October 12, 2008

Fiction: Iodine, by Haven Kimmel

If there is one author I would want to be, if I were an author, it would be Haven Kimmel. I've read and loved her previous novels (here and posts from June 26, 2004 and April 13, 2004 on this page) AND her nonfiction/memoirs (here and the post from April 24, 2005 on this page). When I saw a new Kimmel in the window of the bookstore on the way home, there was no question I was stopping to buy it, regardless of my many grocery bags.

This one is a bit darker than you may be expecting. While her lead characters are often girls in crisis...generally they are girls finding a way out of it. This book is about a girl who may not even know she's in it. But we the reader certainly do.

While Trace and her haphazard life sucked me in just as powerfully as Kimmel's other characters have in the past, this was a more distressing read and a very intense one. Academically somewhat dense, with rampant literary "nods", and mentally unsettling.

If you liked Sharp Objects or My Sister's Continent (April 16, 2006 on this page), I think you will find a way in to this book. But it may be a tough read for the faint of heart.

Posted by Duff at 02:33 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Sway, by Zachary Lazar

A fictionalized account of a number of non-fiction events. There's a) the Rolling Stones in their drug heydays, with Brian Jones falling off the deep end, a fan getting murdered at Altmont, and a trip to Marrakech; b) Charles Manson and his groupies beginning their swath of murders; and c) Kenneth Anger, whose psychedelic filmmaking forces the groups to intersect and ties the two stories together.

Really creative premise. Very effective blend of fact and fiction. I didn't love all of it. I liked the Stones-centric chapters a lot better than the others. And I particularly enjoyed Lazar's handling of Anita and Keith's "characters", and the vivid candlelit interactions as the group circles 'round each other during the trip to Morocco.

A very interesting read.

Posted by Duff at 02:24 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Short Stories: Dead Boys, by Richard Lange

This was our September challenge book and it was so nice to be reading short stories again after slogging through the Musil in August.

These are not happy times stories. Someone in every story is lost (physically, mentally or emotionally), or lonely, or angry, or ... or they've come to the end of what they can handle or find their way around.

For some characters, their searching leaves them in a better place than where they began, but never the perfect place. But for some, the story's end is further down a road they never should have been on in the first place.

Really engaging. Unexpected. True and original. Unlike stories you've read before. In a very gritty down to earth way.

Posted by Duff at 02:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: The Man Without Qualities, Volume I, by Robert Musil

Tthis was our August challenge book. And we did not enjoy it.

The reason it made our list was Dad had bought it years ago and always meant to read it, particularly after the Wilkins/Pike translation came out and it was lauded everywhere as "the third member of the trinity in 20th-century literature, complementing Ulysses and Remembrance of Things Past" (Wall Street Journal).

In the beginning, I found it sardonic and was open to it. As it went on, it dragged and felt very pedantic and, as I put it, "kinda prissy." Dad's more adult reaction was "It's very arch."

We can sort of understand the reaction, originally. A big book trying to touch on a million different European themes right as the War is sneaking up on everyone...

But to compare it to Joyce? or Proust? No. Not in the same league. Not experimental, not groundbreaking, not even truly entertaining. And not worth our time to read Volume II so we've scratched that from our plan.

Posted by Duff at 02:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin'

Challenge '08 Update.

We are tweaking our challenge slightly.

In July, we both only got through the first half (it was THICK). And in August, we finished (eventually. Or I did, a few days into September, can't remember if Dad actually did or not) but we did NOT enjoy the book and have no interest in reading part II (which was the book for October).

So we are scratching October's choice and reading the second half of the July book this month.

In case you were wondering.

October: "The Man Without Qualities, Vol 2" by Robert MusilSecond half of "The New Granta Book of the American Short Story" edited by Richard Ford

November: "The Oxford Book of Short Stories" edited by V.S. Pritchett

December: "The Trial" by Kafka

Posted by Duff at 02:05 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin'

August 21, 2008

Fantasy: The Hob's Bargain, by Patricia Briggs

Another - typically as you might expect from who the author is - completely entertaining, engrossing fantasy novel.

Dear Ms. Briggs,
Every book of yours I read just breaks my heart a little bit more than the last one. The characters are so enticing; smart and funny and strong and so many other things that you wish people were in your real life. I just want their stories to go on and on and on...
Seriously,
I want to marry Kith, do you know a real him for me?,
Duff.

Posted by Duff at 12:38 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Letters, Readin', Recommending

August 17, 2008

YA/Fantasy: Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer

The fourth in the sparkly vampire series, I really struggled to get through this one. Not that I didn't finish it the same day I started, but that I found myself very annoyed with it early on and really pushed through only because I just HAD to know how it ended.

The first three I whipped through in a weekend and found them exhilarating and entertaining DESPITE the sloppy writing. So perhaps I had a harder time with this one because I wasn't already on Bella's emotional rollercoaster when I started. Whatever the reason, there were a number of things I just found too ludicrous here to really enjoy. But I sort of wondered going in if that would be the case.

As an adult, I can see all the weaknesses. As a teenager, I'm sure I would have [purposely] completely overlooked them and been swept right along.

Posted by Duff at 03:05 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery/Fiction: The Likeness, by Tana French

Wow. Soooooo good.

A follow-up of sorts to her debut "In the Woods", taking the #2 character from that book and putting the focus on them (and I hear an auxiliary character in this book will be the focus of her third).

Really intriguing mystery, characters that become sooooo real... The descriptions are rich and thick, and the emotions are layered and tangled.

French has just written two of the most interesting, and unusual, mysteries out there.

Posted by Duff at 03:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

August 03, 2008

Poetry: Unmentionables, by Beth Ann Fennelly

Funny, wry and matter of fact. Cow tipping, Berthe Morisot, Kudzu (vine) creep, and John Berryman: her subjects are flung far and wide but always treated with the same intense gaze.

You can feel the Mississippi humidity seeping off the pages. These poems are fresh, verdant and fecund.

Similar to Billy Collins, she writes simply, but deeply.

Posted by Duff at 06:44 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Sci Fi/Fantasy: Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld

Very, very different than the other YA vampire fiction out there these days.

Male protagonist, certainly interested in romance/sex but not consumed by it the way Bella (of the other books) is. A more realistic/scientific look at the phenomenon, if you will, despite the fictionalness of it all. Lots of cool Manhattan stuff: underground, bureaucratical, conspiratorial.

Certainly pulls you right along. Enjoyable easy reading. I mean, other than the bug stuff. If you are bug, insect and gross-phobic the way I am...well, let's just say it was hard for me to even let my fingers touch the pages of the Parasite chapters as a) soooooo nasty and b) some of my worst nightmares CONFIRMED!!!

But on a separate note, as I said with the other: It kinda cracks me up how every "new" installment to vampire lore needs to put their own tweak on the legends. This rewrites a different part of the legend, but I still fail to understand the reason to need to make those tweaks to what are centuries old "beliefs" (if you can call them that). Your writing should stand out as something special, even without that tweaking; if you feel you have to tweak aspects of the overall Vampire legends in order to stand out, maybe you're concentrating on the wrong thing. I'm not saying that's Westerfeld's problem (I think this book is certainly well written, which I can't say about the other series, which is much more superficial and really only works on an emotional level), but why the need to change the mirror bit of the mythos? Yeah, in YA speak, I don't "get" that urge.

