Book report
Jan. 17th, 2011 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisBook Report
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – This author wrote the fantastic novels “Year of Wonders” and “March”. I listened to this book on CD and I think that for once, the medium really impacted my experience with the book. Normally I listen to books on CD during my commute to and from work. But I started this one right around the time I had two weeks off at the end of the year. When I’m not working, I really don’t drive much. So I brought this book in from the car and listened to it while I was on the computer, knowing that I had to do so in order to return it to the library by its due date. Unfortunately I truly don’t think I gave the book my full attention because I was always doing something else while listening to it. See, one of the thoughts I had while listening was that I didn’t like the way the plot jumped around in time and place and I had trouble following it. But I might truly have followed it better had I listened to it in the normal way, while driving. On the other hand, it is possible that the book honestly was a bit disjointed. It’s a novel staring a tough, young Australian researcher who is an expert on books. She’s brought in to investigate an old book, and intertwined with her story are vignettes taking place in different historical settings (Venice in 1609, World War II, etc) that also involve the book. So there was a lot of skipping around in time and place. The voice actor was remarkable, handling a variety of accents with aplomb. She was one of the highlights of the book. I still can’t decide if I would’ve liked the book more had I experienced it in the car. I also had way high expectations of it given how much I loved the author’s other novels. Grade: B- (maybe C+ but I’ll go with a B-)
The Woman I Was Born to Be by Susan Boyle – Yes, I read Susan Boyle’s autobiography. And why not? I’m not a TV fan, but I read and watched online about her experience on “Britain’s Got Talent” and I had to cheer for her. It’s pretty rare to see a woman on TV who is larger than a size 4 and older than 29. And I guess we all like to cheer for the underdog. So this book is basically her life story. I was never bored while reading it; the book doesn’t drag and does a good job sharing with us who Boyle is. I was intrigued because she had led such an ordinary (for lack of a better term) life before becoming a celebrity. Unfortunately the word “wee” appears in here about 400 times (okay, okay, we know you’re Scottish!), but other than that her ghost writer did a fine job. I might even go out and buy her CD. Grade: B
More books behind the cut!
Factory Girls by Leslie T Chang – What is the largest migration in human history? This book answers that question and I was surprised: it is the migration of rural Chinese to work in Chinese factories. A huge percentage of the migrants are young women, and this book tells their story. The acclaimed novelist Lisa See is quoted as saying that when people ask her what Chinese women’s lives are like nowadays, she tells them to read this book. And it’s definitely worth a read. I was fascinated hearing about all aspects of Chinese culture in these factory cities now. Pretty much most everyone in the US buys, wears, and uses products made in China, and this book tells you about the lives of the people who make them. We learn what it’s like to work inside a factory, and we also learn about the workers’ families in the countryside, their struggles to learn English, dating, job prospects and the frequency with which they ‘jump’ to something new, and much more. I love that the author illustrates this by sharing the lives of two young women, and reading about their ups and downs was really interesting. There was just one drawback to this book. The author throws in several chapters that detail her family’s history during the last century in China. Normally I’d enjoy reading about the real lives of a Chinese family during the very-turbulent 20th century, but in this case it just slowed the book down and made me want to get back to the compelling story of the 21st century factory girls. Grade: B+
What I Was by Meg Rosoff – I loved the setting of this novel and it definitely held my interest, but the ending didn’t carry through the book’s promise. Taking place in a very remote area of the coast of England in the 1960’s, a boy is sent to boarding school. He befriends a boy his age who, unbelievably, lives by himself in an old fisherman’s hut. I definitely thought there was a lot of potential here but never was swept away like I thought I’d be. But like I said, the novel had me all the way through. Grade: B
A Walden Two Experiment by Kathleen Kinkade – I’ve always been fascinated by life in intentional communities, and have read other books on the subject. What makes this one especially unique is that the community was formed in 1967 and is still going strong today – but this book was published in 1972, so you get a very unique perspective on where things were in the community’s infancy. Why join an intentional community? The author points out that almost no one is happy with the way society is structured but few actually do anything about it. These people bought farmland in Virginia and decided to live the way they wanted to. I loved hearing all aspects of what the community went through as it formed and got underway – how they stayed financially float (barely), interpersonal relationships, sexism, relations with people outside their community, health, children and family structures, etc. There were a few hilarious reminders that this book was published in 1972. Describing someone whose personality is challenging to be around, the author says that he “was not hip”. The word Negro is used here (not disrespectfully), the idea of eating whole wheat instead of white bread is considered pushing the envelope by this group of rebels, and they use the term “straight people” to mean those who don’t live outside of the mainstream as opposed to describing someone’s sexual orientation. There was a sequel published recently - and this community also offers visitors a chance to come and stay for three weeks, which I seriously might do in 2016 when I can take another sabbatical (if I still work for the same employer). Grade: B+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
None worth noting this time
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – This author wrote the fantastic novels “Year of Wonders” and “March”. I listened to this book on CD and I think that for once, the medium really impacted my experience with the book. Normally I listen to books on CD during my commute to and from work. But I started this one right around the time I had two weeks off at the end of the year. When I’m not working, I really don’t drive much. So I brought this book in from the car and listened to it while I was on the computer, knowing that I had to do so in order to return it to the library by its due date. Unfortunately I truly don’t think I gave the book my full attention because I was always doing something else while listening to it. See, one of the thoughts I had while listening was that I didn’t like the way the plot jumped around in time and place and I had trouble following it. But I might truly have followed it better had I listened to it in the normal way, while driving. On the other hand, it is possible that the book honestly was a bit disjointed. It’s a novel staring a tough, young Australian researcher who is an expert on books. She’s brought in to investigate an old book, and intertwined with her story are vignettes taking place in different historical settings (Venice in 1609, World War II, etc) that also involve the book. So there was a lot of skipping around in time and place. The voice actor was remarkable, handling a variety of accents with aplomb. She was one of the highlights of the book. I still can’t decide if I would’ve liked the book more had I experienced it in the car. I also had way high expectations of it given how much I loved the author’s other novels. Grade: B- (maybe C+ but I’ll go with a B-)
The Woman I Was Born to Be by Susan Boyle – Yes, I read Susan Boyle’s autobiography. And why not? I’m not a TV fan, but I read and watched online about her experience on “Britain’s Got Talent” and I had to cheer for her. It’s pretty rare to see a woman on TV who is larger than a size 4 and older than 29. And I guess we all like to cheer for the underdog. So this book is basically her life story. I was never bored while reading it; the book doesn’t drag and does a good job sharing with us who Boyle is. I was intrigued because she had led such an ordinary (for lack of a better term) life before becoming a celebrity. Unfortunately the word “wee” appears in here about 400 times (okay, okay, we know you’re Scottish!), but other than that her ghost writer did a fine job. I might even go out and buy her CD. Grade: B
More books behind the cut!
