Keren7's Reads for 2009

1. I just finished Last orders by Graham swift which won the booker prize. It was a good and touching read but not I was expecting. I guess I was expecting a military book - probably because of the name.

On a personal note - Hi to everybody. Sorry Ive been away but I have a lot going on in my life - so forgive me if I only visit sporadically.

Hi keren7 - I haven't crossed over you on a thread in awhile. I'm glad you've joined up here and I look forward to following along, even sporadically. You're starred.

Thanks and thank you for the invitation. The problem is I do most of my posting at work and work is crazy right now. Then at night I am studying for the GRE's and my licensing exam and dont have as much time to read - sigh

I am now reading The eye in the door by Pat Barker

I've been there. Sometimes RL takes over. Good luck with everything.

Keren: Shall follow your posts with interest, no matter how sporadic.

Thanks Amanda :)

So I finished the eye in the door, which I found to be a let down after reading Another world. I am now reading Emma and I feel like Ive seen the movie because the plot is sounding awfully familiar. I vaguely remember this as a movie with colin firth and reese witherspoon - although I could be horribly mistaken.

I'm here watching, too!

#6 - I vaguely remember this as a movie with colin firth and reese witherspoon - although I could be horribly mistaken.

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Hmmm. Your comment intrigued me, so I had to go explore Imdb. There was a movie of Emma with Gwynth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam. Gwynth Paltrow was also in Shakespeare in Love with Colin Firth (for some reason, she didn't want to marry him. Can you imagine?). Colin Firth's Jane Austen movies were Pride and Prejudice and the Bridgit Jones movies. Reese Witherspoon hasn't done any Jane Austen movies, but she did do The Importance of Being Earnest, with . . . ta da: Colin Firth!

I just love Imdb.

Thanks Nickelini lol

Actually - I figured out why it was so familair - apparently Clueless is based on this book - so it was alicia silverstone, brittney murphy and I forgot the guy in this movie - so I was terribly wrong.

Meanwhile - My reading total for January is only 2 books - hmm - not very good start.

I finished Emma and really enjoyed the writing and the story.

I am now reading Great Apes by Will Self and I think it is an interesting concept for a book. Also, because I work in the mental health field I am looking forward to seeing the authors take on madness and reality.

>9 keren7:: Paul Rudd

I finally finished Great Apes which really had an interesting premise. Spoilers ahead.

Imagine going to bed a human and waking up the next morning as a chimpanzee. More than that, the whole world is now run by chimpanzees and humans are treated as we treat chimpanzees. The book reads well as a psychological mystery and an animal rights books.

I loved the book until the end. Nothing is really resolved in this story and I guess that is the point of this book. I still would have liked to know if he was a human or wasn't. I actually ending up creating a new tag for this book, liked instead of loved.

Now I am reading Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) as part of my Booker quest. I am a few pages in and it is going well so far.

I'll be looking forward to your review of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Which other Booker finalists or listed books are amongst your favorites?

I have read 60% of the winners (according to the list of bests). My favourite bookers have been Staying on by Paul Scott, Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively, The god of small things, Midnight's Children and The Seige of Krishnapur.

I've read Moon Tiger recently and absolutely loved it. One of my all times favourites.

the biggest "controversy" in our household was over "life of Pi" - Adam and i both really liked it on first reading and recommended it to patty. She hated it and hasn't had much faith in our recommendations since (if it's a new author).
Though how the proposed movie based on it will be formulated is a mystery to us.

Bob
I forgot to list Life of Pi as a favourite - it was at the time I read it but that was 3 years ago and I guess my memory of it is starting to fade.

I loved Life of Pi and remembered been blown away when I finished it.

Spoiler alert

I really believed the story of Pi been on a ship and I remember feeling kind of tricked when I found out that it didn't happen. But, I forgave Martel as I think the book does such a good job of demonstrating the process of finding faith and choosing to believe stories that may be fantastical. I think that most people who don't like Pi haven't finished it.

"I think that most people who don't like Pi haven't finished it."...or are very religious and find it offensive. Not an issue I have, just an observation. It plays some games with belief.

I finished reading Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. I really want to say that I liked this book. I enjoyed the premise of the book, the world from a 10 years old persepctive. I really loved how Paddy would digress and would come up with all these urban myths and how could you see the incomplete understanding of his world. I enjoyed these parts of the book, and I even chuckled sometimes because I remember thinking some of these thoughts when I was 10.

However, I became very bored very quickly and the book really began to drag because there really wasn't a plot. After a while, the novelty of the persepctive wears off and I found myself wondering - whats the point. I am dissapointed in this book.

Now I reading Regeneration and am already enjoying this book more than Paddy Clarke.

you did better than me w/ Paddy Clarke..I stopped after about 50 pages, thank goodness it was a library book!~

Certainly wasn't problems of faith/belief that bothered Patty - for whatever reason it just hit her completely the wrong way. Usually we're all pretty good at judging whether one of us (adam, patty, me) will like a book/movie/music that one has experienced and the others haven't..But a defn. fail on Pi. My next project is convincing Patty that "my own country" is actually v. hopeful in many ways despite the inherent tragedies of the stories.

