It's My Birthday!
So here's what i'm thinking.... i'm two weeks into this challenge! this isn't about reading long lost classics, it's about just reading. some might be classics. some might be chick lit. this will also include books that I have started but not yet finished, so the chronological weeks may not line up with the actual weeks from my birthday. but the goal is to have finished 52 books by this time next year. go!
Week 1: Girl With A Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier- I liked this book so much more than I ever thought I would. It's kind of a simple story, and parts are very melodramatic, but it's told with such intensity that you actually don't mind that there isn't all that much action.
Week 2: Three Junes, Julia Glass- kind of slow, probably my least favorite since the experiment began. But interesting to read a story so heavily influenced by the AIDS epidemic. It's funny because in so many ways we've become completely desensitized to HIV because there is so much that can be done to keep people alive. But it was a terrifying, cruel disease that took the lives of many swiftly and ruthlessly, and this was a reminder.
Week 3: Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro- I asked Jenn the plot of this book before I read it, and we both agreed that we kind of wished we hadn't known the plot before hand. Ishiguro is an absolute master of relating horrifying details in the most nonchalant ways, just assuming that the reader is fine with this twist of fate. The end of this book brought me to tears, of course. How could it not? We're all searching for what is lost.
Week 4: The Twentieth Wife, Indu Sundaresan- Absolutely fantastic, couldn't put it down. Between this and the girl with the pearl earring, i'm pretty much sold on historical fiction. Sundaresan paints the most vivid pictures without getting as flowery or yawn-inducing as Fitzgerald. Plus a female warrior is one of the most enjoyable characters to read about. I can't wait to read the sequel.
Week 5: Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer- Even though this one took some weeeeeird turns (birthing scene much??? I think it might have been my favorite. It was a relief, an actual relief to not hear Meyer drone on and on about all of bella's insecurities. Also glad the Jacob thing was cleared up even if that whole imprinting thing gives me a little bit of the heebie jeebies...
Week Six: Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. I had been looking forward to reading this book for awhile, but with the strained relationship between myself and Mike it definitely took on a new and strange meaning. That and I had forgotten that reading Rushdie is akin to reading Hunter S. Thompson, i.e. it probably makes more sense if you've spent a good deal of time doing hallucenegenic drugs. It took me quite awhile to plow through this book, but by the end I did kind of love the characters. But like my relationship, it was exhausting.
Week Seven: Nerd Do Well, Simon Pegg. In an attempt to detox from Verses, I ended up reading Simon Pegg's biography. Fun mostly because I had picked up the book at a signing bc my mom loves SP. I lied and told her I couldn't get a copy, and I'm going to give it to her at court's wedding. Anyway, the book was cute. It's half biography and half a made up story about a bond-like Pegg. A lot of it was about celebrating nerd-dom, but it was pretty cool to read about Pegg's relationships and interactions with a lot of other famous people that he met along the way. It was kind of like the salons of Paris, but instead of politics and the bourgeoise, it was all musicians and comics. Pretty fun.
Week 8: Caught, Harlan Coben. Another easy and fun read. Claire is a huge Coben fan so she lent the book to me. Definitely tapped into my love of Mary Higgins Clark books where the whole premise is that nothing is as it seems and no one is who they appear. V. enjoyable.
Week 9: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson. I've basically seen 100,000 copies of this floating around NY. You seriously can't get on a subway without seeing the bright yellow and green jacket. Anyway it wasn't until i saw the insane trailer for the movie that I decided I needed to find out what all the hype was about. I borrowed it from Christine. I was unprepared, to say the least. It's a great read, in that "can't put it down" type of way, but it is excruciatingly brutal and violent toward women. Parts of it took me back to that perpetual naseau I felt in the days after watching Requiem for a Dream. But you kind of end up falling in love with Lisbeth. I can see how people are so into the books. I think I'm going to try to order the next one off Amazon so I can read it next week in Nantucket.
Week 10: The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss. This was the random book that showed up at my door a few weeks ago and I didn't know who sent it. Finally determined my brother was the mystery shipper. I was totally against it at first because it's a fantasy novel, but by the end, you can't help but get into it, though I disagree with my brother's assessment that it's better than harry potter. (few things are, in my opinion!) Anyway, a good, fun read. I will probably pester him to send me the rest of the books when he's done reading them.
