jbleil's 2009 just-enough reading

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jbleil's 2009 just-enough reading

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1jbleil
Bearbeitet: Jan. 1, 2010, 10:22 am

1. In the Woods, Tana French
2. Marley & Me, John Grogan
3. Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
4. The View from Mt. Joy, Lorna Landvik
5. Christine Falls, Benjamin Black
6. American Wife, Curtis Sittenfeld
7. The Dive from Clausen's Pier, Ann Packer
8. Run, Ann Patchett
9. My Lobotomy, Howard Dully
10. The Innocent Man, John Grisham
11. Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's, John Elder Robinson
12. High Profile, Robert B. Parker
13. The Middle Place, by Kelly Corrigan
14. Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian
15. The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer
16. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

17. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks 4/16/2009
18. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield 4/23/2009
19. Escape, Carolyn Jessop 5/1/2009
20. Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah 5/13/2009
21. Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood 5/29/2009
22. The House at Riverton, Kate Morton 6/8/09
23. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout 6/20/2009
24. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer 6/25/2009
25. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling 7/6/09
26. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, Joshilyn Jackson 7/11/09
27. The Patron Saint of Liars, Ann Patchett 7/17/09
28. The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton 7/26/09
29. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris 8/1/09
30. Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood 8/11/09
31. The Little Book, Selden Edwards 8/22/09
32. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson 8/26/09
33. The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb 9/6/09
34. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield 9/10/09 (reread for Lisa's book club)
35. The Likeness, Tana French 9/20/09
36. Off Season, Anne Rivers Siddons 9/25/09
37. The Widows of Eastwick, John Updike 10/4/09 (book club)
38. The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson 10/7/09
39. The Outlander, Gil Adamson 10/17/09
40. Still Life, Louise Penny 10/21/09
41. The Given Day, Dennis Lehane 11/6/09
42. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz 11/12/09 (book club)
43. Her Fearful Symmetry, Audry Niffenegger 11/16/09
44. The Cruelest Month, Louise Penny 11/27/2009
45. The Condition, Jennifer Haigh 12/4/2009
46. The Monsters of Templeton, Lauren Groff 12/15/2009
47. What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman 12/22/2009
48. The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell, Pearl-ruled on 12/31/2009

2jbleil
Apr. 17, 2009, 2:35 pm

Since I joined this thread well after the beginning of the year, I didn't try to include my opinions on the first 16 books read. However, starting now, with--

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks: Many others have capably reviewed the book, so I will just say that I was absorbed by the author's imaginings of the travel and history of the real-life Sarajevo haggadah. Brooks brought to life the times and places where the book may have traveled and created fictional people who could have made the book and saved it. To me, the story of Hannah Heath, the conservator, was the backstory.

I have to say that I was not a fan of Brooks's March and was a tad flabbergasted that she won the Pulitzer for it; so I had pretty low expectations of People of the Book. But what do I know? Maybe I should go back and read March again.

3TadAD
Apr. 19, 2009, 3:27 pm

>2 jbleil:: But what do I know? Maybe I should go back and read March again.

I don't know. I also felt it was a book that was overhyped and did not live up to the frenzy.

4RidgewayGirl
Apr. 19, 2009, 6:25 pm

And Year of Wonders was not very good. I am looking forward to her next novel, however.

5jbleil
Apr. 19, 2009, 7:17 pm

I haven't read Year of Wonders. Does she have a new one coming out that you know of?

>3 TadAD:: Glad to hear I am not alone about March.

6RidgewayGirl
Apr. 20, 2009, 1:16 pm

No, I have no special insider knowledge, but surely she will, won't she?

7jbleil
Apr. 23, 2009, 12:13 pm

Just finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I am just overwhelmed. This will almost certainly be my #1 favorite book for 2009. Perfectly paced, perfectly peopled, beautifully written in several voices. I especially like the written voice of Vida Winter. A gothic tale of no particular modern time--telephones, cars, trains, but of no particular vintage--this story weaves books and reading within and among the mysterious lives of twins and others, and satisfyingly wraps up the smallest details. I was drawn into the story by a letter from character Vida Winter to the main character on the third page. The writing fairly crackles. I want to read it again for the first time.