Factory Girls by Leslie T Chang – What is the largest migration in human history? This book answers that question and I was surprised: it is the migration of rural Chinese to work in Chinese factories. A huge percentage of the migrants are young women, and this book tells their story. The acclaimed novelist Lisa See is quoted as saying that when people ask her what Chinese women’s lives are like nowadays, she tells them to read this book. And it’s definitely worth a read. I was fascinated hearing about all aspects of Chinese culture in these factory cities now. Pretty much most everyone in the US buys, wears, and uses products made in China, and this book tells you about the lives of the people who make them. We learn what it’s like to work inside a factory, and we also learn about the workers’ families in the countryside, their struggles to learn English, dating, job prospects and the frequency with which they ‘jump’ to something new, and much more. I love that the author illustrates this by sharing the lives of two young women, and reading about their ups and downs was really interesting. There was just one drawback to this book. The author throws in several chapters that detail her family’s history during the last century in China. Normally I’d enjoy reading about the real lives of a Chinese family during the very-turbulent 20th century, but in this case it just slowed the book down and made me want to get back to the compelling story of the 21st century factory girls. Grade: B+
What I Was by Meg Rosoff – I loved the setting of this novel and it definitely held my interest, but the ending didn’t carry through the book’s promise. Taking place in a very remote area of the coast of England in the 1960’s, a boy is sent to boarding school. He befriends a boy his age who, unbelievably, lives by himself in an old fisherman’s hut. I definitely thought there was a lot of potential here but never was swept away like I thought I’d be. But like I said, the novel had me all the way through. Grade: B
A Walden Two Experiment by Kathleen Kinkade – I’ve always been fascinated by life in intentional communities, and have read other books on the subject. What makes this one especially unique is that the community was formed in 1967 and is still going strong today – but this book was published in 1972, so you get a very unique perspective on where things were in the community’s infancy. Why join an intentional community? The author points out that almost no one is happy with the way society is structured but few actually do anything about it. These people bought farmland in Virginia and decided to live the way they wanted to. I loved hearing all aspects of what the community went through as it formed and got underway – how they stayed financially float (barely), interpersonal relationships, sexism, relations with people outside their community, health, children and family structures, etc. There were a few hilarious reminders that this book was published in 1972. Describing someone whose personality is challenging to be around, the author says that he “was not hip”. The word Negro is used here (not disrespectfully), the idea of eating whole wheat instead of white bread is considered pushing the envelope by this group of rebels, and they use the term “straight people” to mean those who don’t live outside of the mainstream as opposed to describing someone’s sexual orientation. There was a sequel published recently - and this community also offers visitors a chance to come and stay for three weeks, which I seriously might do in 2016 when I can take another sabbatical (if I still work for the same employer). Grade: B+
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
None worth noting this time
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-17 10:28 pm (UTC)I know of the intentional community - Twin Oaks - that you're reading about. They have a website that I used to visit frequently when I was seriously considering going there for a while. Thankfully I no longer feel the need, but I would still like to do the 3 week visit one day.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-17 10:31 pm (UTC)Well, I suppose it's possible... :)
May we end up doing our 3 week visits at Twin Oaks at the same time!
Thanks for reading my reviews.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 02:24 am (UTC)ya know, i've listened to some books on tape at home (largely when i had a lot of ground to cover and had to get the disks back sooner than i'd otherwise be able to), and i totally agree... i get WAY more into it when i'm driving than when i'm listening at home.
i can't say it ever occurred to me to read the susan boyle book but i'm glad it was interesting! i don't watch any of those shows (tho i guess it wouldn't have mattered anyway since it was on the british version) but i saw a clip of the initial audition and i loved the way the judges and the audience went from looking disinterested/prepared for disappointment to being completely flabbergasted. it made me sad because for every susan boyle, there's hundreds of people who aren't in a pretty little package who get overlooked and whose talents and abilities are ignored. it should give me hope, but instead it just reminded me of how hateful and judgemental people are.
did you read the sequel to the walden two experiment (and should we be looking for it on an upcoming book report? :))
no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 11:10 am (UTC)And yeah, I've got the sequel to the Walden Two book and will read it soon. I've also checked out their website a lot and it's all very, very interesting.
no subject
Date: 2011-01-21 01:46 pm (UTC)I always look forward to your book reports, even though I don't always comment. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2011-01-21 02:22 pm (UTC)(I still haven't had a chance to read yours yet but I am totally looking forward to it and to maybe getting a few ones to add to my "to read" list!)