(no subject)
Quite a few books to catch up on. Finished three today! I usually read 3 or 4 at one time so I end up finishing a few within a day or so of each other. Then it will be another week or more before the next lot near their end. It just happend that two of the books were about the same length and the third was a volume of poetry.
Big Little Lies - Lianne Moriarty
The HBO series based on the book started so I wanted to read the book. As always the book is better. The series kept along fairly well though through a few things in that didn't need to be there and the ending, while it was the same outcome, was edited badly and hard to follow. It starts off where you know someone has died and then flashes back to the rest of the story about three women and their families, all with small children just starting school. One is a single mother, one is in her second marriage after her first husband left her to raise their daughter alone, and the third is rich with a seemingly charmed life but who is married to a man that abuses her. It's based in Australia where the writer is from though the series is based in California in Monteray. (detailed review through the link)
Purity - Johnathan Franzen
Big, chunky book about several characters that are all connected in the end. A young woman who doesn't know who her father is, a German media "wikileaks" type person, a journalist and assorted other characters. the blurb focusses on the young woman but the story is about all of them, not as much about her as they would lead you to believe. I did like it quite a bit.
Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Georgian whores and the trials and tribulations of one teenage prostitute in particular. Good historical world building. The lead character is not that likeable but the story is good.
The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill
Two orphans negotiating life in Montreal in the 1920s. It's a sort of love story but it's darker and not very pretty. There is a good measure of abuse, violence and awful things that happen to both of them but the writing is very good and you do get drawn in to the story.
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
An ongoing effort to read more classic books, this one from the 1950s, an iconic story about censorship and book burning.
The Circle Game - Margaret Atwood
Poetry, written in the 60s I think. I am not a poetry reader and i read this for a Bingo square challenge on Good reads. Didn't like it. Too obscure and vague. I just finished another collection that I liked better though still rated low because i just don't really get along with modern poetry.
Be Frank with Me - Julia Claiborne Johnson
Awesome little book about a very eccentric and intelligent 9 year old. A early 20s woman comes to be an assistant to a recluse writer finally writing a new novel 20 or more years after her first and only which was a cult hit (think Harper Lee). She ends up being nanny to the writer's "odd duck" son who loves old movies and has a wardrobe full of clothes that look like something out of the old 1930s movies. Frank is a challenge and Alice finds it exasperating. Frank's mother MImi is moody and locked away writing most of the time and rude when she's not writing but she loves Frank. There's more but you can read the review through the link for that. Definitely a recommended book. uplifting without being a sentimental load of shite.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
(haven't published the review yet, so no link) There's a new series based on the book coming out the end of the month so I reread it in anticipation. A dystopian future where fertile women are forced to have children to repopulate the country which has been taken over by a right wing religious group. Women have been stripped of all their rights, even the wives of the leaders. One Handmaid tells her story. Has she managed to escape by the end to tell it?
Runaway Dreams - Richard Wagamese
This is the other book of poetry I decided to read for the challenge. While it's still "stream of consciousness chopped into short lines" type of writing, it at least made more sense than the Atwood collection. He does have a beautiful turn of phrase but I'd prefer to read it in normal paragraphs. That's just me. He's an indigenous Ojibway Native and many of the poems are about being an Indian, with his past experiences, love, tragedy, spirituality in the world around us. It almost has a dreamy quality at times. If you like poetry, you will like this.
I think if i'm going to read something out of my usual, I'll stick with short stories or I'll go back to old fashioned classic poetry that rhymes! ;)
Big Little Lies - Lianne Moriarty
The HBO series based on the book started so I wanted to read the book. As always the book is better. The series kept along fairly well though through a few things in that didn't need to be there and the ending, while it was the same outcome, was edited badly and hard to follow. It starts off where you know someone has died and then flashes back to the rest of the story about three women and their families, all with small children just starting school. One is a single mother, one is in her second marriage after her first husband left her to raise their daughter alone, and the third is rich with a seemingly charmed life but who is married to a man that abuses her. It's based in Australia where the writer is from though the series is based in California in Monteray. (detailed review through the link)
Purity - Johnathan Franzen
Big, chunky book about several characters that are all connected in the end. A young woman who doesn't know who her father is, a German media "wikileaks" type person, a journalist and assorted other characters. the blurb focusses on the young woman but the story is about all of them, not as much about her as they would lead you to believe. I did like it quite a bit.
Slammerkin - Emma Donoghue
Georgian whores and the trials and tribulations of one teenage prostitute in particular. Good historical world building. The lead character is not that likeable but the story is good.
The Lonely Hearts Hotel - Heather O'Neill
Two orphans negotiating life in Montreal in the 1920s. It's a sort of love story but it's darker and not very pretty. There is a good measure of abuse, violence and awful things that happen to both of them but the writing is very good and you do get drawn in to the story.
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
An ongoing effort to read more classic books, this one from the 1950s, an iconic story about censorship and book burning.
The Circle Game - Margaret Atwood
Poetry, written in the 60s I think. I am not a poetry reader and i read this for a Bingo square challenge on Good reads. Didn't like it. Too obscure and vague. I just finished another collection that I liked better though still rated low because i just don't really get along with modern poetry.
Be Frank with Me - Julia Claiborne Johnson
Awesome little book about a very eccentric and intelligent 9 year old. A early 20s woman comes to be an assistant to a recluse writer finally writing a new novel 20 or more years after her first and only which was a cult hit (think Harper Lee). She ends up being nanny to the writer's "odd duck" son who loves old movies and has a wardrobe full of clothes that look like something out of the old 1930s movies. Frank is a challenge and Alice finds it exasperating. Frank's mother MImi is moody and locked away writing most of the time and rude when she's not writing but she loves Frank. There's more but you can read the review through the link for that. Definitely a recommended book. uplifting without being a sentimental load of shite.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
(haven't published the review yet, so no link) There's a new series based on the book coming out the end of the month so I reread it in anticipation. A dystopian future where fertile women are forced to have children to repopulate the country which has been taken over by a right wing religious group. Women have been stripped of all their rights, even the wives of the leaders. One Handmaid tells her story. Has she managed to escape by the end to tell it?
Runaway Dreams - Richard Wagamese
This is the other book of poetry I decided to read for the challenge. While it's still "stream of consciousness chopped into short lines" type of writing, it at least made more sense than the Atwood collection. He does have a beautiful turn of phrase but I'd prefer to read it in normal paragraphs. That's just me. He's an indigenous Ojibway Native and many of the poems are about being an Indian, with his past experiences, love, tragedy, spirituality in the world around us. It almost has a dreamy quality at times. If you like poetry, you will like this.
I think if i'm going to read something out of my usual, I'll stick with short stories or I'll go back to old fashioned classic poetry that rhymes! ;)