Excited to start this one. Enjoy!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Amos
On a wonderful, nonexciting date with my husband, we ended up at Barnes and Noble as we almost always do. There was a display table with Montana authors. Intrigued by this book, and vaguely remembering reading another book by West, Blind Your Ponies, I grabbed it.
I was hooked from the first sentence: "He was an old man, clinging fiercely to the tattered garment that had once been his dignity."
I could barely put this book down. I even stayed up until one last night, which I rarely do these days. The writing was exquisite, the story painful, the characters full of life despite the fact that they are all living in a county home for the elderly.
Amos finds himself choosing between heroism and comfort, choosing to live out the rest of his days or find solace in sleeping away his life. Love, danger, pain, intrigue, daring and courage fill his golden days. Some would find this a depressing book, but I loved every minute of it. In fact, I've got four more books by West sitting on my end table, snatched from the library this very week.
I was hooked from the first sentence: "He was an old man, clinging fiercely to the tattered garment that had once been his dignity."
I could barely put this book down. I even stayed up until one last night, which I rarely do these days. The writing was exquisite, the story painful, the characters full of life despite the fact that they are all living in a county home for the elderly.
Amos finds himself choosing between heroism and comfort, choosing to live out the rest of his days or find solace in sleeping away his life. Love, danger, pain, intrigue, daring and courage fill his golden days. Some would find this a depressing book, but I loved every minute of it. In fact, I've got four more books by West sitting on my end table, snatched from the library this very week.
The Help
Everyone who recommended this book to me said they couldn't put it down. That they would stay up all night to read it.
That's a good recommendation. So, when I finally picked up the book, I couldn't put it down either. It was very well paced and suspenseful enough to keep me turning the pages.
The book takes place during the tumultuous 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi. We follow three characters. Two are "the help". And one is slowly becoming aware of the injustice that surrounds her.
I'll pass along the same recommendation: read it now!
That's a good recommendation. So, when I finally picked up the book, I couldn't put it down either. It was very well paced and suspenseful enough to keep me turning the pages.
The book takes place during the tumultuous 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi. We follow three characters. Two are "the help". And one is slowly becoming aware of the injustice that surrounds her.
I'll pass along the same recommendation: read it now!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Enlightenment for Idiots
This is a perfect example of getting something different out of a book the next time you read it. Books change with where we are at in life and I find that fascinating.
I first read this book right before I had made the decision to go to "yoga school". And, I didn't like it very much. I just couldn't relate. Found many of the ideas foreign. And, just plain didn't understand the main character.
Fast forward three (four?) years to the second read. Post "yoga school" and in a place where I can relate to Amanda.
Amanda is a yoga teacher in training in the yoga snob mecca of San Francisco. To support her yoga teaching habit she writes in the popular series of For Idiots books. RVing for Idiots. Wine Country for Idiots. (I can totally relate to the job to support the teaching habit!). Her editor sends her to India to search for enlightenment and put it in guide book form.
Amanda describes the dirtiness and grittiness of India in detail. Which coincides nicely with the mess of her life. She visits all the "trendiest" gurus, yoga centers, and meditation retreats. She meets a lovely and funny sadhu, Devi Das, whose humor and kindness help her along her journey. And, then she discovers she is pregnant and her journey takes on a whole new meaning.
I first read this book right before I had made the decision to go to "yoga school". And, I didn't like it very much. I just couldn't relate. Found many of the ideas foreign. And, just plain didn't understand the main character.
Fast forward three (four?) years to the second read. Post "yoga school" and in a place where I can relate to Amanda.
Amanda is a yoga teacher in training in the yoga snob mecca of San Francisco. To support her yoga teaching habit she writes in the popular series of For Idiots books. RVing for Idiots. Wine Country for Idiots. (I can totally relate to the job to support the teaching habit!). Her editor sends her to India to search for enlightenment and put it in guide book form.
Amanda describes the dirtiness and grittiness of India in detail. Which coincides nicely with the mess of her life. She visits all the "trendiest" gurus, yoga centers, and meditation retreats. She meets a lovely and funny sadhu, Devi Das, whose humor and kindness help her along her journey. And, then she discovers she is pregnant and her journey takes on a whole new meaning.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Book Review: Freedom
It's been a couple of months since I read Freedom by Jonathan Franzen. This book has gotten quite a lot of buzz. So much buzz in fact, that I was preparing myself to be blown away by some life-altering social commentary.
The story focuses on the Berglunds, supposedly a typical midwestern family. The story weaves seemlessly with different family members holding the narrative. I absolutely loathed some of these characters. It was hard to read through parts. But what I found so fascinating, was the way Franzen was able to describe such deep emotional and psychological tendancies of these characters. It was raw, gritty, and real.
I don't know if I was blown away by this book, but it was definitely a page-turner. I appreciated the extremely smart and witty writing. I appreciated the story, but I don't know if I was persuaded.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Five Quarters of the Orange
This was a used book that I recently got at Hastings. My reasons for picking up particular books are pretty silly. But, I picked up this one because it was by the same author as Chocolat. I never read that book but I loved the movie. And, I love books about food. Such as Like Water For Chocolate.
Fiver Quarters of the Orange follows an older woman as she returns to the small village where she grew up but fled due to a scandal during World War II. The book goes back and forth between the present and the summer during WWII where her life was forever changed.
