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Book report
Aug. 11th, 2010 04:38 pmJust got home today from a business trip. Work is very busy but at least the plane rides allowed me more time to read.
Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls – How is it that some books can be so incredibly absorbing? Some writers can pull you in so completely. This book, written by the author of the best-seller “The Glass Castle” (which was also incredibly good, and which I gave an A to) is a novelization of the life of the author’s grandmother. Walls said that as far as she knows most or all of the events here are true, but she can’t verify all of them so she decided to term this a novelization. Whatever she calls it, it’s wonderful. Her grandmother had a fascinating life. She did things that most women in her era could only dream of (a few examples: as a teenager rode on horseback for weeks through the desert to get to her teaching job, learned to fly airplanes, rode horses, became a rancher, proposed to her second husband and had a relationship of equals, stood up to Mormon bullies who disliked the ‘ideas’ she gave their women, got involved in local politics, and much more). She basically lived the life she wanted. I listened to this on CD and it was read by Walls herself. The author isn’t, as far as I know, a professional actor but somehow her reading of the book was perfect! Her voice just worked. And this one flew by, making me long for my morning commute and practically mourn when the book was over. I can’t wait to see what else Walls writes! Grade: A
The House of Clouds by KI Thompson – Historical fiction taking place during the Civil War and staring two women – one from the North and one the South – who fall in love. I’ve often bemoaned the state of lesbian fiction. It’s hard to find any half-way decent novel that features a lesbian character – harder still to find one that falls into the historical fiction genre, a genre I love. But this one was pretty good. It contains at least two plot moments that definitely felt “too convenient”, but I just looked the other way and enjoyed this story. Grade: B
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Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls – How is it that some books can be so incredibly absorbing? Some writers can pull you in so completely. This book, written by the author of the best-seller “The Glass Castle” (which was also incredibly good, and which I gave an A to) is a novelization of the life of the author’s grandmother. Walls said that as far as she knows most or all of the events here are true, but she can’t verify all of them so she decided to term this a novelization. Whatever she calls it, it’s wonderful. Her grandmother had a fascinating life. She did things that most women in her era could only dream of (a few examples: as a teenager rode on horseback for weeks through the desert to get to her teaching job, learned to fly airplanes, rode horses, became a rancher, proposed to her second husband and had a relationship of equals, stood up to Mormon bullies who disliked the ‘ideas’ she gave their women, got involved in local politics, and much more). She basically lived the life she wanted. I listened to this on CD and it was read by Walls herself. The author isn’t, as far as I know, a professional actor but somehow her reading of the book was perfect! Her voice just worked. And this one flew by, making me long for my morning commute and practically mourn when the book was over. I can’t wait to see what else Walls writes! Grade: A
The House of Clouds by KI Thompson – Historical fiction taking place during the Civil War and staring two women – one from the North and one the South – who fall in love. I’ve often bemoaned the state of lesbian fiction. It’s hard to find any half-way decent novel that features a lesbian character – harder still to find one that falls into the historical fiction genre, a genre I love. But this one was pretty good. It contains at least two plot moments that definitely felt “too convenient”, but I just looked the other way and enjoyed this story. Grade: B
More books behind the cut!
( Read more... )