Week 11: The River Between, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. I think I loved this book simply because in my head the entire thing sounded like it was being read by James Earl Jones. (Kind of like when I was reading Girl With The Dragon and the narrator's voice sounded to me like Werner Herzog...) Anyway, this was a book Beth lent to me many years ago when we were discussing African writers. At least I think it was. It might have been from my history of Africa class. Anyway, it was on my bookshelf. Very interesting story about the encroaching white man and the effect on tribal customs, tensions etc. Essentially a Christ story. The end is, of course, heartbreaking. But really made me rethink some of the assumptions I had about things like female circumcision. I think we have a kneejerk reaction to this custom partly because of the words that are used to frame it (female genital mutilation is pretty scary sounding). It's hard to come down on one side or the other for me. I'm sure there are people who get dragged into it kicking and screaming. But then there is the opposite, where people don't really feel complete until they've completed that rite of passage? I think this is something that is hard for Americans to understand because we don't really have anything comprable. Getting a driver's license and graduating high school are the closest we get. Granted, celebrations like Bat Mitzvahs and Quinceneras are definitely more fun ways to reach adulthood... but I guess it's just hard to say that it's 100% wrong? Ugh, I don't know. End babbling.
Week 12: The Help, Kathryn Stockett. I started this book shortly before leaving for Nantucket, and honestly couldn't put it down. so so so good! I loved all the main characters. And it was definitely an interesting topic- it's strange to think that not even fifty years ago these women were basically still living in servitude. What's scarier is that there are still people who suffer like that every day but it's even LESS know and less talked about. Definitely several parts where i cried and laughed out loud. A girl actually stopped me on the subway to ask if i was crying because of the book or something else. hahaha. Was very disappointed by the movie. It was much, much too rosey a picture and didn't communicate all of the mistrust most of the community felt for Skeeter, and the relationship with her mother was all too hunky dorey. lame.
Week 13: The Girl Who Played With Fire, Steig Larson. Definitely easier to handle than Dragon Tattoo, though still pretty crazy. Definitely did not see the twists and turns that came out near the end AT ALL. I am growing to love Salander. It was a shame though because there were so many characters in this book you didn't get to really spend time with her or Mikael at all. Looking forward to Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest because it pretty much picks up directly where Fire left off. Love it! I am going to be a disaster once I get through the trilogy. Will need something exciting to read afterward.
Week 1: Girl With A Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier- I liked this book so much more than I ever thought I would. It's kind of a simple story, and parts are very melodramatic, but it's told with such intensity that you actually don't mind that there isn't all that much action.
Week 2: Three Junes, Julia Glass- kind of slow, probably my least favorite since the experiment began. But interesting to read a story so heavily influenced by the AIDS epidemic. It's funny because in so many ways we've become completely desensitized to HIV because there is so much that can be done to keep people alive. But it was a terrifying, cruel disease that took the lives of many swiftly and ruthlessly, and this was a reminder.
Week 3: Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro- I asked Jenn the plot of this book before I read it, and we both agreed that we kind of wished we hadn't known the plot before hand. Ishiguro is an absolute master of relating horrifying details in the most nonchalant ways, just assuming that the reader is fine with this twist of fate. The end of this book brought me to tears, of course. How could it not? We're all searching for what is lost.
Week 4: The Twentieth Wife, Indu Sundaresan- Absolutely fantastic, couldn't put it down. Between this and the girl with the pearl earring, i'm pretty much sold on historical fiction. Sundaresan paints the most vivid pictures without getting as flowery or yawn-inducing as Fitzgerald. Plus a female warrior is one of the most enjoyable characters to read about. I can't wait to read the sequel.
Week 5: Breaking Dawn, Stephanie Meyer- Even though this one took some weeeeeird turns (birthing scene much??? I think it might have been my favorite. It was a relief, an actual relief to not hear Meyer drone on and on about all of bella's insecurities. Also glad the Jacob thing was cleared up even if that whole imprinting thing gives me a little bit of the heebie jeebies...
Week Six: Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie. I had been looking forward to reading this book for awhile, but with the strained relationship between myself and Mike it definitely took on a new and strange meaning. That and I had forgotten that reading Rushdie is akin to reading Hunter S. Thompson, i.e. it probably makes more sense if you've spent a good deal of time doing hallucenegenic drugs. It took me quite awhile to plow through this book, but by the end I did kind of love the characters. But like my relationship, it was exhausting.