Posted by Duff at 11:31 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: Absurdistan, by Gary Shteyngart

Mindblowingly fucking hilarous. Truly comedic. Completely non-PC, an equal opportunity satirist taking on everyone/thing. Smart and sarcastic, yet willing to show a softer side on occasion. Brilliant.

In the tradition of "Confederacy of Dunces", but I enjoyed this more. Takes it a few steps further, less bitter, more fun. And in addition to the narrator and (anti-)hero Misha Vainberg, the author himself plays a bit part in this book (from afar), the emigre writer "Jerry Shteynfarb" author of "Russian Arriviste's Hand Job" [Shteyngart wrote "The Russian Debutante's Handbook"]. Poking fun at yourself equally as to others = always fertile ground for hilarity.

This is in no way one of the funniest quotes in the book, but it's emblematic of the general tone: "We give these American schmendricks a map of the world and say, 'Point to the general area where you think Congo is located.' Nineteen percent point to the continent of Africa. Another twenty-three percent point to either India or South America. We count those as correct answers, because Africa, India and South America all start out wide and then taper off at the bottom. So, for our purposes, forty-two percent of respondents sort of know where Congo is."

So the book. Yeah. It's really crude, and often gross, and TOTALLY AWESOME.

Posted by Duff at 11:18 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Trespass, by Valerie Martin

Family tension, even in other people's families, can really set me on edge. This book had me anxious from page 1, just waiting for Bad Shit to Happen as the tension and anxiety of each character grows and grows. Definitely had me on the edge of the seat.

Really neat characterization and very finely detailed: the mom's art (so cool), the dad's writing. The intricacies of the familial relationships were so well plotted; you love someone, but you see their weakness; you hate when they act a certain way, but you know how to handle them when that's the case; etc.

When the moment of crisis comes, it was not at all what I expected, and that includes the follow-up events.

But I have to wonder what the blurb writer was thinking. Because the last sentence on the front flap blurb? Yeah, that's NOT what I got out of this at all.

Posted by Duff at 11:13 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

July 08, 2008

Mystery: "Nothing to Lose" by Lee Child

The latest Jack Reacher. You know how I feel about Jack Reacher.

I liked the little bits of the mystery that made this very modern day / the connections to the current global conflict. Definitely enjoyed it overall. Another solid addition to the series.

But I wasn't loving the (yet another) dead-end relationship and I thought the way they made the relationship "connect" to the main mystery (the husband) was a bit contrived. Also, hello, there is no way a smart guy like Reacher takes THAT LONG to figure out what's going on with the husband. Come on.

Posted by Duff at 09:55 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Short Stories: "Dark Roots" by Cate Kennedy

Very intense little stories. Succinct but centered around the moment of conflict. Very in medias res. People caught by surprise, sometimes by their own actions. Questioning themselves, questioning you, what would you do. People in unconventional situations. All different points of view: men, women, old, young.

Really good. (And very fast read. BIG print, less than 200 pgs.)

I must not have read the blurb beforehand though because I was somewhere in the mdidle when I thought "This girl MUST be Australian." Yeah, dork, says so right on the back cover. Doh.

Posted by Duff at 09:46 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

July 07, 2008

Fiction: Lush Life, by Richard Price

A bday present from Carla who must've seen me mention it here. ;)

Price does such a good job of sucking you into each character's point of view. I kept changing who I was rooting for / who I thought was guilty / who deserved a serious smackdown. He is also just brilliant at maintaining the main plotline while also delving into all the little conflicts going on in the substories around it. Every character, every story, every little grouping of people is fully fleshed out and palpably human.

And the dialogue? Holy crap, no wonder they make this guy's books into movies. The dialogue is just spot-on in every scene.

Combine this great book with Minty's recent Coney Island and Mermaid Parade photos and I was missing NYC something fierce for a week there.

Posted by Duff at 05:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: Life Class, by Pat Barker

I really, really canNOT understand the reviews for this book: all of which seem to compare it unfavorably to her earlier Regeneration trilogy and some of which I just find ludicrous ("Tellingly, many critics mentioned as their favorite character one with little more than a walk-on—the real-life artist, teacher, and surgeon Henry Tonks, whom they hope to see more of in a sequel". What? NO.).

I didn't think the first half of the book was "slow" as so many have said / I thought the first half was about a bunch of very unhappy people, some of whom are actually happier when the war comes (second half) because it gives their life some direction they hadn't seemed to be able to find before it. Life does move slower when you're unhappy, don't you know.

I loved the descriptions of the art in this book; I could *almost* see the paintings in my mind and I really wish most of them existed. (Similar to how I felt about the paintings in Siri Hustvedt's "What I Loved".)

I found it moving and insightful and while it does continue to crack me up that so many contemporary British writers are often to be found writing about WWI and II (because there just haven't been any conflicts in the world since then, right?) in a way you don't find quite as often on this side of the pond, I think Pat Barker is (and continues to be) one of the best.

Posted by Duff at 05:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 23, 2008

Fantasy: Raven's Shadow and Raven's Strike, by Patricia Briggs

Yes, I'm on a bit of a Patricia Briggs kick (first the Mercy Thompson books, then the dragon books I read last month (known together as "the Hurog books"); these are known as "the Raven duology."

Reminiscent of Robert Jordan with the magic and the travelers and the sense of class/caste between magic(al) and not... As with the Hurog books, the characters in these books are so real and so easy to engage with, and the story becomes even more believable as it evolves.

The first book establishes the relationship that the second book gives you the payoff for. The enlargement of the magic world in book two is done just so, so well. Jess is my favorite (not just Jess, but the Guardian as well) but all the "orders" have their attractions.

If you like fantasy, you should be reading these. (And if you like "good literature" but haven't been reading fantasy because you didn't know which ones to read, this is a good place for you to start.)

Posted by Duff at 05:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: The Farther Shore, by Matthew Eck

I'll go back to my initial reaction: Welcome to the new generation of war novelists. Tactile and gritty and completely engrossing.

A bombed-out Middle Eastern city. An isolated military unit. Sand and desert winds and sweat and dehydration and confusion. The byplay between fear and confidence.

While it is what every good war novel is...it is also something of its own. Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 05:24 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

June 09, 2008

Fiction: War with the Newts, by Karel Capek

Our June challenge book.

Really sharp political/societal commentary. First section is really rollicking fun. Second and third, a bit darker. Sometimes very sad.

Poignantly predictable, in a way, given world history now in 2008, but probably less predictable and more predictive in its time (first published in 1936).

Loved it.

By the way, Capek is the dude who came up with (created? originated? whateva!) the word "Robot" (in his play R.U.R.). This is also the first book to cause some random stranger to come up and talk to me on public transportation IN MY LIFE and given that I have 5 yrs in Chitown and 13 yrs in NYC reading on public transit every work day, that's saying something.

Posted by Duff at 04:37 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, Readin', Recommending

Short Stories: The Collected Stories, by Isaac Bashevis Singer

The May challenge book. I had the '96 Farrar Straus edition so we went off its TOC for what we read (Dad has the Complete vs. the Collected).

