What I'm Reading

I consume books. Some people consume food and wine, or go shopping and consume new clothes or home furnishings. I consume words and the emotions they evoke. I gobble up characters, scenery, and plot. Recently I realized that sometimes I can't remember these things later, though. So, I decided, just for my own sanity, to jot down a few notes about a book after I finish it. The following quick reviews probably won't help anyone else, but they will help me light up the synapses that were created when I first read the book.

2010

Author  Title  My Rating  Comments 
Robert Goolrick  A Reliable Wife **  Set in Wisconsin and Saint Louis, MO in the early 1900s, this story about a wife who pretends to be pure when she really has a history as a party girl (though they didn't call them that back then) was hard to put down. Nonetheless, I didn't really like it. The writing is off-putting. The author keeps the reader at bay. Plus the melodrama of the story didn't do much for me. I only read it because my Book Club made me. :-)
Tara French  Faithful Place: A Novel   *****  Loved it. Set in Dubln, it's sort of a cross between Angela's Ashes and Sherlock Holmes. Frank Mackey is a bold, but flawed detective who, as so often happens in French books, gets involved in a case in a personal way. He sort of has to. His ex-girlfriend and brother end up dead.
Lisa See  Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel   ****  Interesting coming-of-age story that takes place in 19th-century China. The foot binding is creepy, but the emotional attachment and betrayal between the women is believable and moving.
Tana French  The Likeness: A Novel   *****  Loved it! Sure, it's a bit hard to believe that Cassie Maddox, the detective, looks exactly like the victim, but once you get past that, this book is enjoyable because of the great writing and because of the lovable, strong, flawed characters who go through hell and come out again as better people.
Robert Hellenga  Blues Lessons: A Novel   ****  I liked this book a lot but it doesn't sparkle like Hellenga's other books. It seems prosaic. I love blues music, but a list of blues musicians' names doesn't belong in a novel perhaps? And I didn't think about the symbolism that some people see in the book. Blues music and longing, yes, but Southwestern Michigan as the Garden of Eden? I don't think so. And the fact that a single apple tree can grow multiple types of apples isn't magical; it's biology. However, I'm not an unbiased reader. I grew up in a small Michigan town 15 miles East of the town in the book! And all the other haunts in the book, the University of Chicago, Madison Wisconsin, I-90, I-94, the Niles Amtrak train station, etc: been there done that. :-)
Stieg Larsson  The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest   ****  Another terrific celebration of strong women, and the men who love them, fighting men who hate women. I didn't like this book quite as much as the previous two books in the series because of all the history of The Section and the numerous detectives with Swedish names that were hard to keep straight. All in all, though, it was a satisfying ending to an unforgettable trilogy.
Richard Russo  Bridge of Sighs   ***  Lots of wisdom about love, hate, relationships, settling for less. The author was able to make the book palatable even though the characters are rather boring, conventional, small-town. I kind of envied Lou whose motto might be "the unexamined life is worth living." Maybe the key to happiness is less examination, and more optimism and tolerance of others?
Abraham Verghese  Cutting for Stone   *****  Fantastic, interesting, heart-warming, good way to learn about Ethiopia and surgery. I liked that it has twins because I'm a twin.
Muriel Barbery  The Elegance of the Hedgehog   *****  Good book, very literary. Believable and lovable characters. Lots of words, philosophies, art, music to research while reading it; maybe too many strange words.
Robert Hellenga  Italian Lover   *****  Terrific, I would read anything that man wrote, especially his books that take place in Italy.
Tana French  In the Woods   ****  Crime drama that takes place in a small town outside Dublin. Interesting characters with a strong woman detective. Hmm, does this seem like a theme for books that I read? :-) This one is unique in its strong sense of place and the melancholy wistfulness for the innocent time before the children were murdered.
Robert Hellenga  Philosophy Made Simple   *****  Good opportunity to learn a little philosophy from a fun, heart-warming novel. Takes place in Texas. I prefer Hellenga books that take place in the Midwest or Italy, but still a terrific book.
Gretchen Rubin  The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun   ****  Good reminder to enjoy life. Many of the ideas were helpful, others wouldn't work for me but probably would for some people.
Noel Hynd  Conspiracy in Kiev (The Russian Trilogy, Book 1) ***  Good escapism, crime drama. Mainly I read it because it was free on Kindle! :-)
Kathryn Stockett  The Help *****  Terrific, deserving of all the good press it has gotten. So interesting to hear from black maids in the 1960s, even if the author is white.
Julie Klassen  The Apothecary's Daughter ***  Enjoyable escapism, free on the Kindle! Sort of a Jane Austen knockoff.
Tatiana de Rosnay  Sarah's Key ***  Pretty good, especially the parts that took place in the 1940s in Paris when Jewish children were shamefully rounded up.
Noel Hynd  Midnight in Madrid (The Russian Trilogy, Book 2) ***  Good escapism, crime drama, hey, it was free on Kindle!
Sue Monk Kidd  The Mermaid Chair **  Hard to believe such a good writer wrote such a mediocre book, though I did enjoy it in some ways because of the love, spirituality, character growth, South Carolina scenery.
Greg Bear  Darwin's Radio ****  Husband left this in our bookcase. Not the sort of book I usually read, but I'm glad I did because if fits in with my interest in DNA.
Stieg Larsson  The Girl Who Played with Fire *****  As good as his first book. I can really relate to Lisbeth Salander, as can many women, which is a scary commentary on modern life!
Stieg Larsson  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo *****  Couldn't put it down! Violent but not scary. Powerful and empowering.

2009

Dean A Shepherd  From Lemons to Lemonade: Squeeze Every Last Drop of Success Out of Your Mistakes *****  Helpful, well-researched
Wally Lamb  The Hour I First Believed **  I like Wally Lamb but this book is quite a mess. Was it supposed to be about Columbine, New England history and genealogy, dangers of Xanax? Author didn't seem to know.
Daylle Deanna Schwartz  Nice Girls Can Finish First: Getting the Results You Want and the Respect You Deserve . . . While Still Being Liked ****  Very helpful, good to know that I can be my normal nice, Midwestern, people-pleaser self and still finish first :-)
Ken Follett  World Without End *****  Almost as good as "Pillars of the Earth," his first book about cathedral building in the Middle Ages, and that's saying a lot!
Julia Glass  I See You Everywhere ***  A story of sisters that was very believable, especially because they were similar to my sisters, but it failed to really touch my heart.
David Guterson  The Other **  This story of friends in the Pacific Northwest, including one slightly insane friend, was somewhat interesting but didn't do much for me. The writing was quite awful in parts, like a rough draft.
Toni Morrison  A Mercy *****  Wonderful story with good early American history, very moving, as good as any Morrison which is saying a lot!

 

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