Time for another Book Report already??
Dec. 21st, 2012 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisIlluminations by Mary Sharratt – I am officially in awe of Mary Sharratt. The other day, I was making a list of my favorite novelists, and I realized that for many of the novelists on the list, I didn’t love each and every one of their books. But with Sharratt – she has yet to write a dud. I’ve devoured each of her novels, and I think each one gets better. “Illuminations” is about Hildegard von Bingen. She was a 12th century mystic, abbess, and visionary. When she was 8, something terrible happens to her, and finding out how she can get out of that situation makes this book a gripping thriller. She is to become an "anchorite" - a nun who will be literally sealed inside two tiny rooms, in order to live out her life in prayer and reflection. Her only companion will be another nun, one who is a fanatic. As always, Sharratt has strong female characters combined with imaginative settings and strong plots. Grade: A
Transitions of the Heart edited by Rachel Pepper – As far as I can tell, this anthology didn’t set out to be an “awwww” warm and fuzzy kind of book, but it ended up being so, in the best possible way. It’s a collection of essays by moms who have transgender kids. I loved reading each person’s story. Their family was given a challenge that they didn’t expect, and in most cases, they dealt with it well. Not every contributor fully understands the situation and none is a perfect parent, but their journeys in that direction were all excellent to read about. Also, I loved that the editor assembled a diverse collection of writers. Grade: B+
More books behind the cut!
The Mirrored World by Debra Dean – A novel of a young woman in 18th century Russia. Nothing remarkable – some of the characters could definitely have been developed better though the plot moved along at a good clip - but it definitely held my interest. Grade: B-
Breakfast at Sally’s by Richard LeMieux – This was kind of an odd book. It is a memoir written by a homeless man, and it really held my attention. But something just seemed…off. I admit that at times I wondered if the memoir was a fake; was it really written by a homeless person? I can’t say specifically why I thought that. Maybe because at times it read more like a parable. Maybe because at times the other characters seemed either too good or too bad to be true. Maybe I wondered a bit as to why LeMieux ended up homeless given that he had had a successful business (so he didn’t save any money from it to use as a cushion??), a partner (she left him when the business failed), and adult children who were financially secure (they either were embarrassed of him or just tired of having him crash with them). Or maybe I am just ignorant, with too many pre-conceived notions of who could enter the ranks of the homeless and what their lives could be like. One reviewer on Amazon wrote: ” While this book was probably based on fact, I got the feeling that many of the incidents in it were actually fiction, or greatly enhanced. When I started the book, I was really looking forward to reading what it was like to be homeless, but I just don't believe this one is true…Why would a nurse who worked in a clinic, and knew this man was homeless and had no money, give him a "free" place to stay one day, and the next day demand rent money?” That review spoke to me. So, while I can’t say for sure that this book is authentic – LeMieux states at the beginning that it is “98%” true with some details changed – I can say that it was pretty interesting. The front cover says it was inspirational, and it did at times inspire. Sometimes when I give money to a homeless person who asks for it, I feel skeptical, like ‘what will they spend it on?’ If nothing else, this book made me feel less skeptical and more inclined to keep giving which probably is the right thing to do seeing as how I can afford it. Grade: B
The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez – This is probably not a book I should’ve read, since it really wasn’t targeted at me and was probably a little too – what’s the term? – basic, for me. It’s a true story of a teenage girl who faked being pregnant as part of a project, with the goal of challenging stereotypes. I saw it at the library and checked it out on a whim, though I probably should’ve left it on the shelf. Grade: C-
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson – Occasionally I put a book aside (decide to stop reading it) and say to myself, ‘You suck. Why can’t you be a better person and finish this book?’ Because there was absolutely nothing wrong with this book. In one sense, it was great even. It was just too. damn. long. I had the audio version, which contained 19 CDs. In case you haven’t heard about it, the book is about one of the greatest unknown stories of US history: the migrations of African Americans from the South to the North, from 1915 to 1970. Wilkerson uses the true stories of three people to bring the story to life. Good God, I just wish she’d had a better editor. It really is too long. It includes countless details and examples. Way too many details. Maybe my attention span sucks. Maybe I suck. I am sorry that I didn’t make it past disc 3, and I swear if this book had been half the length I would’ve finished it. I’m down with what one reviewer wrote: ”This book is undoubtedly a major achievement, but it's difficult reading…The technique of interweaving the stories of several people, at different times in the migration and at different stages of their lives, is confusing throughout much of the book's length, and it dilutes any sense of the flow of the history involved. The author obviously has deep connections with some of the people she chronicles, but it's not easy for the reader to see their characters clearly or to identify with them.” I also read reviews that said the book gets more repetitious as it goes on (more?!?), so at least that made me feel better about my decision to put it aside.
