Book report
Apr. 2nd, 2010 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisMy life is a little crazy as of late. I’ve been on the phone with movers, realtors, and attorneys; and I have been searching for temporary accommodations in case we can’t find a new home in time. I think and hope that no matter how crazy things get, I’ll still have time to read! I’m a bit sad, though, as I write this book report. Most of the books in it were checked out of my local library. Since I’m moving in just over 3 weeks, and since I own like 22 books now, it doesn’t make sense to be checking much more out from the library. I don't really even have much time to be making trips to and from the library, so this is a good time to fall back on the stock of books I own. My next book report will likely contain mostly books that are mine. And the report after that...hopefully will contain books from my new city’s library!
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart – I loved this audio recording. The recording is made up of the real-life, non-fiction letters of a woman in the early 1900’s who, being a young widow with a daughter, decided to head West and work as a homesteader. The actor’s voice was perfect for the role; she was a delight to listen to. I enjoyed hearing Stewart’s stories of life at that time. She had a true love for life and was determined to look for the good in everything and be happy – which worked out very well for her. She lived very simply and just loved the land. She enjoyed writing and telling others about the West; she would’ve really been into blogging and it’s too bad she wasn’t born 100 years later! One major downside: given that these letters are 100 years old, they are peppered with racist attitudes. I understand that “that’s the way it was then”, but it was really disturbing to hear this otherwise easy-going woman refer to someone using a term that is now considered a racist slur. Even if that term was ‘ok’ back when she used it, it’s disturbing now. On the other hand, maybe editing those passages out wouldn’t have been the right thing to do either since there’s no point in pretending that things were different. Grade: B
The Guardians by Ana Castillo – These were my thoughts while reading this novel. ‘It’s not off to a great start. I like the setting and the concept though. It’s about a Mexican-American woman, her nephew, and her brother who has gone missing when he tried to cross the border. It’s got to improve.’ Several pages later…’Okay, it hasn’t improved. Do I put it aside? But I’m 60 pages into it and it’s only 210 pages. Maybe I can just muscle it out. It’s a bummer, though, how the author attempts to write through the perspective of four different characters but to me they just don’t sound authentic. Something is lacking in how each one is written. And the plot isn’t as driven or compelling as I’d expected. On the other hand, the setting is still good. I think the author means well; I like how she tells about impoverished immigrants and how they are just struggling to survive and feed their families. I’ll keep going even though it’s not thrilling me.’ I really should’ve gone with my first instinct on this one. Grade: C-
More behind the cut.
The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton – Stockton planned to relocate from San Francisco to New York City, but while driving through Wyoming, she fell in love with the land and decided to relocate there. Wyoming turns out to be everything she expected. Eventually, a baby coyote comes into her life and she decides to raise him, naming him Charlie. They love each other but face all sorts of perils: coyotes are hunted and shot with regularity since they pose a threat to farmers’ animals, and as Charlie grows into adolescence, he starts to challenge Stockton. A brilliant photographer, Stockton filled her book with breathtaking pictures of Charlie and of the landscape. Grade: B
Walking Home: A Woman’s Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail by Kelly Winters – I started reading this book about 5 days before I had a plane trip. Given that I lack the ability to fall asleep on airplanes, it’s important to me that I have good stuff to read on the trip, and especially on this one since the flight was to be 4 hours. It soon became apparent that this book was going to be great. I tried to force myself to slow down so that I’d have most of it left to read on the plane. But I couldn’t! This book was so good that by the time I boarded the flight to San Jose, I was half done. Winters writes about how she set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, which apparently many people do. It runs from Georgia to Maine and has a bunch of shelters along the way, maps, and other hikers. Winters also set out to learn more about herself given that she just came off of a terrible relationship. I’m not a hiker myself but just hearing about life on the trail was riveting. Grade: A
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology by Eric Brende – The author and his wife decide to undertake an experiment: live free of technology for 18 months. They find a group of people who are similar to – but not exactly – Mennonites and they live among their community and earn their living by farming. Although I didn’t appreciate the author’s casual brushing aside of the community’s sexism, there is a lot about a more simple way of life that attracts me and I enjoyed hearing about the experiment – as well as hearing about what the Brendes did when it was over. Grade: B
There sure seems to be an outdoor theme among much of what I read, which is very odd given that I’ve always been an indoorsy kind of girl. I guess it’s natural to be curious about something which you don’t do yourself.