So I finished Regeneration and fell in love with this book on the first page. What beautiful sentiments. I also currently practice therapy with soldiers and this book really related to me on both a professional and personal level.

The book partly deals with the feelings of a famous war psychiatrist, Dr Rivers and how he deals with people with war psychosis and how he is charged with healing these people in order to send them to war. It made me think of Catch 22 - Youre sane if you dont want to fight and then you have to fight - or youre insane and dont know you shouldnt fight but then you have to fight anyway.

A great book - my favourite read of 2009 so far

Hi Keren, I love Regeneration too - I see you read the eye in the door out of order, are you going to read the third installment now?

#17

I finished the Life of Pi, after a long hard slog (the abrupt transition from realism to fantasy at the shipwreck was hardest.) At the end, I strongly disliked it, particularly the dreadful philosophy.

I just finished The ghost Road and I enjoyed this just as much as Regeneration, maybe a little bit more. I really feel that The eye in the door was the weakest book of the trilogy.

I really loved some of the sentiments in the ghost road - like how learning to live in two cultures can lead a to freefall and can lead you to feel that you are distant from both cultures. I have never read something so eloquent that describes my experience and continued experience after immigrating when I was 16. This paragraph alone made this book an instant favourite. I love reading books that enhance my understanding of the world.

So now, for something completely different, I am reading two kind of sci-fi/fantasy books (for lack of better categories). I am reading 20,000 leagues under the sea and The prisoner of Azkaban. So far both are quick and enjoyable reads.

Very interesting to hear how your personal experience was reflected in Regeneration.

I just finished Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban and thoroughly enjoyed the 3d book in the series. If only all my reading could be this quick.

I am now going to finish twenty thousand leagues under the sea.

all the readers @ N. Small St. P'boro enjoyed the HPotter series immensely. The huge and varied arguments leveled against it do seem rather beside the point to me. They're fun, one gets involved w/ the characters. Why not?

>27 bobmcconnaughey:: I found them uneven. They are the type of book that I try to "just go with the flow" with, and I really enjoyed several of them in that manner. But, I just couldn't make myself like all of them no matter how hard I tried. I actually found myself "dis-involving".

I won't go into details here because keren7 is still reading the series, but I will say that Askaban was one I really liked. :-)

I really enjoyed Azkaban. I have now finished Vernon God Little. The first half of the book was outstanding and I really didn't want to put the book down. The story was so gripping and his family life and the way he was treated was so enfuritating. However, the story began to drag in the middle but ended with a bang. I wish I could say this was a great read, but I can't.

I am still reading Twenty thousand leagues under the sea and will now start to read The Jesus Christ pawn shop which I recieved as an ER book.

Vernon God Little was the first Booker I disliked. I've lived in the area it supposedly takes place and his descriptions were off. I know, I sound like those tiresome people who complain that a book was ruined for them because the restaurant mentioned on page 52 doesn't serve bran muffins or that the 37 bus does not run after 6 pm, but the feel of the place was off, to me. Also, there was a great deal of easy American stereotypes. And that's just a little facile for something that's won the Booker.

Okay, rant over...

I also must honestly say that I did not enjoy VGL. So I finally finished twney thousand leagues under the sea and am now reading Anna Kareinana, The line of beauty and The Jesus Christ Pawn shop and I am study for a licensing exam.

I guess sleep can wait.

Keren7, we were talking about the author Mia Couto on another thread and we wondered how he is regarded in Mozambique. So, I wondered if you had anything you could add to enlighten us (I don't know how old you were when you left Mozambique).

So I just finished A line of beauty, the 2004 booker prize winner by Alan Holinghurst. I hated most of this book and it took me a month to finish. The characters were boring and no real plot for the longest time. I couldn't figure out why this book won the prize.

Once I hit page 360 or so (yes i read 360 pages of boringness) the story all of a suddent intensified and became almost gripping. I couldnt put the book down. A very sad and touching ending and the book became very meaningful.

I think the story could have been shortened by 200 pages or so. Would I recommend it - yes to the slow and patient reader - no the impatient reader.

I have a copy of a Line of Beauty, and it's huge. I'm a little discouraged--but somehow not surprised--to hear that it's slow. Oh well, one day. Maybe I'll pack it around until my retirement.

I finished reading Baby Jesus Pawn Shop which was my ER book for March or April. A gripping read and very well written. Now I have some choices in books. I think I will continue with Anna Karenina and go from there.

I changed my mind and am now reading Rites of Passage by william Golding, the 1980 booker prize winner.

keren7 -- I too received Baby Jesus Pawn Shop by Lucia Orth, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad to know my opinion is shared!

Keren: I enjoyed reading The Line of Beauty but I felt that the author remembered the point just in time before the book ended. After that I hated it.

amanda - me too - but the point was so fantastic- and i became so infuriated with the characters. I dont know why, but I like books that make me angry.

Guess Im wierd like that.