Very entertaining, really liked a lot of them. Intensely detailed, plotted down to the last moment (even when there's not much of a plot), really great dialogue, and lots and lots of crazy neurotics ("The Admirer", for example. nuts!).

That said, they were arranged (way) too thematically. I mean four or five stories into dybbuks and devils tormenting innocent jews (I really didn't realize there were that many devils in Judaic tradition) and they all start to seem a little too much the same (and you've still got another 20 on that topic to go). Then at the other end of the book, all the NYC stories were lumped together as well. Mixing the disparate types together might have made it an more enjoyable read (or I could have instituted my own mix and read out of order, but how was I to know they were grouped by type?) -- not that it wasn't enjoyable, but there were definitely stories where I thought "another one of these? just like the last four? really?".

When you get to the NYC stories, there are quite a few where you suddenly see the influence he's had on Philip Roth. "Old Love" for example shares so many of Roth's current themes and similar personal details on the part of the protagonist. Dad thinks Singer (rather than Malamud) is really the model for Roth's E.I. Lonoff (an elder writer who appears in some of Roth's Zuckerman books).

Posted by Duff at 04:14 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, Readin'

May 24, 2008

Mystery: One False Move, by Harlan Coben

Burning through mysteries in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

The next in the Myron Bolitar series (after these). Still enjoying these, but not quite as much thanks to throwaway paragraphs with pedantic tones like this one:

"Win waited by Myron's car. He was bent slightly at the waist, practicing his golf swing. He did not have a club or a ball, of course. Remember blasting rock music and jumping on your bed and playing air guitar? Golfers do the same thing. They hear some internal sounds of nature, step on imaginary first tees, and swing air clubs. Air woods usually. Sometimes, when they want more control, they take air irons out of the air bags. And like teens with air guitars, golfers like to watch themselves in mirrors..."

Seriously? Do tell. Who is the audience for that? Or, better yet, who does the writer think his audience is that he needs to write that? You can, indeed, take dumbing down a bit too far.

Dear Harlan Coben,
There aren't that many Myron Bolitar books after this one. So I'm sure I'll keep reading them up until the end. Because I like Myron. And I love Win, despite the fact that he's a raving psychopath. (He makes Joe Pike look well adjusted.) But seriously? You can do better than that.
Sincerely,
who would've thought golf could be made more boring than it actually is,
CMS

Posted by Duff at 05:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Letters, Readin'

Fantasy: Dragon Blood, by Patricia Briggs

Burning through fantasy in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

The follow-up to Dragon Bones. Equally rewarding, if not more so for getting to spend more time with these characters.

She's currently my favorite fantasy writer and I cannot recommend these (and the Mercy Thompson books) enough.

Posted by Duff at 05:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: Dragon Bones, by Patricia Briggs

Burning through fantasy in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

I've recommended her modern day fantasy to you before. Now I can highly recommend her more traditionally set (you know that whole medieval-type, middle age-sort of world that so much fantasy is set in; similar to the worlds of Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, among others) fantasy as well.

LOVED this book. Absolutely loved. In love with Ward, with Oreg, completely sucked in by the myth and the magic. Beautiful. Some kinda icky torture (physical and psychological), that just makes you care even more deeply about these characters. Wow.

Posted by Duff at 05:14 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Mystery: The Devil of Nanking, by Mo Hayder

Burning through mysteries in the offhours while reading this month's challenge book.

Really erotic and sexy...but sometimes in a very icky way. Spooky premise, creepy surroundings, and a very messed up girl. Not for the faint of heart. Not to be read at night alone in the dark.

Posted by Duff at 05:12 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: Slam, by Nick Hornby

A younger version of the main characters from "About a Boy" and "High Fidelity" (two very beloved books 'round here. Although you may remember, I do NOT love some of his others; and I only love the movie of ONE of those).

Easy, honest, open...with a wee little bit of fantasy future thrown in. Liked it, but didn't always love it, sometimes frustrated by it. As with all teenage boys, right?

Posted by Duff at 05:08 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: Bad Luck and Trouble, by Lee Child

Reading mysteries in the offhours while burning through this month's challenge book.

The latest Jack Reacher (or latest in paperback at least). Jack Reacher is my dream...everything he is in the books with Tahmoh Penikett's body, looks, voice, etc. Perfect!

Posted by Duff at 05:04 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: Just One Look, by Harlan Coben

Since this month's challenge is back to short stories, I find myself breaking it up a bit with short&sweet mystery novels. I know, right? Bizarre.

Anyways....I was reading for the next Myron Bolitar book but couldn't find it on my way to the airport, so had to settle for a non-Myron Bolitar, the first stand-alone Coben I've read.

I liked some of the characters, I liked the "figuring it out" stuff. But I thought the main mystery was both too convoluted and too improbable to really work. Too many moving parts. Still kept you intrigued...but like an badly plotted action movie that wows you while you're IN IT, but is too easy to pick apart afterward.

Posted by Duff at 05:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: Fade Away and Back Spin, both by Harlan Coben

Books 3 and 4 in the Myron Bolitar series (1, 2). Still enjoying these.

In some ways, Win's character makes these much more violent than your average mystery (is that why I like them?). And the ongoing confusion of the Jessica situation also adds an intensity. But I'm not sure why temptation always has to be a part of it. The come-back scenario in Fade Away was really bittersweet.

Posted by Duff at 04:53 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: The Death of Virgil, by Hermann Broch

The April challenge book. Certainly the toughest read so far, for both Dad and me.

The language is rich, gorgeous and elegaic; much like reading Virgil himself (or Homer. or Ovid). It's dreamy and powerful and image-full. But...

Part 1: Interesting. Lovely imagery and prose. Nice.

Part 2: Interminable. Almost the death of ME, let alone Virgil. Sentences so long, you can't remember where they began or if anything has even happened in them. And what? Did he just suggest burning the Aeneid? WHAT?!?!

Part 3: Hey, there's some stuff happening again! Still a very high-toned literary experience, but now the drama with Octavian really pulls things along. Some very neat imagery, the landscape arising out of nothing (much easier to do in film than in prose). His yearning is so strong, you can really feel it. [According to Dad the slave boy and Plotia play a very similar role here to that of Jessica Lange in "All That Jazz." I was then castigated for not having seen that recently enough to be able to agree (or not). p.s. just between you, world wide web, and me, I'm not even sure I've ever seen it all the way through!] Really enjoyable.

Part 4: Ugh, we're back to part 2-like process again. Dad: "It's like 2001 the Space Odyssey. At first it's kinda cool and then after a while you just get really, really bored." Me: Hard to know what's happening here, when he's actually dead, what is dream sequence vs. reality vs. post-mortem? (And in this part, hard to care. If this was written like Part 3, I'd be all over it!)

Glad to have read it, but certainly never going to need to read it again. Definitely a challenge.

Posted by Duff at 04:41 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin'

Fiction: The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff

Bought this one in an airport due at least partly to its paper-cut-out looking cover (Yo, Chicken, you would LOVE it, have you seen it????) and its Stephen King blurb.

Definitely fits into that "damaged girl comes home, solves mystery" genre (like Sharp Objects but a little less dark).

I have some misgivings: some of the characters made me a little crazy; I'm not sure the historical stuff ever really found its way IN to the story / didn't quite coalesce; and there's at least one character who I, and I would assume many readers feel this way, still have outstanding concerns about as the book ends.