Her father was killed in the war. She and her sister and brother were then raised by her mother. The mother was afflicted with terrible migraines and when one would come on she would smell oranges. Then she would lock herself in her room, leaving her kids to their own devices. Framboise, the main character and youngest child, figures out that if she uses orange peels and a bit of orange juice, she can get her mother to retire to her room for a day. Then she and her siblings are free to do whatever they like.
The kids get into all sorts of trouble as they are "spies" for German soldiers in a nearby town. They trade "information" for comic books, candy, and lipstick. It all goes horribly awry causing the family to flee and Framboise to return decades later pretending she has never been there.
From her mother she inherits a cookbook of sorts. It is filled with recipes and cryptic diary entries. The diary entries have no discernible pattern. They aren't by date. Often don't include names. And are obviously written by a troubled person. Framboise spends her time cooking her mother's recipes and trying to decode the cryptic entries to unravel all that happened to the family so long ago.
Fiver Quarters of the Orange follows an older woman as she returns to the small village where she grew up but fled due to a scandal during World War II. The book goes back and forth between the present and the summer during WWII where her life was forever changed.
Her father was killed in the war. She and her sister and brother were then raised by her mother. The mother was afflicted with terrible migraines and when one would come on she would smell oranges. Then she would lock herself in her room, leaving her kids to their own devices. Framboise, the main character and youngest child, figures out that if she uses orange peels and a bit of orange juice, she can get her mother to retire to her room for a day. Then she and her siblings are free to do whatever they like.
The kids get into all sorts of trouble as they are "spies" for German soldiers in a nearby town. They trade "information" for comic books, candy, and lipstick. It all goes horribly awry causing the family to flee and Framboise to return decades later pretending she has never been there.
From her mother she inherits a cookbook of sorts. It is filled with recipes and cryptic diary entries. The diary entries have no discernible pattern. They aren't by date. Often don't include names. And are obviously written by a troubled person. Framboise spends her time cooking her mother's recipes and trying to decode the cryptic entries to unravel all that happened to the family so long ago.
February Book: Incendiary
JT picked this month's book. I haven't started it yet. However, I did blow right through Little Bee.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Israel, My Beloved
I just finished this spectacular book, and lost some sleep in the process. Written with attention to detail yet able to span thousands of years of history, it captured my attention and tied many tidbits of history into a comprehensive whole.
The main character Sarah, exists separate of time and represents the Jewish people. We pick up her story in the days of the first destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Assyrians and follow her all over the earth throughout the history of the last 2500 years. She experiences the rebuilding of the temple and the destruction yet again by the Babylonians. Again the temple is rebuilt only to be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, never to be rebuilt.
She experiences the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the horror of Auschwitz. She has friends that walk with her through these difficult times, and loses some dear to her as well. Many of the things I have learned in history classes or sermons or Bible studies were finally brought together in a cohesive way by the story of Sarah. An excellent read.
The main character Sarah, exists separate of time and represents the Jewish people. We pick up her story in the days of the first destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Assyrians and follow her all over the earth throughout the history of the last 2500 years. She experiences the rebuilding of the temple and the destruction yet again by the Babylonians. Again the temple is rebuilt only to be destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, never to be rebuilt.
She experiences the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the horror of Auschwitz. She has friends that walk with her through these difficult times, and loses some dear to her as well. Many of the things I have learned in history classes or sermons or Bible studies were finally brought together in a cohesive way by the story of Sarah. An excellent read.
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Septembers of Shiraz
This is a book that I picked up at Hastings. I was wandering and saw that the front the book had a review from an author I love to read, Claire Messud, "miraculously light in its touch...Sofer writes beautifully...a remarkable debut." Sold.
The book chronicles a family in the 1980s shortly after the Iranian revolution. It describes the chaos and the slow chipping away at the familiar. The father, Isaac, is arrested and sent to a prison to be constantly interrogated about his "crimes". The wife, Farnaz, tries to hold what remains of their daily lives together. The daughter, Shirin, finds herself unable to eat and sickly due to the stress. And, the son, Parviz, is in New York going to school, lonely and penniless.
The writing is sparse and beautiful. Sofer makes a difficult and sad subject immensely readable. I usually don't read the interviews with the authors at the end of the book, but in this case I was really glad that I did. The story is very loosely autobiographical. Sofer's father was imprisoned in much the same manner and came back a changed person. Sofer's family was smuggled out of the country to safety.
I really enjoyed this book. However, if I had solely read the back, I don't think I would have picked it up.
The book chronicles a family in the 1980s shortly after the Iranian revolution. It describes the chaos and the slow chipping away at the familiar. The father, Isaac, is arrested and sent to a prison to be constantly interrogated about his "crimes". The wife, Farnaz, tries to hold what remains of their daily lives together. The daughter, Shirin, finds herself unable to eat and sickly due to the stress. And, the son, Parviz, is in New York going to school, lonely and penniless.
The writing is sparse and beautiful. Sofer makes a difficult and sad subject immensely readable. I usually don't read the interviews with the authors at the end of the book, but in this case I was really glad that I did. The story is very loosely autobiographical. Sofer's father was imprisoned in much the same manner and came back a changed person. Sofer's family was smuggled out of the country to safety.
I really enjoyed this book. However, if I had solely read the back, I don't think I would have picked it up.
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