Ok so I am now reading Rebecca instead of Rites of Passage. Excellent writing so far. I have seen the 1940 movie and Ive heard the book is pretty faithful to the book so hopefully this wont spoil it too much for me.

I finished Rebecca. I enjoyed it but I became very irritated with Rebecca and her helplessand her man worship. I also finished Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. I enjoyed Harry Potter as well. Now I am reading Fugitive Pieces and am really loving this book so far. It is beautifully written.

I'm listening to Rebecca now (I saw the movie years ago, and I thought I'd read the book but I think I was mistaken), and I just want to shake her.

I'm curious about Rites of Passage, though--are you planning on going back to it?

I know what you mean about Rebecca. I read it a few years ago and rolled my eyes throughout a lot of it, but by the end I appreciated it and thought it wasn't so stupid after all. But in some ways it's really dated. Anyway, I also remembered that I had originally read it when I was 13 or so, but had forgotten it.

I do plan to read rites of passage after I finish fugitive pieces which is turning into a georgeous read.

I actually finished reading The old man and the sea which was a good read but I don't really get it. So basically the old man's goals were too high - and he got punished - and then he sleeps dreaming of lions so he is never satisfied. What a frustrating and depressing read - no wonder he killed himself.

I finished reading Blink: The power of thinking without thinking and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I enjoyed The Tipping Point as well. I see that he has a new book, Outliers that I plan to read at some point.

Blink was very thought provoking in that he gives examples of split decision making and how sometimes the decision is good and sometimes it is misinformed.

I forgot to add that I am now reading nineteen seventy seven by David Peace. It is an intriguing read so far.

I finished reading Nineteen Seventy Seven. I really enjoyed this book but it was quite confusing to read. He would switch between two first person narrators and I was never quite sure who was narrating when. It was quite disconcerting because the one character was a cop and the other was a jornalist and I would find myself wondering why the cop was writing for the newspaper. It was fast paced and felt like one of those 40s detective movies.

I am now reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and am not entirely into this book yet. Its not grabbing me. I will see if this changes.

I finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and I cant say that I enjoyed it. I did not like the writing at all and found the story so hard to follow. I am now going to start Jazz which I hope will be a better read.

keren7 -- As you read Jazz, you want to try to listen to its rhythms as well -- it's very jazzy. Although I love Morrison, when I first read the novel, it didn't grab me the way some of her other books had. Then I listened to Morrison read the book on audiotape and got an entirely different perspective -- it has wonderful musical riffs and repeated motifs.

As always, keen to know what you're reading and liking. Or disliking. Very useful - if you don't like it I won't read it.

So I finished Jazz. The book really started with a bang and I was excited to read it. The first 100 pages were gripping and well written and I was enjoying the story. And then, the book just got long and became hard to follow. Which was a shame because I liked the premise of the story and it did have such a strong start.

Now, I am reading Birdsong. I don't seem to be satisfied with my reading at all lately. The book began seeming like a badly written romance novel. I am now a 100 pages in and its a little bit better.

I finished birdsong which did pick out and it turned out to be a decent read. I am now reading The Piano Teacher.

Is that the one by Elfriede Jelinek?? If so, will look forward to hearing your thoughts.

It is the one by Elfriede Jelinek. I finished it tonight and have very mixed feelings about this book. I wish I could read it in its native language because I think something is los in translation between the german and the english. I really enjoyed the description of the daughter and the mother. I really hated the description of the student. I am glad she killed herself at the end only because it would stick it to that horrendous mother. I am so conflicted about this book and I can see why this author won the nobel prize.

The thing I hated the most about the book is the cover. It looks like a cheap romance novel, at least my cover did.

I am now going to read Rabbit, Run. I really didnt like Rabbit, Redux and am so approaching this book with trepidation. However, it is a very acclaimed book and so I am going to give it a try.

I found The Piano Teacher harrowing, both in terms of the story and in the way it was written. Very intense. I couldn't say that I enjoyed it but it was an engrossing expereince.

I finished Rabbit, Run and and although I found this book better written than Rabbit Redux, I found the story just as distasteful. I really really really hate the character of Rabbit Angstrom and I think that he is a self centered jerk. And don't get me started on that stupid wife of his - grrrrr

So now I am reading Morvern Callar and and am now in a much more pleasant mood.

I finished Morvern Callar which was an ok read. Now, I am going to read Hideous Kinky.

I finished and fell in love with Hideous Kinky. The mother in that book infuriated me to no end and I felt so bad for the two young girls, being forced to live in Morocco and lacking food with that mother who was so irresponsible.

I also finished The talk of the Town or Knick Knack Paddy whack as it is not known in the USA and I really also loved this book. It was so well written and I really enjoyed the different perspectives between the boyfriend and girlfriend.

I am now reading House of Leaves and am already enjoying the first few pages of this book.

I finished House of Leaves and I must say that I really fell in love with this book. It got kind of long around page 350 to 400, then picked up again. Brilliant read.

Now, I am reading my ER book, Lullaby for the nameless.