But I liked the tone, I liked the focus on academia, the almost, but not quite, high-browed literariness of it. And I loved the contrast between the unmonstrousness of the actual monster and the metaphoricness of the Monsters of the title. Some stuff really well done. Very textured and tactile.

Posted by Duff at 04:33 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: Belong to Me, by Marisa de los Santos

The second in a (somewhat loose) series about Cornelia (and, now, Teo). I liked the first book, but didn't love it. I LOVED this one.

Less Claire in this book, although still importantly part of it. Dev was a great character, scenes with him really shone.

Easy, natural conversational tone that just sucked me right in, I could barely put it down. Laughed with it, cried with it. Ouch. Friendships, families, what makes them, what breaks them. Many similar themes to the earlier book. But, in my opinion, much better written and handled. Definitely a step up.

Recommended.

Posted by Duff at 04:29 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

April 13, 2008

Mystery: "Drop Shot" by Harlan Coben

And another little break...

The second in the Myron Bolitar series. The fact that Myron is a sports agent and lawyer rather than your more typical PI or retired cop/military just soooo works for me in these books. But of course Win is my favorite character (Joe Pike but without conscience? Or questionable conscience?). I did figure out one part of the mystery a lot earlier than Myron, and not sure if I like being the one to figure it out, I am happy when the book fools me to the end sometimes. Still very enjoyable.

Posted by Duff at 03:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: "The Watchman" by Robert Crais

Taking a little break from the "big" book I am reading [I'll do a "currently" post soon]...

Subtitled "A Joe Pike Novel" which makes me hope (HOPEHOPE) that implies an entire series focused on Pike.

I thought the Elvis Crais books were draggin' a little, getting too caught up in Elvis' personal life and not enough focus on the mysteries. This was a refreshing change; Pike is such an engimatic dude. The only comparable character for me is Jack Reacher and I would actually run off with Pike first if given the choice.

He's fierce and fearless and smart and determined and crazy ass cool. I keep warning my dad I am soooo tempted to get matching deltoid arrows...

Posted by Duff at 03:07 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fantasy: "The Tourmaline" by Paul Park

Second in the series I started in March.

Some really dark and twisted stuff in here, in such a cool way. All spicy and bitter with emotion and imagination. I am enjoying them a great deal. [Another one already bought and in the TBR pile!]

Posted by Duff at 03:05 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: "The Murder at the Vicarage" by Agatha Christie

Another English language pickup in Kyoto, I was really getting desperate for reading material there at the end. (And you know I had to save something for the plane!)

The first Miss Marple, when she's just annoying as hell and only one person in the story even seems to realize that although annoying, she's probably right. (You know, versus later on, when she's still as annoying but people heed her advice because of her track record.)

Posted by Duff at 03:01 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Nonfiction: "Let's Talk About Love; A Journey to the End of Taste" by Carl Wilson

Part of the 33 1/3 series (details here or here).

There is much more to this book than you might think. Truly a philosophical treatise on not just Celine and her music (and importance or not); but on personal taste, crowd reaction, social commentary... The level of research was pretty impressive and the combination of sarcasm and thoughtfulness had a nice smooth tone. Doesn't make me anymore interested in listening to Dion's music, but that's not really the point.

Posted by Duff at 02:57 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: "The Naming of the Dead" by Ian Rankin

Not really sure where I am in this series, I may have skipped ahead a few books to read this one, but I was out of reading material and this was the only thing in the "english books" section of that particular store in Kyoto that I wanted to read.

Rebus is still the same disreputable mess as always, but the byplay between him and Siobhan here is great, felt very refreshing and upbeat from the last one I read. And the ins and outs of the mystery here were really well done.

Posted by Duff at 02:55 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" by Winifred Watson

Charming, fun, lively, light. Great dialogue. Engaging.

Posted by Duff at 02:54 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: "The Hunt Ball" and "The Hounds and the Fury" by Rita Mae Brown

Two more in the Sister Jane Hall/Jefferson Hunt Club series (got started a few years ago with an Xmas present).

I liked both of these for the things I've liked before: the intrigue and details of the mystery, the awesome dogs and horses and the foxes (I love the foxes) and their reactions and relations and really vital role in the story. Man I love reading the scenes with Cora and Dasher. The hunt scenes are really wonderful and atmospheric, take you right into the thick of things.

And I didn't like the same stuff that bugs me in each of these books: Sister Jane's incredible self-satisifed-ness and the "how to be upstanding and moral" lessons that crop up throughout. Often has a very pedantic feel. Too preachy and often those paragraphs aren't even in any particular character's voice so they really throw you right out of the action.

Posted by Duff at 02:50 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Short Stories: The Complete Stories by David Malouf

The March selection in Dad's and my reading challenge. I had read a few Malouf novels so this was one of my suggestions.

LOVED it. [Both of us did.] Had no idea going in, but the dude is a MASTER of the technique and these are certainly some of the best stories I've ever read, and probably the best overall collection. [Dad might not be QUITE as nutty about them as I am.]

Seems he can write from any angle, any point of view: young boy, middle-aged woman, loner, popularity queen, happy, sad, criminal, just. The atmosphere is rich and vivid (and reeks of Australia, I could feel myself there again). The language is thick and layered and sensual [reminded Dad of D.H. Lawrence stories]. Really beautiful. In many stories, a BIG event has taken place "offscreen" (never to be known), with the focus on the human reactions and following chain of effects.

My favorite stories were: "Every Move You Make", "The Domestic Cantata", "Sally's Story", "Great Day", and "A Traveller's Tale".

Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 02:42 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

March 05, 2008

Mystery/Suspense: "The Faithful Spy" by Alex Berenson

Cool setup/scenario. Nice spy/action stuff. But reads more like a screenplay than a "novel" really; when's the movie coming out??? :) Good airport book!

Posted by Duff at 10:43 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Essays: "The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist" by Richard P. Feynman

Science reading for non scientists. Great conversational tone / these are "transcribed" from three lectures he gave; there were a few spots that in person/out loud were probably very funny although a bit dry on the page.

Really, really enjoyed the first two sections / the third is (as he announces at the outset) a bit of a ramble and it lost my attention a few times. But worth reading nonetheless.

Thoughtful and concise and ready to converse. Written in '63 (if I recall, book's not next to me) but still very relevant today.

Posted by Duff at 10:39 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek

The February book in Dad's and my reading challenge.

Eastern European classic, Dad bought it years ago based on a Kundera recommendation. Total farce, hilarious comic novel. Bumbling anti-hero, a miserable idiot...or is he? Really a lot of fun to read. The never-ending "Well that reminds me of" stories and the contretemps...just indescribable. We both loved it. Humbly report, sir...

Somewhat in the tradition of Don Quixote or Tristram Shandy, although Svejk is a bit more self aware than DQ.

Posted by Duff at 10:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin', Recommending

Fantasy: "A Princess of Roumania" by Paul Park

Bitter, dark, magical and mysterious. Couldn't put it down!

Fans of Justine Larbalestier or Margo Lanagan would like this, I would think, although Marrije said she couldn't get into it the first time around.