8TadAD
Apr. 23, 2009, 6:22 pm

>7 jbleil:: That book is a sine wave for me. I heard several raves and bought a copy. Then, before I could read it, I heard an unending series of pans, and set it aside. Some day...

9jbleil
Apr. 23, 2009, 6:50 pm

>8 TadAD:: It's true that one has to be in a receptive mood for any type of book. I put down and picked up People of the Book a number of times. There are so many good books out there!

10fannyprice
Apr. 25, 2009, 9:44 am

>7 jbleil:, jbleil, I enjoyed The Thirteenth Tale, but was not as impressed by it as you were. I agree, however, that Vida Winter's story was intriguing. I was generally irritated when the narrative slipped away from her.

Although I don't feel the same way, I love your statement "I want to read it again for the first time" - I have felt this way about certain books before - isn't that a wonderful, horrible feeling?

11jbleil
Apr. 26, 2009, 1:48 pm

>10 fannyprice: fannyprice, yes, wonderful and horrible at the same time, to know that you will never read that same book again for the first time. We can hope that some other book will someday be as wonderful. There are really only a handful of books that I've experienced to such a great extent as an adult. It's hard to say why, exactly, that one had such a deep influence on me. I always like it when I can hear a voice, and I definitely heard Vida's voice in this book.

12jbleil
Mai 1, 2009, 10:01 pm

I selected Escape by Carolyn Jessop as an antidote to the intensity of The Thirteenth Tale, but it ended up being fairly intense in a completely different way. I learned more than I could have imagined about the radical Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints and polygamous marriage. Carolyn's marriage to a church leader, Merrill Jessop, at the age of eighteen, is one of unrelenting humiliation. As the fourth of his seven wives, she bears eight children in 15 years and eventually escapes with all eight of her children. The story of life within the church is unbelievable.

13jbleil
Mai 20, 2009, 8:30 pm

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah is a pretty light, fairly fluffy book that served as a nice bridge at the start of my vacation. It is the story of two girls who become lifelong friends who pursue careers in broadcast journalism together. Eventually life takes them down divergent paths and life and loves interfere and complicate things. Decent read and I liked it for what it is.

14jbleil
Mai 31, 2009, 4:35 pm

#21 Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

This fictionalized account of a notorious murder in Canada in the 1800s was, to me, not up to the standards of the other two Atwood books I've read, The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin. I enjoyed the book, but expected more.

15jbleil
Jun. 8, 2009, 8:06 pm

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton was a very nice, readable gothic that held my attention and, at the end, kept me compulsively turning pages until the conclusion. The unforeseeable twist harkened far back in the story and there were a number of loose ends that were neatly tied up. One aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the depiction of being in service in one of the great English manor houses and what it meant. How it was drummed into a servant's psyche that it was a privilege to serve and one should be grateful for the chance to serve. The pecking order among the servants and the difference in cultures between the houses, such as at Riverton and at number seventeen.

There is a lot to recommend in this book if you like gothic novels--a great love story, tragic conflict, secrecy, grand manor houses, Roaring Twenties social life, upstairs/downstairs and more.

16jbleil
Jun. 15, 2009, 11:36 am

Since finishing my #22, The House at Riverton, I picked up Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky for the second time. Unfortunately, I dropped it again because I just don't like her characters or her writing style. Given the fact that the book is the first two parts, unfinished, of a larger work that was interrupted by her being arrested and exterminated as a Jew, I certainly might have liked the book had that horrifying tragedy not taken her life and had she had the opportunity to edit and complete the work.

