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Book Report
Mar. 8th, 2012 05:29 pmBook Report
I’m A Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson – A group of essays written after the author returned to the US following 20 years living in Europe. So basically, it’s Bryson’s attempt at witty observations of American life. There are a few funny ones, and a few duds – some of the ends of essays fall flat in the attempted humor department. The technology essays are really dated since the book was published in the 90’s, but I do remember the 90’s well so I kind of liked them; plus the essay on assembling your new computer was still relevant and hilarious. I read this book during a week when I needed a good laugh and mostly it delivered. Grade: B-
Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago – Historical fiction staring a Spanish woman in the 19th century who longs to do what some of her ancestors did: go to Puerto Rico, explore it, and live her life on her own terms. I really enjoy books that tell the history of a place through life events of a few characters. I learned more about Puerto Rico’s history than I ever did before, and fully enjoyed doing so. This book was kind of epic and the author did a good job of giving us just what we need to know about the surrounding characters, in addition to the protagonist. I also enjoyed that this book on CD was read by the author. I felt about that as I did with “Half Broke Horses”, which was also read by its author. Neither author is, I believe, an actor but somehow their voices were each just perfect for reading their works. Unfortunately this book had a few misplaced modifiers in there, which is disappointing. (When the sentence reads, “On his sixth birthday, E and B took Miguel to…”, given that Miguel was the one turning six {obviously not E and B], then you have a misplaced modifier!) The ending was also just a bit flat, but I still liked the book. Grade: B
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I’m A Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson – A group of essays written after the author returned to the US following 20 years living in Europe. So basically, it’s Bryson’s attempt at witty observations of American life. There are a few funny ones, and a few duds – some of the ends of essays fall flat in the attempted humor department. The technology essays are really dated since the book was published in the 90’s, but I do remember the 90’s well so I kind of liked them; plus the essay on assembling your new computer was still relevant and hilarious. I read this book during a week when I needed a good laugh and mostly it delivered. Grade: B-
Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago – Historical fiction staring a Spanish woman in the 19th century who longs to do what some of her ancestors did: go to Puerto Rico, explore it, and live her life on her own terms. I really enjoy books that tell the history of a place through life events of a few characters. I learned more about Puerto Rico’s history than I ever did before, and fully enjoyed doing so. This book was kind of epic and the author did a good job of giving us just what we need to know about the surrounding characters, in addition to the protagonist. I also enjoyed that this book on CD was read by the author. I felt about that as I did with “Half Broke Horses”, which was also read by its author. Neither author is, I believe, an actor but somehow their voices were each just perfect for reading their works. Unfortunately this book had a few misplaced modifiers in there, which is disappointing. (When the sentence reads, “On his sixth birthday, E and B took Miguel to…”, given that Miguel was the one turning six {obviously not E and B], then you have a misplaced modifier!) The ending was also just a bit flat, but I still liked the book. Grade: B
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