It has been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since I updated my Book It page, so I finally sat down and recalled some of the books I read this summer. I am going to re-post it here for fear that you won’t actually open the Book It tab. So why not just make it easier?!
I finished Lit earlier this afternoon and felt slightly overwhelmed and exhausted. What an intense (and excellent) book! I started reading it whilst in the middle of The Wisdom of Whores, which I will get back to tomorrow (or even tonight if I am feeling ambitious). I picked up Whores in Singapore, mostly because I was intrigued by the title. Don’t let it fool you though, it is not a collection of stories from prostitutes and “women of the night.” The book instead gives an inside look at the AIDS industry and the failed efforts to promote education and prevention. Elizabeth Pisani worked mostly in Indonesia and Southeast Asia as an epidemiologist studying the rapid growth of HIV and the people most afflicted by it: sex workers, gay men, and drug injectors. Pisani writes with humor and knowledge, keeping the reader engaged in material that could otherwise turn mind-numbing. After Lit I think I will be ready to dive back in to finish the second half of the book.
Currently Reading: The Wisdom of Whores by Elizabeth Pisani
Just Finished:
This book gave me the rare ability to read tens of pages without ever looking to see what page number I was on. I was so involved in Mary Karr’s struggle with alcoholism, writer’s block, depression, a violent past, and a failing marriage, none of which I can say are a part of my own life. That’s how engaging Karr is. Her passionate Texan character shines through, though not in a way that turned me off. Rather, I enjoyed her wily spirit and inner outlaw. A highly recommended read.
- photo courtesy of freebooksearch.net
Oh, Tina, how I love thee. I knew I would love this book the moment I bought it. That moment was laying on Yao Beach in Koh Samui, Thailand. Sprawled out on the sand I immediate began my howling, snorting, shoulder-shaking laughter. Fey is simply hilarious. Her memoir chronicles life has a teen hanging out with gay men and women alike, joining Second City in Chicago, and finally making her way to NYC where she is thrust into world at 30 Rockefeller. She is open and honest about the pros and cons of being a working mother as well as the 12 sacred steps in her beauty routine, which had me walking back to my hotel room so I wouldn’t make a fool of myself laughing out loud by the pool. Please, please pick up this book.
- photo courtesy of thinkprogress.org
I purchased this novel on my Kindle well over a year ago and finally “opened” it on my trip to Thailand. The story within a story had me guessing from the beginning. I found the plot to focus more on character development rather than action, a nice deviation from so many books that seem to be early drafts of a screenplay. Atwood creates excellent characters who the reader may not always be sympathetic toward, but want to root for in the end anyway. If you are looking for something a little different with nary an action scene, do read this one.
- photo courtesy of onlineingles.com
Oh my, where to start? I saw this book in several locations: Target, Barnes & Noble, Kindle Recommends, yet never picked it up. I had a couple other books in rotation throughout the summer and always passed it by. Finally before departing for Thailand I grabbed it along with a set of Banangrams and began reading it on the plane over. Cutting for Stone captivated me. Marian and Shiva’s story is 180 degrees from mine, yet I still found myself drawn to these twins and their remarkable experiences. Verghese comes from both a literary and medical background and his ability to capture the intricacies of surgery and life in Ethiopia with no pretense gave the book a credibility lost from much new fiction. I found Cutting for Stone to be emotionally gripping and a refreshing deviation from my usual page-turners. A Must Read.
- Photo Courtesy of betterworldbooks.com
Several years ago I read Atonement by Ian McEwan and have been meaning to pick up another book by him since. I ran into the same predicament in Solar as I did in Atonement: the first chunk of the book goes by slowly and is stuffed with hard to follow internal dialogue and back-story. It’s interesting but not necessarily engaging. Then, something shifts and the book takes off. How does he do this? Is it the tone? I’m not sure. In any event, around page eighty I was into and could hardly put it down. McEwan effortlessly writes about a 1-800-struggling middle-aged man who suffers at the hand of his own greed and ambition. The novel has sharp wit, and interjections of humor that arrive at just the right time. I got lost in some of the scientific jargon, but that doesn’t really matter too much, now does it?
Jonathan Franzen amazes me again. The first book I read this year was Freedom and I was eager to get my hands on this gem. Written nine years prior it is clear that this is the same author with the same style. Yet boredom or monotony is never an issue. Franzen excels at dialogue and the painful, wincing conversations had among the family members in this novel are shining stars. This book will make you appreciate the (hopefully) loving, loyal, sane family you have. Cherish them for you are lucky.
A Broad At Home 