Thursday, July 25, 2013

currently: reading list




Mockingjay : Suzanne Collins

I really enjoyed this 3 book series, even after I’ve seen the first movie. I even felt a bit of a loss that this was the final book. I was pleasantly surprised with the way she was able to bring about closure, even after so much gore. This book was gorey. My biggest complaint has always been Ms “woe is me, which guy do I pick” Katniss.

The Historian : Elizabeth Kostova

I got this book for Christmas, and it has taken me that long to finish it. I’ve picked it up and given up on it twice already, including on vacation. I refused to even read it on the plane ride to Mexico, that’s how serious my giving up on it was. I hate leaving books unfinished, so fueled by my internal guilt about not finishing it, I picked it up and finished it within a week.

It was 500 pages of her describing in great detail landscapes, monasteries, libraries, and rehatching out details you already new but in a letter within a story context so that somehow made it different. The italics on this part in particular killed my eyes... The last 100+ pages? The parts that actually mattered? Flew by with barely any detail. Characters came crawling out of the back story like no big thing. It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t need to be just shy of 700 pages long.

Affinity : Sarah Waters

Not to long ago I read Tipping the Velvet by the same author, and really enjoyed it. It had a lot of lady sex happening in it, and she did a fairly decent job of recounting affections between two women.

This book? I gave up on it a couple of times, but again my guilt kicked in and I had to finish it. I was sorely disappointed. She spent a great deal of time recounting an upper class woman’s day-to-day life in 1874. The longing and uncertainty was well captured, but the lack of real substance made it a hard sell for me. There wasn’t a lot of supernatural nor spookyness about it.


Another book that took me absolutely forever to finish. The historical basis that sets the background to HH Holmes’ murderous tale couldn’t keep me hooked. Once I was able to get through all of that, the retelling of his capture and sadistic deeds was even a bit lackluster. So much time and effort was put into the beginning of most of these books, I just wish there woud be some follow through.


Railsea : China Mieville

A retelling of Moby Dick, set in another world where the earth is covered in railways and giant moles are hunted like whales. So far an easy read, and the author is quite good at setting up the visuals for this new world.

The Help : Kathryn Stockett

I began listening to this as an audio book, but soon realized I didn’t want to purchase the whole thing as an audio book, and have switched over to reading it. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far I like the characters.




Women Who Run With the Wolves : Clarissa Pinkola Estes


I’m especially excited for the books I just purchased. I’ve heard good things about all three of them. I'm trying to curb my appetite for even more books, considering I haven't even gotten these three in the mail yet. 

xo
 

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