That the book survived at all is due to her daughter, who carried the manuscript and her mother's notes with her as a child being hidden from the French police who were intent on finding her and her sister so that they, too, might be deported to the concentration camps. They survived due to the help of many people, part of which is detailed in Appendix II of the book, which to me was the most gripping reading. So I'll not count Suite Francaise as a book read this year as I really did not finish it, but wanted to include my impressions here for my own record.

17RidgewayGirl
Jun. 15, 2009, 4:52 pm

Interesting review. Most reviews of Suite Francaise have been laudatory, but all mention the history of the author. I wonder if the author's story overshadows the novel and alters people's reactions to it.

18jbleil
Jun. 16, 2009, 9:32 am

>17 RidgewayGirl:: You make a good point. I've had this experience before, where my opinion of a book varies sharply from those of other readers. I often put it down to my impatience with getting into a subject matter, or my unwillingness to enjoy a book unless I can identify with one or more main characters. The first time I tried to read Suite Francaise I was unaware of the author's own story and didn't look at the appendices. I just thought "blech" and put it down. Later I saw reviews on LT and found out about the back story so I tried it again. I still didn't like the actual story, but made a point to read the appendices. It made a difference, but not enough to make me plow through. I suppose there might be a third try in my future, but it's a little unlikely.

19RidgewayGirl
Jun. 16, 2009, 5:36 pm

There are too many books out there that you would love, to waste time trying to force yourself to read something you don't.

20jbleil
Jun. 22, 2009, 11:44 am

I finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout during a long weekend away from home for a family wedding. I enjoyed the book very much. Olive is certainly a force of nature and must have been a joy for the author to write about, as evidenced by the Reader's Guide. I think there is a little bit of Olive in many of us.

This novel told in stories showed Olive from the points of view of several others in her town. It also, sometimes agonizingly, illuminated her point of view. What a character! What made her the person she was? The scant information about her background is of no help. That Henry loves her and her son tries to love her while fearing her anger shows that there is something lovable about her.

Olive will stay with me for a while, the mark of a good story

21jbleil
Jun. 30, 2009, 9:29 am

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, while what I would call a light read, is about a serious subject. Guernsey, one of Great Britain's Channel Islands, was occupied by Germany for nearly all of World War II, and its occupants suffered greatly. This book does not treat those suffernings lightly, but it does characterize the lighter side of its survivors in 1946 from the viewpoint of a journalist writing about them. The literary device of telling the story through a series of letters and telegrams is very effective here as it was a period of time when people did correspond much more often through that means. I gave the book four stars and recommended it to my daughter's book club for their next book.

22jbleil
Jul. 7, 2009, 6:24 pm

Finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in preparation for the release of the movie on July 15th. Harry Potter never disappoints and I'm all set for the movie.

23jbleil
Jul. 11, 2009, 8:16 pm

I nearly dropped The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson a number of times, mainly for three separate reasons. First, I intensely disliked the treatment of the main character by her sister, Thalia; I thought that the characterization of the town of DeLop as evil incarnate was overblown; and I just didn't get the ghosts. However, since I've dropped a number of books recently I persevered. I ended up racing through the last several chapters to find out the ending, which was somewhat of a surprise as well as satisfying.

This was one of those books in which nearly every character was flawed in one way or another, making it hard to find one to relate to. Thalia is unbelievably crude and interfering in her sister's life. Laurel, the main character, is talented but shut down emotionally and overprotective of her only child, Shelby. Shelby is stunted by her hovering mother, etc. However, the author made a story out of it. Two and a half stars.

24jbleil
Jul. 17, 2009, 2:30 pm

I very much enjoyed Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint of Liars. This story of a woman who runs away from her marriage to a 1960s home for unwed mothers and the life she stumbles into there is told from three successive points of view; hers, her second husband's, and her daughter's. Rose, the woman, is not at all a sympathetic character, but one of her redeeming qualities is the care she takes with one of the nuns at St. Elizabeth's. Sister Evangeline is just a pip and enlivens every page she is on. It's hard, however, to get past the indifference that Rose shows towards her husband and especially her daughter, Cecelia.

