The Books I Loved and Hated in 2011
This was an unusual reading year for me, what with the arrival of Owen at New Year’s and the subsequent months of not sleeping. Mid-January, as I continued to read four pages a day in the novel I started at Christmas, I set myself the goal of reading twelve books this year. At the time, I assumed I wouldn’t sleep the whole year, so the goal of one book a month seemed both ambitious enough to force me to prioritize reading, and realistic enough to be achievable. Of course, at the time I didn’t know that a couple of the books I’d read would push 1,000 pages in...
Read MoreThe Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins: Book Review
In the last week I’ve read 1165 pages of young-adult oppressive-dystopia reality-television-bashing coming-of-age revolution fiction. The Hunger Games trilogy chronicles the tale of Katniss Everdeen, a teenager whose big heart, indomitable spirit and rage land her on the front lines of a fight to change a reality she never really thought to question. It’s sometime in the future, and the all-powerful Capitol rules over the twelve districts of the country called Panem. The rules are designed to prevent rebellion from the citizens after the government won a war against them 75 years...
Read MoreBook Review – Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, by John Grisham
Hey, when you were a kid, did you ever feel compelled to seek legal advice? Or play golf? Yeah, I didn’t think so. So you can imagine my confusion over why international bestselling author of legal thrillers John Grisham‘s new foray into kid lit has so far scored 3.35 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Half his book, aimed at eight- to twelve-year-olds, is about things like how to avoid foreclosure, which lawyer in town to phone when your brother-in-law is picked up on a DUI, and what a mistrial is. Oh, and golf. I’m a grown-up who has sought legal advice, and I was bored to...
Read MorePartial Book Review: The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers
The Echo Maker: A Novel by Richard Powers My rating: 1 of 5 stars I couldn’t finish this slow, overly descriptive, not-at-all intriguing, boring novel. It was a book-club pick and only two people finished it, one kicking and screaming. The book is about a man in his mid-20s who’s in a car accident and spends two weeks in a coma. When he wakes up and begins his recovery, he accuses his sister – the two have always been very close – of being an impostor. It’s a disorder called Capgras syndrome, and it’s very rare. The neuroscience and psychology in the book are...
Read MoreWriting a Novel in a Month (and Other Fun Stuff)
I didn’t finish my novel last November, but I’m going to try very hard to finish one this November. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, get thee to the National Novel Writing Month website, stat). This despite the nagging reality that, at mid-afternoon on November 1st, I have almost no idea what I’m going to write about. I’m pretty sure I’m going to start with a bartender. In a bar. And there likely won’t be anything to do with leaf mold*. Anyway. Last week I was on a Greyhound for a few hours, and staring out the window I found myself...
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