Archive for the 'Books' Category
September 30th, 2008 by Blythe
Things I Learned About My Dad (In Therapy)
edited by Heather B. Armstrong
A great read for a first-time parent. I laughed out loud at the opening essay and enjoyed almost all the rest, all for different reasons. Especially fun if you’re already familiar with the authors’ blogs.
The One Hundred
by Nina Garcia
Basic and beautiful fashion and shopping tips with lovely illustrations. If you’re a Project Runway fan, you’ll love it even more.
August 20th, 2008 by Blythe
I have a friend who just gave up reading one day. He still reads stuff for work and newspapers and the occasional magazine, but he altogether stopped reading books. This is a person who majored in English in college, and who I used to regularly swap books with and discuss how long it took to get through that latest Krakauer book, two days or three.
He vaguely mentioned a few years ago that he’d kicked the habit but I didn’t really believe him, in the same way that I suspect most smokers usually bum a cigarette every now and then at a bar when they’re drinking cheap lite beer. Not long before our conversation, I’d given him Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, winner of the Booker of Bookers (best of the best). He told me he’d never finished it. I figured he just didn’t like it that much but eventually he would come up with some other author he loved and away he’d go. But it was not to be.
Astute readers have noticed that last month was devoid of a “books” entry. That’s because I did not read any books. I blamed it on the move and the hot weather and the kid learning to walk. But we’re over halfway through August and I haven’t picked up a single book, and since I’m staying in a hotel and my most strenuous daily activity consists of playing defense against Theo as he tries to dodge past me in the elevator and hit the alarm button (Incidentally, why are those buttons always at the bottom of the stack, exactly toddler-high?), you’d think I might make time to at least thumb through something by Maeve Binchy. But I just can’t get motivated. I haven’t even finished all the articles in the September issue of Vanity Fair and it’s almost September!
This morning I was riffling through the stack of junk stuffed in the drawer of my bedside table. Underneath the free copies of USA Today, I found my copy of Midnight’s Children. I’d forgotten I started reading it at the beginning of July. And never picked it up again, not even when Theo was asleep on the plane or at night before bed during Olympic weight-lifting prelims.
So I’m writing this to warn you never to read that particular book, unless you aspire to give up reading books forever. And if you see me wandering around, a half-finished National Enquirer tucked under one arm, blame Salman Rushdie.
June 30th, 2008 by Blythe
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Inspiration to think carefully about what I eat. I’ll never be a hard-core gardener, but I will shop and cook more thoughtfully after reading this book.
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
There’s nothing more frustrating that getting to the end of a whodunit and realizing the whole thing has collapsed and you’ve just wasted a whole book’s worth of wondering.
May 31st, 2008 by Blythe
Chuck Klosterman IV by Chuck Klosterman
I love reading Chuck because he thinks like I think, only better and with more swearing. This book is a collection of previously published work, from SPIN magazine and Esquire. The celebrity interviews were my favorite sections, because he talks with people I’m curious about and asks them questions I want answered. And his insight into Britney Spears borders on telepathic.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I kept forgetting to read this. I’d sit down to read and think, “hmm…what book am I reading right now?” Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but having said that, it was enjoyable to read once I finally remembered to pick it up.
April 30th, 2008 by Blythe
Property by Valerie Martin
Another interesting premise, another strangely disappointing execution. Momentum picks up slightly halfway through, but I never got a really good sense of the narrator and couldn’t sympathize with her. There were also unexpected moments when it felt like I’d been dropped into a horror novel.
The Gatheringby Anne Enright
More of a description of one woman’s reaction to her brother’s death, including the emotions and memories it evokes, than a story. By the end, I didn’t feel that I was in a different place than where I’d begun, but the characters were vivid and the language fluid.
March 31st, 2008 by Blythe
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
It’s difficult for me to read a book like this, that has been praised and discussed so widely, with clear eyes. I loved the descriptions of Afghanistan’s land and culture, and the depiction of how the country changed. The characters and story lacked complexity and seemed manipulative to me.
February 29th, 2008 by Blythe
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud
I imagine there are thousands of people wandering around New York whose lives are exactly like this.
Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson
I really want Nigella’s hair and her kitchen, but her cookbook will have to do.
January 31st, 2008 by Blythe
Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman
More Klosterman. He annoys some people, but he makes me laugh out loud.
December 31st, 2007 by Blythe
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
Misty story about a quirky family of women.
November 30th, 2007 by Blythe
The Girls by Lori Lansens
A memoir-style novel about a pair of conjoined twins. Proves that an interesting premise doesn’t always mean the story will be any good.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
My friends who read this romantic yarn about a Confederate deserter’s journey back home didn’t like it, but they read it when it was at the height of its hype. My advice: wait to read books when they’ve gone out of fashion and you have no expectations. I loved Frazier’s writing, and the story is a good one.
Fargo Rock City by Chuck Klosterman
My reading pleasure was enhanced by being almost exactly the same age and from the same kind of town as the author of this book. Also, it helped that I still listen to Def Leppard.