An excellent first novel.

25jbleil
Jul. 26, 2009, 8:43 pm

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton is a pretty good read, I guess. I like a good, long book like this one that is loaded with detail. Back and forth between the early 1900s and 2005. Australia, London, Cornwall, with some fairy tales thrown in for good measure. The usual gothic must-haves: the mansion, the orphan, secrets, forbidden love, mist & fog, the seaside, a twist revealed near the end. I gave it three stars which, for me, is better than average. Oh, and if you haven't seen the flyleafs (flyleaves? is that the right term?) they are worth a look. Lovely windblown barefooted girls. I thought they were fairies, but they don't have any wings.

26fannyprice
Jul. 29, 2009, 8:38 pm

>25 jbleil:, Oooh, The Forgotten Garden sounds tasty! I too love a good long book with details galore & I've been craving gothic-y things right now for some reason.

27jbleil
Jul. 29, 2009, 8:45 pm

>26 fannyprice:, Two others you might like, if you haven't read them yet, are Kate Morton's The House at Riverton and Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. The Thirteenth Tale is (so far) my favorite read of 2009. I was pretty late discovering it, so I'll bet you have already read it.

28fannyprice
Jul. 29, 2009, 9:16 pm

>27 jbleil:, Thanks for the recommendations! I have Kindle samples of both the Kate Morton books now. I've already read The Thirteenth Tale though!

29jbleil
Aug. 4, 2009, 4:11 pm

I finished When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris on Saturday and gave it two and a half stars, which is average for me. Parts of it were very funny, but good golly the man is self-absorbed. The long, long essay at the end about quitting smoking could certainly have been cut down by about three-quarters. Others have said they enjoy him more on audio, so perhaps next time I'll try that. I can't seem to generate a voice for him in my head and that detracts from my enjoyment.

30fannyprice
Aug. 4, 2009, 4:51 pm

>29 jbleil:, I have been a fan of Sedaris' writing for a while, but I think I'm over him - I found When You Are Engulfed in Flames to be tiresome - I didn't bother to finish it. Perhaps Mr. Sedaris has simply run out of ideas at this point. If you're ever willing to give him another try Me Talk Pretty One Day is probably his best collection of stories. There is more amusing stuff about being an American living in France in that one.

31jbleil
Aug. 4, 2009, 8:06 pm

>30 fannyprice:, Thanks. Should I happen to run across Me Talk Pretty One Day on a bargain books table, I'll certainly give it a glance, so thanks for the recommendation. I know I've read Naked and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim in the fairly distant past, but I don't remember much about them. I thought I really liked Sedaris. Maybe I'm over him too.

32jbleil
Aug. 12, 2009, 7:43 pm

I finished Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake last night. I came to enjoy this novel very much and was intrigued by how the story was gradually revealed, starting at the end and flashing back to various stages. Atwood's chilling future world bears an eerie resemblance to what our own could become, and the people who inhabit it, the Crakers, are almost too well imagined. Snowman's gradual unraveling leads to a final scene that leaves the reader wondering--did he do this or did he do that? Although I think I know, I'll have to go back and re-read the final chapters so as to make up my mind again.

I gave this book four stars and rank it with the best of Atwood's other novels. The final test of a good book to me is that the characters and their dilemmas stay with me and I continue to puzzle over them afterwards. A little too early to tell, but 24 hours later, I'm still thinking about Jimmy, Oryx, and Crake.

33fannyprice
Aug. 12, 2009, 11:45 pm

>32 jbleil:, You'll be happy to know, then, that there is a sequel of sorts coming out soon! It is called The Year of the Flood. Lucky avaland got to read it before rest of us and has posted about it on her thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/61835 (see message #61)

34jbleil
Aug. 13, 2009, 9:26 am

>33 fannyprice:, I'm ecstatic to know that! Atwood takes such care in building up the layers of her worlds that they are not easily left behind. I'll be glad to revisit it. God's Gardeners were mentioned multiple times in Oryx and Crake without a great deal of explanation, so she surely was planning her coming sequel. I've put The Year of the Flood on my TBR list, but will have to wait for a very good deal before I buy it. I rarely buy new releases in hardcover but wait for the paperback. Thanks for the heads-up!