The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer – Yay, I’m reading some quality fiction! Gordimer is a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. This novel is about an affluent white South African who meets and becomes entwined with an illegal immigrant. This was an audio book, and the actor reading the book was brilliant. She brought each voice to life perfectly, easily capturing the subtle nuances of the different speakers. Given that my taste in fiction is not – ahem – always at the level of Nobel Prize winners, I was worried that I’d find this book dense. But it’s not at all – it was illuminating, extremely well-written (of course), and it definitely held my interest. I liked that the ending was sort of how I thought it would be but for a different and surprising reason. Grade: B
Started reading, didn’t finish:
None this time
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart – I loved this audio recording. The recording is made up of the real-life, non-fiction letters of a woman in the early 1900’s who, being a young widow with a daughter, decided to head West and work as a homesteader. The actor’s voice was perfect for the role; she was a delight to listen to. I enjoyed hearing Stewart’s stories of life at that time. She had a true love for life and was determined to look for the good in everything and be happy – which worked out very well for her. She lived very simply and just loved the land. She enjoyed writing and telling others about the West; she would’ve really been into blogging and it’s too bad she wasn’t born 100 years later! One major downside: given that these letters are 100 years old, they are peppered with racist attitudes. I understand that “that’s the way it was then”, but it was really disturbing to hear this otherwise easy-going woman refer to someone using a term that is now considered a racist slur. Even if that term was ‘ok’ back when she used it, it’s disturbing now. On the other hand, maybe editing those passages out wouldn’t have been the right thing to do either since there’s no point in pretending that things were different. Grade: B
The Guardians by Ana Castillo – These were my thoughts while reading this novel. ‘It’s not off to a great start. I like the setting and the concept though. It’s about a Mexican-American woman, her nephew, and her brother who has gone missing when he tried to cross the border. It’s got to improve.’ Several pages later…’Okay, it hasn’t improved. Do I put it aside? But I’m 60 pages into it and it’s only 210 pages. Maybe I can just muscle it out. It’s a bummer, though, how the author attempts to write through the perspective of four different characters but to me they just don’t sound authentic. Something is lacking in how each one is written. And the plot isn’t as driven or compelling as I’d expected. On the other hand, the setting is still good. I think the author means well; I like how she tells about impoverished immigrants and how they are just struggling to survive and feed their families. I’ll keep going even though it’s not thrilling me.’ I really should’ve gone with my first instinct on this one. Grade: C-
More behind the cut.
The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton – Stockton planned to relocate from San Francisco to New York City, but while driving through Wyoming, she fell in love with the land and decided to relocate there. Wyoming turns out to be everything she expected. Eventually, a baby coyote comes into her life and she decides to raise him, naming him Charlie. They love each other but face all sorts of perils: coyotes are hunted and shot with regularity since they pose a threat to farmers’ animals, and as Charlie grows into adolescence, he starts to challenge Stockton. A brilliant photographer, Stockton filled her book with breathtaking pictures of Charlie and of the landscape. Grade: B
Walking Home: A Woman’s Pilgrimage on the Appalachian Trail by Kelly Winters – I started reading this book about 5 days before I had a plane trip. Given that I lack the ability to fall asleep on airplanes, it’s important to me that I have good stuff to read on the trip, and especially on this one since the flight was to be 4 hours. It soon became apparent that this book was going to be great. I tried to force myself to slow down so that I’d have most of it left to read on the plane. But I couldn’t! This book was so good that by the time I boarded the flight to San Jose, I was half done. Winters writes about how she set out to hike the Appalachian Trail, which apparently many people do. It runs from Georgia to Maine and has a bunch of shelters along the way, maps, and other hikers. Winters also set out to learn more about herself given that she just came off of a terrible relationship. I’m not a hiker myself but just hearing about life on the trail was riveting. Grade: A
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology by Eric Brende – The author and his wife decide to undertake an experiment: live free of technology for 18 months. They find a group of people who are similar to – but not exactly – Mennonites and they live among their community and earn their living by farming. Although I didn’t appreciate the author’s casual brushing aside of the community’s sexism, there is a lot about a more simple way of life that attracts me and I enjoyed hearing about the experiment – as well as hearing about what the Brendes did when it was over. Grade: B
There sure seems to be an outdoor theme among much of what I read, which is very odd given that I’ve always been an indoorsy kind of girl. I guess it’s natural to be curious about something which you don’t do yourself.
The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer – Yay, I’m reading some quality fiction! Gordimer is a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. This novel is about an affluent white South African who meets and becomes entwined with an illegal immigrant. This was an audio book, and the actor reading the book was brilliant. She brought each voice to life perfectly, easily capturing the subtle nuances of the different speakers. Given that my taste in fiction is not – ahem – always at the level of Nobel Prize winners, I was worried that I’d find this book dense. But it’s not at all – it was illuminating, extremely well-written (of course), and it definitely held my interest. I liked that the ending was sort of how I thought it would be but for a different and surprising reason. Grade: B
Started reading, didn’t finish:
None this time
