Thursday, October 13, 2011
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!
A little off topic, but please make liberal use of my click to fund mammograms Gadget, particularly this month. My mom is a 14 year survivor, and I like to do what I can! Thanks for any that can help. It is free to click, and you can do it several times a day!
Still Plugging Along
I am almost half-way through with Crime and Punishment. I have been reading other books at the same time to break it up. Having minored in Russian in college, I do enjoy the style as I am used to it. However, I do find that with the length, I need to break it up a little bit. But, as I said, I am almost halfway through, and I am busily planning for my next trip to the library as well as planning to start Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers so that I can read Murder Must Advertise (which is actually a list book). Happy Reading!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Not a list book... but there are other good ones out there
I am trying to pinpoint why this has been my favorite, by far, of this series. Could it be that it has been so long since I have read the first two, that I have fallen in love with the series again? Could it be that the focus was much more on the case than on the relationship between Russell and Holmes (which, frankly, I still have trouble believing the romantic aspect of)? In the end, all I can say was that I had a hard time putting this book down. I literally carried it with me everywhere. I found it to be fascinating and back to true detection. I highly recommend it!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Another one down!
This book was beautifully written, but difficult to read from the standpoint that it examines the depths of human suffering. And yet, the author manages to make everything ok in the end, even if not in the traditional sense. It is a very powerful book, and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Housekeeping - 1001 Books style
Now that I have completed my first book from the 2010 version of the list (see post on Elegance of the Hedgehog), I have to go update my Excel spreadsheet. I am thinking that I will keep separate tabs for each version (a kind Goodreads friend has sent me the books added to the 2008 and 2010 versions). I will keep a running total for each version and a SUPERTOTAL for all books read from all versions. My supertotal is up to 28, I guess with the two recent additions. Woo-hoo. Now to make more progress on Crime and Punishment and start the pre-cursors to the Dorothy L. Sayers list books. Happy reading everyone!
Elegance of the Hedgehog - 2010 version of the LIST
I don't usually like character studies as they tend to be slow moving in my experience. However, I did not find this to be slow moving at all. I found it to be one of the most beautiful books that I have ever read. To the point that I literally teared up as I completed it just now. The language is beautiful. The descriptions of the other tenants by both the narrators is priceless. The movement of the book through short chapters and the exchange of the narration between a 12 year old girl and a 54 year old woman was marvelous. As someone who obtained a minor in Russian in college, and read Anna Karenina with Oprah, I definitely enjoyed the references to this text. I can't say enough good things about this book. I am so glad that my mother-in-law recommended it. It is on the 2010 version of the 1001 Books to Read Before you Die list, and for good reason. I can't wait to pick up Gourmet Rhapsody from the local library. It is definitely now on my to read list.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
I agree with other reviews that I have read that the author does a spectacular job of using the autistic boy as the narrator. While I am not familiar enough with autism to know whether it is possible for an autistic boy to have the kinds of insights that were shared about why he does certain behaviors, it was very enlightening, and the book was very enjoyable. One of my best friends works with autistic high schoolers, and I once counseled a high school boy with Asberger's Syndrome (a mild form of autism), so I could certainly identify with much that was shared. I think it was brilliant to use the narrative of an autistic boy to examine such emotionally charged subjects as affairs and divorce. The end is a bit abrupt, but given the narrator, that is not all that surprising. I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it.
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