35jbleil
Aug. 22, 2009, 5:06 pm

I finished Selden Edwards' The Little Book today, having thought about dropping it a couple of times. It's a time travel book that takes the reader to 1897 Vienna, Austria. I had high hopes for this book, and it eventually kept me reading to the end. However, I am giving it two and a half stars only because I learned something about Vienna. In fact, if you would like to know more about how I feel about this book, visit the book's review page and read nycbookgirl's review, which perfectly states my views. Couldn't have said it better myself.

36solla
Aug. 22, 2009, 10:59 pm

http://www.librarything.com/work/5394890/reviews/ is the review page from #35. Thought I'd put it here because the touchstone went somewhere else.

37jbleil
Aug. 23, 2009, 12:56 pm

Thanks, solla. I didn't know how to do that. The touchstone keeps wanting to point to "Poky Little Puppy."

38jbleil
Sept. 1, 2009, 10:30 am

I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson last week and can't wait to move onto The Girl Who Played with Fire. The theme of sexual brutality towards women over a very long period of time lent a horrifying air and an urgency to the increasing pace of this novel. ***SPOILER ALERT*** The rare chemistry between the two main characters, Mikael Blomkvist and Lizbeth Salander, holds just long enough for the mystery to be solved and for Liz to realize, against all odds and completely contrary to her nature, that she has fallen in love. What happens to them both next will have to be explored in the next book. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

39jbleil
Sept. 7, 2009, 9:30 pm

After a ten-year wait for Wally Lamb's new book, The Hour I First Believed, I was not disappointed. Like his other books, it is multi-layered and covers a lengthy period of time, actually going back to the Civil War through the device of historical research of the main character's family. It mainly dealt with the impact of a devastating true-life event, the disaster at Columbine, on fictional characters. Lamb excels at drawing flawed, believable characters with whom the reader can relate.

The only downside, for me, is how the book ends as it concerns the wife. I felt it was too contrived and not true to the rest of the book. However, I will still give the book four stars.

40jbleil
Sept. 11, 2009, 9:52 am

I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield again, having just read it in April, this time for a book club meeting on Monday. It was time well spent as the book was nearly as enjoyable the second time around and I picked up on some finer points that I just flew by in my first reading. The wrap-up of this story is so satisfying, right down to what happens to the cat.

41jbleil
Sept. 20, 2009, 7:29 pm

The Likeness by Tana French surpassess her first novel, In the Woods, for me. The character of Cassie Maddox, who was also in the first book, carries the story very well, going undercover as one of five friends living together. She successfully pulls off living as Lexie among the friends for a time while trying to discover who murdered her. All the characters are wonderfully developed, as is the 'character' of the house itself and the surrounding countryside. The climax of the story is powerfully written. I give the book four stars.

42RidgewayGirl
Sept. 20, 2009, 7:56 pm

The Likeness is one of my favorite books of this year. I can't wait to see what Tana French comes up with next.

43solla
Sept. 27, 2009, 2:06 am

41, 42 That's great to hear. I just read In the Woods on my daughter's recommendation, and just put The Likeness on hold at the library. I heard it involved the same two main characters, and wanted to follow them further. Now, I have even more reason to look forward to it.

44jbleil
Sept. 28, 2009, 10:11 am

Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons was a reliably absorbing book. I've read many of her novels and enjoyed nearly all of them. This one was quite different in that the POV varied between that of Lilly the grown woman and Lilly the young girl. Most of the story took place in the family's second home on the coast of Maine and told of the two great loves of Lilly's life, both of which stretched the reader's imagination upon their beginnings. However, if one can suspend one's disbelief, this was a great story--until the end. I am not the only reader who did not like the ending, apparently. I only gave it three stars, which is average for me. Had the ending been different, it would have earned four.