Posted by Duff at 10:13 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

February 14, 2008

Fantasy/Mystery: "Iron Kissed" by Patricia Briggs

This is book #3 in the Mercy Thompson (mechanic, shape shifter) series and I am just LOVING these books. Loving, I tell you. (I told about the first and second ones last year.)

The mystery is a little bit closer to home. The relationship situation comes to more of a head. Things are fiercer and gentler all at the same time (the mutual realization in the car was just handled so so right) and I'm just chomping at the bit to read more, more, more about these characters. Not a false note anywhere. Now where will the final decision take her? Write the next book soon please, Ms. Briggs, because these three are going to be threadbare by the time that one comes out and I'm ready for it now!

Posted by Duff at 08:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Short Stories: "You Must Be This Happy to Enter" by Elizabeth Crane

I've told you about this author before. She was in my favorite books of 2006 and you'll find brief reviews of her two previous collections if you search for "crane" on this page.

This collection shares some qualities with the previous two (her writing is still "breathless" and "exhilarating" as I mentioned there). Some of the stories still feel like they take an experience and just pinpoint EXACTLY how it feels: as if she reached right into your life and wrote down for everyone what you were thinking but couldn't put into words.

But I think there's an evolution here as well (and I mean that in a good way). They're less in a girls' world (or one girl's world in the case of the second collection) but more "a girl out in the world" if you know what I'm sayin. There's some spot-on societal criticism (the reality show digs are priceless!). There's a bit more fantastical-ness than there was before (I'm thinking of "Manny" and "Blue Girl", they feel imaginative in a different way). There's a letter that is, indeed, all the best things you would want to say to an yet to be born and/or adopted child. And there are relationshps that, while being just as insightful as in her previous collections, have some sense of growth, some sense of "who you are, even while in a relationship, that is not defined by that relationship" in a way I didn't notice before.

When you're reading someone who's published 30 novels and been well chronicled and gone through their different paths to the road they're on, it's a different feeling. You know "oh now I'm reading from THIS time in her writing" or "oh yes this is when she tried out THIS". It's not quite as revelatory as when you're reading someone who's early on in their writing career, still somehow fresh and new, and you start thinking "hey, wait this feels....different. this feels....further on." Years from now, I think I'll look back and say "oh yes, the third book. That was a different place. A new path." Or, an evolution. For this reader, anyway.

I particularly LOVED "Donovan's Closet." And "Blue Girl." And "Promise" just leaves me completely heartbroken with the beauty of it. But again, in the good way.

Posted by Duff at 07:40 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

February 09, 2008

Fiction: "Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson

A big whopper of a book, for which the reviews are either enthustiastically postive (almost anywhere you look, and it also won the National Book Award) or soo soooo negative as to be completely comical.

I fall somewhere between. Not the best book I'll read this year: it's sprawling and sloppy and segues awkwardly. Not the worst book I'll read: it's descriptive and evocative and critical and inquiring.

I thought the beginning was kinda confusing, as one event in the 1963 chapter flashes forward to 1967, and a lot of characters get introduced in offhand ways, leading me to create a flowchart (that I stopped needing after a bit) of who knew who and who was related to who. But once you get going, that all went away.

I thought it was sort of a rough-and-tumble "boy" book. If you've read any W.B. Griffin, you might know what I mean. Crudely descriptive, rude when it doesn't have to be, but the way you imagine things in the military often are. Some things that the bad review mentions, I realized I had kind of chalked up to the "boy" ness of it. Maybe that's me being kind? Maybe that's not really acceptable in a book acclaimed to be of 'such' caliber? But it didn't bother me the way it did that reviewer.

On the other hand, I can agree (with the bad review) that some of the writing isn't great. (Although there were certainly chapters where I felt he hit his stride.) But I would say that wasn't really The Point here. Isn't the convoluted confusion of a messy mixed up war what the reading experience of this was like? Isn't the disconnected rambling way in which these characters make decisions and relate to one another part of what war does to you? Doesn't The Colonel and all his ridiculousness serve as a macrocosm for U.S. foreign policy and procedures of the time?

It's certainly one of very few Vietnam novels to have fairly major Vietnamese characters, (as pointed out by fridaysixpm, one of the reasons I decided to read it), some of whom are fleshed out more than others, yes.

I didn't like the end. I thought the "big event" of the end happened so weirdly that I felt sort of detached from it, and I really didn't see the point in having a) the character who ended the book be the one to end it or b) those particular sentiments at the end as they are really in opposition to what I think the real feeling of it was.

But I certainly thought it was worth reading: intense, rambling, yet strikingly evocative. If "knowing the Vietnam canon", so to speak, is one of your reading goals/needs, then I don't see how you can pass this up. It certainly adds another view, and one I haven't quite seen done before. And the ultimate truth of the experience relayed emotionally here is one I think agrees with other, perhaps more easily readable, of the famed Vietnam books (O'Brien, Caputo, and others).

Posted by Duff at 02:15 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Poetry: "Native Guard" by Natasha Trethewey

LOVED this book, a Christmas gift from my Dad who saw her read once at the UND Writer's Conference.

The first section is poems about her mother. They're elegaic and beautiful. There's love mixed with frustrating memories. There's grief. Really wonderful.

There's a section of poems that imagine things from the point of view of the (unfortunate) black soldiers in the Civil War. They're unexpected and insightful. A history you or I could never experience, fully come to life. Wow.

And in the last section she explores her own history, mixed in to her parents' lives, as a child of two races in a disapproving world. Returning home, both physically and emotionally. Remembering, and now understanding in a different way.

Really, really lovely. Highly recommended.

Posted by Duff at 01:39 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: "Fortunate Son" by Walter Mosley

I didn't like this. He describes it as a "parable" but that was part of what made it feel one-dimensional (or two-dimensional. some dimensional flatter than three) to me.

Posted by Duff at 01:30 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Stories: "The Oxford Book of English Short Stories" edited by A.S. Byatt

The January book for me and Dad's 2008 reading challenge. We picked this b/c Dad had (recently) so enjoyed V.S. Pritchett's Oxford short story collection.

However, the selection of stories in this book felt very bizarre to both of us. Byatt's particular idea of "what makes an English short story" was a very specific type and some of the things she claimed were "very particularly Britishly funny" in her introduction were things we either found a) not funny or b) not very British feeling (to us, both non Brits, of course).

So while there were some stories we really loved (some we both loved), there were a lot of stories that we didn't like / I wouldn't recommend the collection as a whole.

There were a lot of stories that were supposed to be (per her intro) scary = but weren't. Or stories that would be scary if they were written differently, but a LOT of stories in this book were very distant / the heavy presence of a "storyteller" telling the story (a very passive voice relating the action) on top of the writer made what was happening in the story seem very far away and hard to connect with. There were a lot of stories I call "afterschool specials" = you know, "message" or "lesson" stories.

And there were a lot of stories that seemed very atypical of their authors. In other words, my dad said, "if the story in this book were the first A.E. Coppard story I read, I would never have been interested in reading him again." Same goes for Dickens, Hardy, D.H. Lawrence and T.H. White. All great writers, all represented here by bad stories.

While we had different faves, these are eight we both liked.

Dad's faves were: ""Wireless" by Rudyard Kipling, ""At Hiruharama" by Penelope Fitzgerald, and "An Englishman's Home" by Evelyn Waugh.

