2011 Book #35: Lullaby
Lullaby is the second Chuck Palahniuk novel I’ve attempted and the first I’ve finished. I picked up Haunted a couple of years ago, and, though I remember liking it well enough, I didn’t finish it. It either freaked me out or bored me. I’m not sure which. I read Lullaby because Jacob told me about […]
2011 Book #34: The Lake
I’m generally a fan of contemporary Japanese fiction. I’ve read and liked a few of Ryu Murakami‘s novels, and Haruki Murakami is one of my very favorite authors. A few years ago, I read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and I generally liked that one, too. That said, Yoshimoto’s The Lake is a total waste of […]
2011 Book #33: O Pioneers!
I don’t really have much to say about O Pioneers! I generally enjoyed it, but it’s entirely forgettable. When I was in college, I reluctantly read My Antonia, also by Willa Cather, and thoroughly enjoyed it though I expected to hate it. O Pioneers! is the same type of novel – you know, pioneers and […]
2011 Book #32: Sweet Thursday
I’ve done it again! I waited too long to write this blog post, and I’ve forgotten what I want to talk about. I used to have a rule that after I finished a book, I had to write the blog post before I started a new one, but, at some point, that rule went out […]
2011 Book #31: A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust is a strange novel. It’s also really good, though not nearly as good as Waugh‘s earlier novel, Brideshead Revisited. It’s strange because of the ending. The penultimate chapter of the novel was originally a short story called “The Man Who Liked Dickens,” which had been published in a magazine. Another American […]
2011 Book #30: Cannery Row
I waited too long to write this one, so I don’t have much to say. Cannery Row is a very short novelabout, well, Cannery Row in California around the Depression. It starts off with a description of the town’s grocery store owner and how he influences the community, then moves on to other characters, like […]
2011 Book #29: The Savage Detectives
The Savage Detectives is kind of a hard read. It’s also really, really long. It’s also worth getting through. I’m not sure how I came across it, though Roberto BolaƱo‘s 2666 has been on my radar for quite some time. I haven’t tackled it yet because it’s even longer than this one. Until recently, I’ve […]
2011 Book #28: My Life in France
My original plan for this blog was 50 novels in a year, but a friend recommended and loaned me Julia Child‘s My Life in France. It sounded interesting enough, and though I’m usually not one for nonfiction, I figured I’d give it a try. My Life in France is an “autobiography” about Julia Child’s years […]
2011 Book #27: The Short Stories of Conrad Aiken
I read The Short Stories of Conrad Aiken by accident, though I’ve been meaning to read it for years. I’d just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and was waiting for UPS to deliver The Savage Detectives, and I figured I’d read a couple of the stories. This collection includes my very favorite short story […]
2011 Book #26: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
I’d wanted to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell since I first saw it on bookshelves a few years ago. I didn’t really know much about it except that it involved magicians but isn’t really fantasy. Which meant to me that it might not suck. I had a feeling that I’d really like it, but […]