Sunday, Mar. 31, 2019--Amman, Jordan
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson won the Man Booker Prize in 2010. I found the novel interesting, but there were times when I questioned whether to continue. It is full of angst, guild, fear, betrayal, etc., and is about friends whom it is easy to question why they remain friends after their school days. I enjoyed the book enough to finally finish it, but my rating is only 3 stars out of 5.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2019--Bidiyah, Oman
I finished reading Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh this evening. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. It is an unusual book in that it is the story of a depressed young woman (24 years old) who has never had sex, lives at home taking care of her alcoholic father, wears only clothes that belonged to her deceased mother, and takes pleasure in doing bad things (especially since everyone either just ignores her or sees her as being a quiet mousy figure). Enough happens in her life to keep the reader involved even though I wondered at times why I didn't just quit reading. The last few pages are a real surprise (but please don't jump to the end first if you plan to read the whole book). I gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
I finished reading Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh this evening. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. It is an unusual book in that it is the story of a depressed young woman (24 years old) who has never had sex, lives at home taking care of her alcoholic father, wears only clothes that belonged to her deceased mother, and takes pleasure in doing bad things (especially since everyone either just ignores her or sees her as being a quiet mousy figure). Enough happens in her life to keep the reader involved even though I wondered at times why I didn't just quit reading. The last few pages are a real surprise (but please don't jump to the end first if you plan to read the whole book). I gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
Friday, March 22, 2019
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Thursday, Mar. 21, 2019--On Flights from Cairo to Bahrain to Muscat
Last night as I waited for my flight from Bahrain to Muscat, I finished reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamid--a science fiction story built around a couple of young people from an Islamic area where extremists in a future maybe 30 to 50 years from now are battling the government and slowly taking over the city grid-by-grid. Although concentrating on this one couple, it becomes clear that the whole world is in chaos with refugees fleeing the danger zones with hopes of a better life. The book was named one of the ten best books of 2017 by the New York Times Book Review. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.
Last night as I waited for my flight from Bahrain to Muscat, I finished reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamid--a science fiction story built around a couple of young people from an Islamic area where extremists in a future maybe 30 to 50 years from now are battling the government and slowly taking over the city grid-by-grid. Although concentrating on this one couple, it becomes clear that the whole world is in chaos with refugees fleeing the danger zones with hopes of a better life. The book was named one of the ten best books of 2017 by the New York Times Book Review. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.
Fortune Smiles:Stories by Adam Johnson
Sunday, Mar. 17, 2019--On the Train from Luxor to Cairo
On the train from Luxor to Cairo I finished reading Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson. It is such a good book. Unfortunately for me, even though I still enjoyed it, this was the SECOND time for me to read this book. I didn’t recall having read it when I downloaded it to my Kindle just before heading to Luxor from Beirut. Then, when I started realizing that the stories were familiar to me, I was stuck in the hotel there that had horrible WiFi. I went slowly in rereading it realizing I would not be able to download another book until I got to Cairo. The review I’ve linked above will confirm how good the book is. I gave it 5 stars out of 5.
On the train from Luxor to Cairo I finished reading Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson. It is such a good book. Unfortunately for me, even though I still enjoyed it, this was the SECOND time for me to read this book. I didn’t recall having read it when I downloaded it to my Kindle just before heading to Luxor from Beirut. Then, when I started realizing that the stories were familiar to me, I was stuck in the hotel there that had horrible WiFi. I went slowly in rereading it realizing I would not be able to download another book until I got to Cairo. The review I’ve linked above will confirm how good the book is. I gave it 5 stars out of 5.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2019--Beirut, Lebanon
The Round House by Louise Erdrich is a winner of The National Book Award. It is a rare novel set on a Native American Reservation in modern times with the main character being an adolescent boy. But there are many major characters--the boy's parents, his grandfather, his aunts and uncles, his 3 best friends, a priest, etc. A tragic story that is well written, it also has humor that made me laugh aloud. Besides telling the story of these people, the novel emphasizes the injustices that Native Americans face due to various laws and court rulings from the American government. There is never a dull moment in the book. I gave it 4 3/4 stars out of 5--almost perfect!!
The Round House by Louise Erdrich is a winner of The National Book Award. It is a rare novel set on a Native American Reservation in modern times with the main character being an adolescent boy. But there are many major characters--the boy's parents, his grandfather, his aunts and uncles, his 3 best friends, a priest, etc. A tragic story that is well written, it also has humor that made me laugh aloud. Besides telling the story of these people, the novel emphasizes the injustices that Native Americans face due to various laws and court rulings from the American government. There is never a dull moment in the book. I gave it 4 3/4 stars out of 5--almost perfect!!
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
I finished reading More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera about 5 days ago. It is a coming-of-age story combined with science fiction. The main character is a teenager who is disturbed about a tragedy that has occurred. The book tells the story of his life by jumping back and forth with some surprises in store along the way. At first, I was put off by the sci-fi aspects of the story, but in time I was able to see that they were part of the purpose rather than just something thrown in for amusement. During the first 50 pages or so, I was disappointed in the quality of the writing as well as the story. But the further I went, the better the writing seemed to become and the more I was involved and enjoying it. My eventual rating was 4 stars out of 5 (an increase of 1 to 1 1/2 stars from what I was thinking at the beginning).
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