Week Seven: Nerd Do Well, Simon Pegg. In an attempt to detox from Verses, I ended up reading Simon Pegg's biography. Fun mostly because I had picked up the book at a signing bc my mom loves SP. I lied and told her I couldn't get a copy, and I'm going to give it to her at court's wedding. Anyway, the book was cute. It's half biography and half a made up story about a bond-like Pegg. A lot of it was about celebrating nerd-dom, but it was pretty cool to read about Pegg's relationships and interactions with a lot of other famous people that he met along the way. It was kind of like the salons of Paris, but instead of politics and the bourgeoise, it was all musicians and comics. Pretty fun.
Week 8: Caught, Harlan Coben. Another easy and fun read. Claire is a huge Coben fan so she lent the book to me. Definitely tapped into my love of Mary Higgins Clark books where the whole premise is that nothing is as it seems and no one is who they appear. V. enjoyable.
Week 9: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson. I've basically seen 100,000 copies of this floating around NY. You seriously can't get on a subway without seeing the bright yellow and green jacket. Anyway it wasn't until i saw the insane trailer for the movie that I decided I needed to find out what all the hype was about. I borrowed it from Christine. I was unprepared, to say the least. It's a great read, in that "can't put it down" type of way, but it is excruciatingly brutal and violent toward women. Parts of it took me back to that perpetual naseau I felt in the days after watching Requiem for a Dream. But you kind of end up falling in love with Lisbeth. I can see how people are so into the books. I think I'm going to try to order the next one off Amazon so I can read it next week in Nantucket.
Week 10: The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss. This was the random book that showed up at my door a few weeks ago and I didn't know who sent it. Finally determined my brother was the mystery shipper. I was totally against it at first because it's a fantasy novel, but by the end, you can't help but get into it, though I disagree with my brother's assessment that it's better than harry potter. (few things are, in my opinion!) Anyway, a good, fun read. I will probably pester him to send me the rest of the books when he's done reading them.
Week 11: The River Between, Ngugi Wa Thiong'o. I think I loved this book simply because in my head the entire thing sounded like it was being read by James Earl Jones. (Kind of like when I was reading Girl With The Dragon and the narrator's voice sounded to me like Werner Herzog...) Anyway, this was a book Beth lent to me many years ago when we were discussing African writers. At least I think it was. It might have been from my history of Africa class. Anyway, it was on my bookshelf. Very interesting story about the encroaching white man and the effect on tribal customs, tensions etc. Essentially a Christ story. The end is, of course, heartbreaking. But really made me rethink some of the assumptions I had about things like female circumcision. I think we have a kneejerk reaction to this custom partly because of the words that are used to frame it (female genital mutilation is pretty scary sounding). It's hard to come down on one side or the other for me. I'm sure there are people who get dragged into it kicking and screaming. But then there is the opposite, where people don't really feel complete until they've completed that rite of passage? I think this is something that is hard for Americans to understand because we don't really have anything comprable. Getting a driver's license and graduating high school are the closest we get. Granted, celebrations like Bat Mitzvahs and Quinceneras are definitely more fun ways to reach adulthood... but I guess it's just hard to say that it's 100% wrong? Ugh, I don't know. End babbling.
Week 12: The Help, Kathryn Stockett. I started this book shortly before leaving for Nantucket, and honestly couldn't put it down. so so so good! I loved all the main characters. And it was definitely an interesting topic- it's strange to think that not even fifty years ago these women were basically still living in servitude. What's scarier is that there are still people who suffer like that every day but it's even LESS know and less talked about. Definitely several parts where i cried and laughed out loud. A girl actually stopped me on the subway to ask if i was crying because of the book or something else. hahaha. Was very disappointed by the movie. It was much, much too rosey a picture and didn't communicate all of the mistrust most of the community felt for Skeeter, and the relationship with her mother was all too hunky dorey. lame.
Week 13: The Girl Who Played With Fire, Steig Larson. Definitely easier to handle than Dragon Tattoo, though still pretty crazy. Definitely did not see the twists and turns that came out near the end AT ALL. I am growing to love Salander. It was a shame though because there were so many characters in this book you didn't get to really spend time with her or Mikael at all. Looking forward to Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest because it pretty much picks up directly where Fire left off. Love it! I am going to be a disaster once I get through the trilogy. Will need something exciting to read afterward.