Monday, May 1, 2017--Barcelona
While waiting in the station in Barcelona for admission to the boarding platform, I finished reading my current book Refund: Stories
by Karen E. Binder. It is another collection of short stories and was
short-listed for the National Book Award in 2015. I found the stories
to be well written, but all were essentially depressing. They were
about people facing problems in life. I appreciated them even though I
didn't ever feel good after finishing them. I gave the book 4 stars out
of 5.
Monday, May 1, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
Monday, Apr. 24, 2017--Toulouse, France
I finished reading my current book Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson today. I checked it out on my Kindle only because it won the National Book Award a couple of years ago, and I usually find that award winners are well written. I didn't even know it wasn't a novel when I started reading it. As I started the second story and could figure out how it related to the first, I realized it was a collection of stories instead of a novel. It story was good. They cover an amazing range of settings and topics. All seem to revolve around difficulties in life. I think it is a well written book, and I appreciated each story. I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
I finished reading my current book Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson today. I checked it out on my Kindle only because it won the National Book Award a couple of years ago, and I usually find that award winners are well written. I didn't even know it wasn't a novel when I started reading it. As I started the second story and could figure out how it related to the first, I realized it was a collection of stories instead of a novel. It story was good. They cover an amazing range of settings and topics. All seem to revolve around difficulties in life. I think it is a well written book, and I appreciated each story. I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Tuesday, April 18, 2017--Montpellier, France
Today I finished reading my current book I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. It's a young adult novel that has gotten good reviews. What I especially liked is it shows how the two main characters' minds think. They are artistically inclined, and their thoughts are nothing like mine would have been at that age. It helped me see how people can vary in the way they react and reason. And it had me laughing aloud several times throughout it. I gave the book about 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
Today I finished reading my current book I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. It's a young adult novel that has gotten good reviews. What I especially liked is it shows how the two main characters' minds think. They are artistically inclined, and their thoughts are nothing like mine would have been at that age. It helped me see how people can vary in the way they react and reason. And it had me laughing aloud several times throughout it. I gave the book about 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2007--Avignon, France
I finished reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. It's about a young girl who claims not to have eaten anything for four months since her first communion and one of the nurses who was brought to the village in Ireland to watch her to make sure that she truly is not eating (since some hope a true miracle is happening that will bring tourism to town and possible result in the town being the home of a designated saint of the Church. It is well written for the most part. (There are some thoughts/statements by the nurse that just seem to crop up too often.) The characters and their motivations are believable. I give the book 4 stars out of 5.
I finished reading The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. It's about a young girl who claims not to have eaten anything for four months since her first communion and one of the nurses who was brought to the village in Ireland to watch her to make sure that she truly is not eating (since some hope a true miracle is happening that will bring tourism to town and possible result in the town being the home of a designated saint of the Church. It is well written for the most part. (There are some thoughts/statements by the nurse that just seem to crop up too often.) The characters and their motivations are believable. I give the book 4 stars out of 5.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Friday, Sept. 16, 2016--Kastraki (Meteora), Greece
This book is a bit unusual for me. It's not a novel, but it reads like a novel. It is a true story of people living in a slum in Mumbai written by an American woman who went there to live among them and write about their lives. Like so many other books about India I have read, it is quite depressing because of the circumstances of their lives with things often getting worse rather than better. The book is Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo, and it won the National Book Award for non-fiction. Even though I didn't like what was happening in the book, it was well written and well documented. It's an extraordinary achievement. I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.
This book is a bit unusual for me. It's not a novel, but it reads like a novel. It is a true story of people living in a slum in Mumbai written by an American woman who went there to live among them and write about their lives. Like so many other books about India I have read, it is quite depressing because of the circumstances of their lives with things often getting worse rather than better. The book is Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo, and it won the National Book Award for non-fiction. Even though I didn't like what was happening in the book, it was well written and well documented. It's an extraordinary achievement. I gave it 4 out of 4 stars.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016--Cetinje, Montenegro
I finished reading my novel, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, today. It's a western about two brothers who are hired killers--one rough with little conscience and the other somewhat sensitive. It was named to best-of-the-year lists by a number of reviewers and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. It's a unique western that incorporates some science fiction as well as some superstition. I enjoyed the book and gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
I finished reading my novel, The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, today. It's a western about two brothers who are hired killers--one rough with little conscience and the other somewhat sensitive. It was named to best-of-the-year lists by a number of reviewers and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. It's a unique western that incorporates some science fiction as well as some superstition. I enjoyed the book and gave it 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
Saturday, September 3, 2016
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
August 5, 2015--Ptuj, Slovenia
I finished reading my 800+ page novel, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, that won the 2013 Man Booker Prize. It is a wonderful book. At the beginning, there were so many characters and there was so much happening that I wondered if I would ever be able to keep up with it all. But slowly each character became distinguishable from the other and the pieces of the puzzle of what the book is about started coming together. By the end, the whole story becomes known. The reviews reference it as a nineteenth century novel updated for today’s readers. What is amazing is that the author was only 28 years old when she finished it and it was published. I give the book 3 ½ stars out of 4.
I finished reading my 800+ page novel, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, that won the 2013 Man Booker Prize. It is a wonderful book. At the beginning, there were so many characters and there was so much happening that I wondered if I would ever be able to keep up with it all. But slowly each character became distinguishable from the other and the pieces of the puzzle of what the book is about started coming together. By the end, the whole story becomes known. The reviews reference it as a nineteenth century novel updated for today’s readers. What is amazing is that the author was only 28 years old when she finished it and it was published. I give the book 3 ½ stars out of 4.
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