Transitions of the Heart edited by Rachel Pepper – As far as I can tell, this anthology didn’t set out to be an “awwww” warm and fuzzy kind of book, but it ended up being so, in the best possible way. It’s a collection of essays by moms who have transgender kids. I loved reading each person’s story. Their family was given a challenge that they didn’t expect, and in most cases, they dealt with it well. Not every contributor fully understands the situation and none is a perfect parent, but their journeys in that direction were all excellent to read about. Also, I loved that the editor assembled a diverse collection of writers. Grade: B+
More books behind the cut!
The Mirrored World by Debra Dean – A novel of a young woman in 18th century Russia. Nothing remarkable – some of the characters could definitely have been developed better though the plot moved along at a good clip - but it definitely held my interest. Grade: B-
Breakfast at Sally’s by Richard LeMieux – This was kind of an odd book. It is a memoir written by a homeless man, and it really held my attention. But something just seemed…off. I admit that at times I wondered if the memoir was a fake; was it really written by a homeless person? I can’t say specifically why I thought that. Maybe because at times it read more like a parable. Maybe because at times the other characters seemed either too good or too bad to be true. Maybe I wondered a bit as to why LeMieux ended up homeless given that he had had a successful business (so he didn’t save any money from it to use as a cushion??), a partner (she left him when the business failed), and adult children who were financially secure (they either were embarrassed of him or just tired of having him crash with them). Or maybe I am just ignorant, with too many pre-conceived notions of who could enter the ranks of the homeless and what their lives could be like. One reviewer on Amazon wrote: ” While this book was probably based on fact, I got the feeling that many of the incidents in it were actually fiction, or greatly enhanced. When I started the book, I was really looking forward to reading what it was like to be homeless, but I just don't believe this one is true…Why would a nurse who worked in a clinic, and knew this man was homeless and had no money, give him a "free" place to stay one day, and the next day demand rent money?” That review spoke to me. So, while I can’t say for sure that this book is authentic – LeMieux states at the beginning that it is “98%” true with some details changed – I can say that it was pretty interesting. The front cover says it was inspirational, and it did at times inspire. Sometimes when I give money to a homeless person who asks for it, I feel skeptical, like ‘what will they spend it on?’ If nothing else, this book made me feel less skeptical and more inclined to keep giving which probably is the right thing to do seeing as how I can afford it. Grade: B
The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez – This is probably not a book I should’ve read, since it really wasn’t targeted at me and was probably a little too – what’s the term? – basic, for me. It’s a true story of a teenage girl who faked being pregnant as part of a project, with the goal of challenging stereotypes. I saw it at the library and checked it out on a whim, though I probably should’ve left it on the shelf. Grade: C-
Books I started reading but didn’t finish:
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson – Occasionally I put a book aside (decide to stop reading it) and say to myself, ‘You suck. Why can’t you be a better person and finish this book?’ Because there was absolutely nothing wrong with this book. In one sense, it was great even. It was just too. damn. long. I had the audio version, which contained 19 CDs. In case you haven’t heard about it, the book is about one of the greatest unknown stories of US history: the migrations of African Americans from the South to the North, from 1915 to 1970. Wilkerson uses the true stories of three people to bring the story to life. Good God, I just wish she’d had a better editor. It really is too long. It includes countless details and examples. Way too many details. Maybe my attention span sucks. Maybe I suck. I am sorry that I didn’t make it past disc 3, and I swear if this book had been half the length I would’ve finished it. I’m down with what one reviewer wrote: ”This book is undoubtedly a major achievement, but it's difficult reading…The technique of interweaving the stories of several people, at different times in the migration and at different stages of their lives, is confusing throughout much of the book's length, and it dilutes any sense of the flow of the history involved. The author obviously has deep connections with some of the people she chronicles, but it's not easy for the reader to see their characters clearly or to identify with them.” I also read reviews that said the book gets more repetitious as it goes on (more?!?), so at least that made me feel better about my decision to put it aside.
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Date: 2012-12-21 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-21 10:12 pm (UTC)