Mine were: "The Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown" by G.K. Chesteron, "Solid Objects" by Virginia Woolf, "A Widow's Quilt" by Silvia Townsend Warner (and not because of the quilting), "A Dream of Winter" by Rosamond Lehmann, and "Telephone" by John Fuller.

We'd both recommend those (and some others), but not this particular collection. And we both thought "The Destructors" by Graham Greene was a really good story but had an incredibly devastating (and not funny at all) ending.

Given our experience with this collection, and his previous love for the Pritchett, we've added that one to our challenge for our last set of stories (even though he's read it already).

Posted by Duff at 01:12 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Readin'

February 06, 2008

Essays: "Housekeeping vs. the Dirt" by Nick Hornby

Hornby's second "anthology" of his monthly book review essays in The Believer (the first was "The Polysyllabic Spree" which I commented on briefly back in 2005).

While I don't always agree with his reviews, or I might not be interested in a particular book that he's reading, I usually enjoy the tone of these write ups. The random associations that come about between books you didn't expect to resonate with each other; the twists and turns that lead you off in a random direction, far from your original plans; and the pure joy when a book hits you in just the perfect moment for you and that book to collide.

Thanks to his comments, adding to my possibly to be read list (as opposed to the actual to be read pile of things already purchased or borrowed):

  • "Every Secret Thing" Laura Lippman (fiction)
  • "Blood Done Sign My Name" Timothy B. Tyson (memoir)
  • "Oh the Glory of It All" Sean Wilsey (memoir)
  • "What Good Are the Arts?" John Carey (nonfiction)
  • "Death and the Penguin" Andrey Kurkov (fiction)
  • Joshua Ferris "Then We Came to the End" (fiction) (this one's been reviewed all over in the past year, but this is the first review to make me think Hmmmmm)

Posted by Duff at 05:59 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Dad's and My Reading Challenge for 2008 [Updated]

Alternating short stories & Eastern European novels.

January: "The Oxford Book of English Short Stories" edited by A.S. Byatt

February: "The Good Soldier Svejk" by Jaroslav Hasek

March: Complete Short Stories, David Malouf

April: "The Death of Virgil" by Hermann Brach

May: Collected Short Stories, Isaac Baschevis Singer

June: "War with the Newts" by Karel Capek

July: Stories TBD"The New Granta Book of the American Short Story" edited by Richard Ford

August: "The Man Without Qualities, Vol 1" by Robert Musil

September: Stories TBD"Dead Boys: Stories" by Richard Lange

October: "The Man Without Qualities, Vol 2" by Robert Musil

November: Stories TBD"The Oxford Book of Short Stories" edited by V.S. Pritchett

December: "The Trial" by Kafka

Posted by Duff at 09:35 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Challenge 08, DadReaction, Lists, Readin'

January 08, 2008

Wrapping It Up: Best Books 2007.

My Favorite Six Books of 2007 were:

But there were lots of other books I enjoyed as well, and you can read more about that here.

Posted by Duff at 07:53 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Best of..., Books, Lists, Readin', Recommending

January 03, 2008

Fiction: "Exit Ghost" by Philip Roth

A return to Nathan Zuckerman, hero of old. Just as neurotic, but now bitter, old, despairing, and at the end of things. Impotent in more ways than (the literal) one.

Interesting juxtaposition between the defeated Zuckerman being written by a Roth at the top of his game.

If you had read the previous Zuckerman books, I don't see how you can pass this one up. It's not a smash hit the way other recent Roth books have been (American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, Plot Against America = all great) -- and it's no Sabbath's Theater -- but it's got some nice closure on the NZ story.

Posted by Duff at 12:00 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Poetry: "The Midnight Court" translated by Ciaran Carson

a.k.a. "Cuirt an Mhean Oiche" by Brian Merriman.

A bawdy Irish poem. Lots of fun.

(By the way, Ciaran Carson is an accomplished poet in his own right, as well.)

Posted by Duff at 11:10 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Sci Fi/Fantasy: "A Feast for Crows" by George R.R. Martin

Book 4 of "A Song for Fire and Ice".

I had forgotten how great this series is (let's see, I read Book 3 in...2003, woah). As with other fantasy series of similiar ilk, there are many, many storylines with a whole cacophony of important players. There's sure to be at least one or two characters you're interested in following. I am loving Arya's storyline the most, although I do have a soft spot for the Kingslayer. (Don't you picture him as a strapping gent, like Mads Mikkelsen or Heath Ledger...)

My other mainstay fantasy series has hit a rough patch given that Robert Jordan died recently without completing it... I'm sure there are bereft readers all over the world on that one! I hope there are no worries on that count here!

Posted by Duff at 11:05 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "Ludmilla's Broken English" by DBC Pierre

Two divergent storylines that eventually come together: a) conjoined twins (now separated) experiencing freedom from institutions for the first time and b) a Russian peasant girl at sea in a world of poverty and war.

Slapstick and comedic. I continue to be impressed by Pierre's ability to write for ANY voice: this is a complete departure from his previous (Booker-prize winning), and very dialectic, Vernon God Little. Not a departure, however, in its brusque, harsh humor. I enjoyed it.

Posted by Duff at 11:00 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

December 19, 2007

Fiction: "Incendiary" by Chris Cleave

Very intense! A stream-of-consciousness letter to Osama (yes the Bin-Laden one) from a (lower?) middle class wife who lost her son & police officer (bomb defuser) husband to a terrorist bomb blowing up an Arsenal/Chelsea match...which she feels even the worse about as she was having sex on their couch with someone she met in a bar (on a "my husband is off defusing a bomb and I am insanely nervous and when I am insanely nervous I go have sex with strangers" evening) when the bomb went off. She winds up going a little crazy and getting involved in some messed up situations, some beyond her control, and throughout it she continues her commentary, directed to Osama.

She starts the novel thinking if she tells him about her sweet, sweet boy that he killed, maybe he'll just stop bombing things...and ends it in a very different place.

The sentences are long and breathless and meandering (they felt like something Elizabeth Crane or Megan Stielstra would write), the emotions are hot and present and flustered, and it all feels very, very real.

Blew me away, in more ways than one. Wow.

I think some of the social class commentary was perhaps lost on a non-Brit reader; there are a few places where I thought "and I bet THAT adjective is explaining to someone EXACTLY what position she's found herself in but it's not something we say here so it's not really doing that for me." But that did not denigrate my enjoyment or the content at all.

Posted by Duff at 06:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: "Gentlemen of the Road" by Michael Chabon

I already told you last week about its exuberant use of adjectives and other writerly choices that lend to its fairy-tale adventure-story feel.

Very entertaining. Somewhat silly but a lot of fun.

"War creates opportunities too."

"In the short term," Joseph said, and spat again. "Good in the short term is always bad in the long term."

Posted by Duff at 06:12 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Short Stories/Fantasy: "Red Spikes" by Margo Lanagan

As I mentioned when I read another collection of Lanagan's in March, her stories are really unusual. They take you to other worlds and other times; to unexpected voices and unusual resolutions. They're violent and sudden; sometimes a nightmare, sometimes a dream. I particluarly loved "Winkie", "A Feather in the Breast of God" and "Hero Vale" but really there wasn't a single story I felt I could have done without.