45jbleil
Bearbeitet: Okt. 13, 2009, 11:04 am

I read a little more than half of The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike for my book club. I found myself avoiding reading, which was a huge red flag, since reading is like breathing to me (as it no doubt is to almost every LTer). So I think what I didn't like about the book was my distaste for all three of the main characters, esspecially Jane, with her sibilant ssses and her cruelty, although each was nasty in her own way. I also disliked the witchcraft that was so casually taken for granted and the graphic sexuality. Although Updike's awesome powers of description are admirable, they sort of freaked me out in this book. So, one star and an "ugh."

What was interesting at my book club meeting was that almost everyone said they loved the book, but during the discussion changed their minds! Only one stuck with it, and she has been a lifelong Updike fan and read the book from the point of view that he was facing his own imminent death. She was very emotional about it.

46jbleil
Okt. 13, 2009, 11:11 am

I then picked up and practically inhaled The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. We just knew that Lizbeth Salander's past actions with her guardian were going to come back and hurt her, didn't we? This book was just as good as, if not even better than, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The character of Lizbeth is so sharply drawn, so clear-cut, --Stieg Larsson was an absolute genius to be able to create her so vividly. I have spent some hours pondering the book since I finished it a few days ago, so I am sure that I will be rereading it before the year is out in order to savor the details that I flew by the first time. It gets a rare five stars from me.

47Medellia
Okt. 13, 2009, 3:00 pm

The only Updike I ever read was The Witches of Eastwick, back when I was a teenager. I hated it so much that I have not been able to bring myself to read him again. At least you had an interesting discussion at your book club. :)

48jbleil
Okt. 14, 2009, 9:12 am

Medellia--

Well, I don't intend to ever read Updike again either. He is an excellent writer in many ways, but I can't stand what he writes.

I am new to this book club and have so far been rather quiet in stating my opinions, but yes, it was definitely an interesting discussion. I did say at the outset that I didn't like the book and why and even though most were surprised, I think it opened up the discussion and "allowed" others to have a negative opinion. So I think I earned my keep at that meeting.

49jbleil
Okt. 18, 2009, 12:40 pm

The Outlander by Gil Admanson was very good, rating a very high four stars from me. This story of a turn of the century Canada woman who murdered her husband and escaped across the wilderness without resources pursued by her two brothers-in-law is a great first novel. Mary Boulton suffers from psychotic visions but has a strong survival instinct that leads her ever onward. The descriptions of her flight, her starvation and despair are riveting.

50RidgewayGirl
Okt. 19, 2009, 1:35 pm

I, too, like Stieg Larsson's series very much, and have gotten a copy of the third, and final, book. It starts soon after The Girl Who Played With Fire ends and looks exciting.

51jbleil
Okt. 25, 2009, 12:11 pm

Still Life by Louise Penny is the first of her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache books, sited in Three Pines, Quebec, near Montreal. There is a lot to love about this mystery and I loved it all. I always enjoy a layered mystery, which this is, though not to a confusing extent, but I especially enjoy stories with characters who are 'characters.' As others have mentioned in their reviews of the Three Pines mysteries, in the other books in the series, we are treated to further character development and I am very much looking forward to it. Although I was fairly sure I knew who the murderer was about halfway through the book, the ending was still thrilling as the town's inhabitants all found out and reacted in their own unique ways. Just a treat to read and enjoy.

52RidgewayGirl
Okt. 27, 2009, 2:23 pm

I had to smile at your comment that I especially enjoy stories with characters who are 'characters'. I tried to read this book because it has received such positive reviews from readers whose opinion I value, and was unable to read far due to precisely that trait.

53jbleil
Okt. 27, 2009, 3:21 pm

Well, to each his or her own! I've had the same experience a time or two. Luckily there are thousands and thousands of books out there to satisfy all of us.

