s, in a non-traditional configuration. Her parents […]
A good read, but a laborious one
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
My long dormant local book club is back in swing and this was our first read of the new year, and my submission. I happened upon this book at a used book sale and after seeing that it had won the Pulitzer and cost $1.50, adding it to my “to read” pile was sort of a no brainer. My book club has some tough cookies so I was a little anxious since it was basically a blind suggestion from me, but it turned out to […]
Love the movie, love the book
I can say that I am now an unabashed Nick Hornby fan. A fellow book lover pal of mine mailed me their copy of About a Boy which started me on my road to fandom. It was delightful, and I remembered enjoying the film of High Fidelity so I decided to read the book. Luckily, it had been a long while since I’ve seen the movie so I was able to still have th element of surprise. It. Was. Great. Rob owns a record shop […]
Chevalier: I officially don’t get it
This is the second of Chevalier’s books that I have read. Last year I tackled “Girl with the Pearl Earring” and despite the critical acclaim, it fell flat for me and I found it obvious, and sort of a chore. I also didn’t like Remarkable Creatures, but for somewhat different reasons. This novel has two narrators: Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. Set in England in the 1800s, this is a story about women as they try to leave their mark on the scientific community, and […]