Posted by Duff at 06:09 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett

The Queen (of England) comes upon a lending library...and starts reading..and it changes her entire life.

This book was an absolute delight. Clever, funny and thoughtful. An excellent treatise on the many things reading brings one.

Slim book, huge margins, huge print. It's a quickie. Really enjoyable.

She'd never taken much interest in reading. She read, of course, as one did, but liking books was something she left to other people. (emphasis = mine)

Posted by Duff at 04:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

December 10, 2007

(Fictional?) Memoir: "The Life of Hunger" by Amelie Nothomb

An somewhat philosophical memoir of hunger, being hungry, (at some points, actually anorexic), but also of being sated, in all of their various meanings: not just physically, but also emotionally, intellectually, etc. Also a book about "home", going there, leaving, about living places that aren't that. A book about feeling lost and alone even within the midst of your own family, let alone a strange city, school, country etc.

Very good. A very slim, quick read. But weighty in thought.

I thought I knew the meaning of the word 'big'. You have to have driven across the United States before you can have any idea of what that means: whole days of straight road without seeing a single human being.

My parents were forty, the age at which you pull up your sleeves and put your responsibility to the test of work. [Really? Uh oh! Danger ahead!]

Is it not enough to have some very good chocolate in your mouth, not only to believe in God, but also to feel that one is in his presence? God isn't chocolate, he's the encounter between chocolate and a palate capable of appreciating it.

Posted by Duff at 08:15 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Lit Quotes, Readin'

December 03, 2007

Mystery: "True Evil" by Greg Iles

You know when something in a book can just creep you out so much because you don't know whether it's something the author just dreamed up out of nowhere or if he's read about it and the ability to do that horrible thing is actually out there right now in the real world and could be happening to people? And I'm not talking "horrible thing" like something in a crazy horror/ slasher/ murder flick. I'm talking subtly yicky yicky mentally-disturbing "what if people are really doing that?" horrible. And it's not the part about hiring someone to kill off your spouse instead of you going through a divorce. I've still kinda got the skeeves. But that's really why you read a book like this one: to get your scary kicks.

Posted by Duff at 08:21 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Mystery: "Deal Breaker" by Harlan Coben

Not your typical genre piece in that the main character is a sports agent rather than a PI, or retired cop, or former FBI agent or whathaveyou. Yet your typical genre piece with the "tougher than the main dude" sidekick (think Joe Pike in the Elvis Cole books). Some really yicky aspects to the mystery. Still: very enjoyable, lots of sarcastic witty humor. Already bought the second one.

Posted by Duff at 08:19 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Short Stories: "Why the Devil Chose New England for His Work" by Jason Brown

Very intense set of stories; it took me a while to realize they were all taking place in the same town, with some recurring characters in the background (references to the same basketball coach, for example).

Subtle and quiet feeling, but the quiet before the storm. Emotionally brutal, sometimes breathtakingly so. Really, really good.

Posted by Duff at 08:10 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

November 12, 2007

Mystery/Fiction: "He Kills Coppers" by Jake Arnott

Loosely a follow-up to The Long Firm, although the connection is more tenuous than in your average "series".

Again follows a variety of characters with many different narrators, different motivations. All warped or twisted, all involved in something unsavory despite their best intentions. There's a little trick at the end I really liked.

The scenes with Billy in the forest, digging out a bunker, meeting up with the gypsy-types, really really reminded me of another book I dug -- I know it's one of the John Madden mysteries by Rennie Airth although I'm not sure which one.

The previous book was a lot more "social commentary" and "criminal biography" in feel. This one's focus is slightly different, feels more like a combination of "police procedural" and "investigative reporting".

One more to go (in this trilogy)! Glad I decided to rescue these off the TBR shelf. Enjoying them.

Posted by Duff at 12:31 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Nonfiction: "A Field Guide to Getting Lost" by Rebecca Solnit.

Hard to know how to classify this book. Not really 'travel' although she does go a few places. Not really 'memoir' although there are memories discussed Maybe: Philosophical musings from a personal viewpoint?

Regardless, I loved it. Completely engaging. Calm, yet intense underneath. Asking tough questions. Pondering, considering, studying.

The important thing is not that Elijah might show up someday. The important thing is that the doors are left open to the dark every year.

Not a book about religion, although that quote uses it. But certainly a book about personal belief, personal musings. I really don't lead this kind of contemplative life. But it was an inspiring read.

The chapter "Abandon" about her friend Marine really reminded me of "Truth and Beauty" by Ann Patchett, a memoir about Patchett's friend Lucy, another soul in trouble.

Don't be surprised to see me reading a LOT more Solnit in the days ahead.

Posted by Duff at 12:17 PM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

YA/Fantasy: "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

As a teenager, I think I would have LOVED these books. All fate and destiny and romance and ever burning passion and undying love. Isn't that always the dream of a 17-year-old romantic. To be declaring "I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER."

As an adult, they were still very entertaining, although there are many facile aspects to them. They look big but the print is HUGE and the margins are WIDE and really you can just whip right through these on a crazy emotional rollercoaster.

Which is my way of saying, yes, I then read the follow-ups New Moon and Eclipse to round out that weekend.

Stephanie and I had a long chat about these. She's right, there are so many things wrong with the 2nd and 3rd installments, including BAD BAD messages to send to teens and what is likely a bowing to the weight of the author's fellow mormons' critiques.

On the other hand, if you just give in and go with Bella's emotions, they seem to "make sense" emotionally, if that sentence itself makes any sense. Basically: the things they do WRONG didn't make them unreadable to me.

As a child, I was often obsessed with books that my mom just did NOT like the overall messages underneath the themes that were what pulled me in. (Elsie Dinsmore, case in point. Talk about a restrictive horrible view of religion. Not that I want anything to do with even the nonrestrictive kind but that's another story. I also had an obsession with books about cults and books about people being "debriefed" after they had been rescued from a cult. Too funny, to me now.) But I think she got comfortable with the fact that I was able to really feel the emotional pull of something without necessarily having it change my rational mind.

However, again, Steph is right, you can't count on a young reader necessarily being able to do that. I found these entertaining in a whirlwind romance, vampire love, perfect soulmate kind of way. But they weren't great literature. They were an escape.

It kinda cracks me up how every "new" installment to vampire lore needs to put their own tweak on the legends. Oh no, no, it's not that we burn up and die in the sun, it's that when we're in the sun, we're just SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. Oh, OK. Sure. :)

Posted by Duff at 11:53 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "A Complicated Kindness" by Miriam Toews

The story of a Mennonite family in the midst of falling apart. Nomi was a great narrator, brave and bold and honest, questioning not just for the sake of the questions. Not a long book, not a hard read. Very emotionally engaging.

Posted by Duff at 11:48 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

October 31, 2007

Short Stories: "Beware of God" by Shalom Auslander

With his new book getting reviewed all over the place and Bookslut wholeheartedly recommending him, thought it was time I checked out Auslander.

Really funny, sarcastic, biting religious humor. Some of the stories were really really hilarious, particularly if you know anything about Judaism. If you don't, some of the specifics might just go over your head. Some weren't quite as funny, or perhaps it's better read not all in a row as it's a little one-note. If you're not into mocking religion, then you wouldn't be interested.