54jbleil
Nov. 12, 2009, 11:02 am

I read The Given Day by Dennis Lehane because it received very favorable reviews here on LT and because I very much enjoy historial fiction. It was the first book I've read by Lehane. I gave it three stars, just average, because although it definitely held a great deal of historical detail about Boston at the end of World War I that was new to me, the characters really never engaged me. One of my requirements for good historical fiction is that the writer not get in the way of the history by way of poor writing, which in this case Lehane did not, so that is all to the good. So I think that if one of his mysteries presents itself I'll give him another chance as a good writer.

55jbleil
Nov. 12, 2009, 11:10 am

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, for my RL book club: I am sad that I could not get past the language barrier, both Spanish and street language, to hear the messages in this book. I read about 100 pages and was growing to love Oscar, appreciate Lola, and understand (somewhat) their mother, but I felt I was missing too much of the meaning of the book by not understanding the Spanish and by my repulsion at some of the cruder language.

56jbleil
Nov. 16, 2009, 7:43 pm

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger was as bizarre a novel as could be, compared to any others I've read this year. Niffenegger once again explores other dimensions with her readers, as she did with The Time Traveler's Wife. While I enjoyed both novels, TTW was more romantic and less bizarre, exploring time and place, while Her Fearful Symmetry stayed rooted in time but brought the dead to life. The last third of the book nearly did me in, causing a creeping sensation of knowing what was probably going to happen and not wanting to read further, yet having to find out. Characters in this book change in major ways, not necessarily for the better, and I found it interesting that the author manages to get the reader to accept ghosts as main characters. No doubt this will be one of my favorite books of 2009, although one of the creepiest.

57jbleil
Nov. 28, 2009, 8:24 pm

I finally finished The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny after eleven days. It took an inordinate amount of time for some reason, I guess because the book did not call out to me to pick it up. I do like the Armand Gamache mysteries, but this one seemed rather dull. I'll give Gamache another try in six months or so.

58RidgewayGirl
Nov. 29, 2009, 9:52 am

I recently got myself a copy of Still Life, having heard all the excitement that Louise Penny causes in many LibraryThing members. I couldn't read more than a third of it, and it took sheer determination to get that far. I guess I don't get the allure of the "cozy". Still, they are popular among many people whose reading taste I (usually) admire.

59jbleil
Dez. 6, 2009, 11:52 am

I had thought that there would be much more about Turner's syndrome and its effect on Gwen, the daughter of the McKotch family in The Condition by Jennifer Haigh. The blurbs on the cover and in reviews seem a tiny bit misleading to me. The book explores and exposes the various "conditions" of the family, not all of which are in reaction to this major life event in their midst. I felt that each family member became who they were more or less due to the coming together and dysfunction of the marriage of Frank and Paulette. I did enjoy the way the book was laid out, starting and ending at The Captain's House, and going through sections called The Condition, The Cure, and The Prognosis, which referred to all family members, not just Gwen, and even only tangentially to Gwen.

Overall, a very satisfying 3.5 star read.

60jbleil
Dez. 16, 2009, 8:17 pm

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff was an excellent, fairly light book that would definitely appeal to anyone familiar with Cooperstown, New York. I am not, but enjoyed it nevertheless. The monster in the lake is a little farfetched, but the story is mostly that of the main character's search through layers of town history to discover who her father is. Lots of town characters, including her mother. Some romance, some of it very misguided. A deep friendship or three; very nice relationships. I enjoyed the author's device of chapters in various voices and styles. I gave the book three and a half stars--pretty high for me.

61jbleil
Dez. 23, 2009, 9:49 am

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman came to a not unexpected but interesting end. It is quite a wrenching tale of what happens to a family when their two daughters disappear from a shopping mall, one of them supposedly resurfacing thirty years later. Did I say wrenching? Maybe 'insidious' is a better word. But a very good book. I don't think I've read any of Lippman's books before, but I might try another. Four stars.