Posted by Duff at 09:59 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "The Myth of You and Me" by Leah Stewart

As I may have mentioned, a somewhat philosophical story about a girlhood friendship gone wrong. Cameron is extremely guarded and close with her secrets; she's also honest and heartbroken and afraid it will happen again. Sonia is exactly the kind of best friend who drives you nuts and makes you crazy while also making you treasure her. As with so many relationships, things get tangled up in insecurities and secrets and lies.

Really inviting tone, easy to get emotionally involved here. I wouldn't call it chick lit, and I was surprised to see one reviewer on Amazon say "Teens will appreciate..." Teens? I don't see Teens being interested in this kind of brutal honesty about how things fall apart (it would have hurt too much to read then and think 'oh no this might happen to my friendship with x or x'), or understand the little lies going on here that turn out to not matter so much in the end. This is a book for adults, if you ask me.

Posted by Duff at 09:49 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

October 23, 2007

Mystery/Fiction: "In the Woods" by Tana French

It would be a big surprise to me if this novel isn't in my Top 10 at the end of the year. LOVED IT. Really good. Sucks you right in, keeps you spellbound, and I stayed up way way way past my bedtime finishing it as I was close enough to the end I just couldn't go to sleep without finding out what happened!

Two murder detectives, close friends, draw a chilling case with very few reliable leads. And it seems it may be related to a case from years past, of three children disappeared into the wood, two gone forever, one returned with no memory of the events. That returnee being one of the two aforementioned detectives.

Told first person from Rob (Adam)'s point of view, extremely seductive stream of consciousness. As the case becomes more and more personal, his life gets more tipsy turvy...

Everytime I picked this up, I just wanted to sit and read for hours on end. Excellent!

(p.s. When I saw this in the bookstore, I couldn't remember where I'd heard of it. Then I realized it was in Jessica Jernigan's "recommended" column. )

Posted by Duff at 09:43 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Romantic/Historical Fiction: "The Privilege of the Sword" by Ellen Kusher

Picked this up based on Marrije's recommendation. Completely agree with her review. It's charming and fun and has its racy moments (hello romance novel), but insightful and thoughtful and, more than anything else, it's a story of a little girl gradually becoming in a woman, in a most unusual way. Really enjoyable, I'm definitely going to seek out more of her stuff!

Posted by Duff at 09:40 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "The Rain Before It Falls" by Jonathan Coe

Really touching, slowly moving story. Told by a great-aunt, recording memories into a tape recorder, centered around pictures of relevant events. A really strong sense of time and place. A story about family and generations and what a child takes with them, even if unwillingly, from their parents. A story of cousins, become friends, and then estranged. A story of loves and jealousies and anguish and (some) joy. Really lovely.

Posted by Duff at 09:37 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

October 19, 2007

Fiction: "The Long Firm" by Jake Arnott

This is a re-read from 2004 as I've got the two follow-up books on my To Be Read shelves and wanted a refresher...

'60s mob scene in London. Swanky mobsters. Truly evocative, full of noir. Similar in setup to, say, a David Mitchell book, each section is narrated by a different character, all of whom are somewhere on the outskirts of Harry Swank's life, a gay gangster, unusual particularly for his time, who always has a boy-toy hanger-on, is obsessed with Liza Minnelli and other cabaret style singers, and seeks legitimacy in odd ways.

Really still enjoyed it, second time around, although I found the last chapter a bit wearing, didn't care for that narrator as much as the others.

Posted by Duff at 08:37 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

October 08, 2007

Fiction: "Tolstoy Lied" by Rachel Kadish

A love story about an academic, sort of a shoo-in to my book pile, don't you think. The narrator has a very similar tone and feel to the narrator of Love Walked In, but a few years older, wiser, and more jaded. It's literate and witty, and the compare-and-contrast overlap between problems with the boy and problems with work colleagues is done really well.

Nice friendship moments, nice relationship moments, good realizations.

I didn't like some of the choices at the end, however. Doesn't stop me from thinking it was very well-written and worth reading. But I'm a little irked with at least one character. Shows you how involving it was, eh? ;)

Posted by Duff at 10:05 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

Fiction: "The Used World" by Haven Kimmel

Just as insightful and heartbreaking and tender and comic and genius as you should expect from a Haven Kimmel book. A story of three woman, connected and disconnected in ways only known to one of them. Spirituality, and friendship, and family, and love. And pain, and guilt, and when can one forgive, and when is forgiveness off the table. Small-town America, with all its aches and pains. And particularly the pangs of those more worldly who live in it.

Quite, quite lovely. Kimmel is an automatic "buy in hardback" for me at this point.

Posted by Duff at 10:01 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

October 02, 2007

Fiction: Love Walked In, by Marisa de los Santos

At first it appears to be telling two different stories: Cornelia, 30-something, single, waiting for romance; and Clare, 11 and in danger of abandonment... Eventually of course, they coincide and it becomes not just a story of Cornelia looking for love and Clare trying to survive her mother, but a story of Cornelia and Clare coming together and how we connect and what makes a family and how does love come and when do you stay and fight and when do you have to walk away...

I really enjoyed this, more than I expected. But it was hard to think of Clare as 11 -- she felt more like a 15 year old at least 90% of the time. I'm not often bothered by the "is this person older than they're supposed to be feel in novels" (or not as much as my friend GirlDetective who I kept thinking of whenever I thought that here [note to GD, I really did!!]), but in this case it kept nagging at me.

And you know, Cornelia can be a bit twee at times. Apparently Sarah Jessica Parker will play her in the movie. Unlike many books, this one is concise enough, I don't see there being the need to cut much of the plot.

Posted by Duff at 08:46 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin'

September 24, 2007

Nonfiction: "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer

subtitle: "A Story of Violent Faith". KC gave me this for Christmas and it's proably something I would not have bought on my own. But daaaammmmmn is it good. Following several crimes committed by Mormon "Fundamentalists" (those who have broken away from the "mainstream" LDS Mormon church), it goes through the history of Mormonism itself, the philosophy of many of the breakaway sects, interviews with current members of regular Mormonism, fundamental Mormonism, as well as "apostates" (excommunicated members), and members who ran away from it all (Run! RUN FAR!!!!!).

It is incredibly researched and extremely well written and I could barely put it down long enough to go to sleep at night. Completely compelling reading about crazy, scary people. Extra kudos to Krakauer for including the rebuttal from the LDS Mormons (who aren't really the FOCUS of the book anyway) and going through it point by point to either acknowledge errors or alternately say "Nope, I am right on that."

Extremism in any area of life (religion, adventure, etc.) is not necessarily something I'm interested in, but it's so well written, it was well worth reading.

Posted by Duff at 11:54 AM | E-Mail | Comments (0) | Permalink | filed under Books, Readin', Recommending

Fiction: "Don't Make a Scene" by Valerie Block

Diane Kurasik, 40 years old, single, manager of the Beford Street cinema, finds herself in a summer of unexpected change. Evicted as her building is bought, romantically uninvolved but searching, searching, searching, expanding her theater... She continually compares her life to the movies and finds it lacking (who doesn't, right?). And then the last third of the book unexpectedly (to me) turns into a May-September story (is that what you call it? a younger/ older romance?).

I really enjoyed this but