2011 Book #41: The Book of Sand
Several years ago, I dated a guy whose mother so often said that Kevin Costner was originally cast in Patrick Swayze’s role in Ghost, that her sons came up with a gesture to express it more succinctly: they would simply touch their index fingers to their foreheads. I need to come up with similar gesture for […]
2011 Book #40: The Devil All the Time
I really need to be better about posting quickly after I finish a novel. Unless it falls into the Best Novel Ever category, I forget what I wanted to say before I write anything down. Once I hit this year’s quota, I might take a break from the writing part. Or not. We’ll see. I […]
2011 Book #39: The Hero and the Crown
The Hero and the Crown is Palmer‘s favorite kid-book, which is why I read it. I read The Blue Sword first because there was some confusion which of the two is actually his favorite. Here’s why: both were written by Robin McKinley, whowrote The Blue Sword first, but The Hero and the Crown is its prequel. I’m glad, […]
2011 Book #38: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
I’m not sure I should count this one. The size of The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a bit daunting until you look inside. It’s 533 thick (as in good-quality) pages. I was expecting it to take a while. But no. Near the end of the book, the author, Brian Selznik, mentions that it’s only around 26,000 words, […]
2011 Book #37: Cosmopolis
I don’t even wanna talk about this one. I hadn’t read a DeLillo novel in quite a while – we’re faaaar away from the glory days of the DeLillo Binge. While I was working on the Thesis Monster (which I still have to finish), I read most of his novels and realized that he’s just […]
2011 Book #36: Everything that Rises Must Converge
It took me a long time to read Everything that Rises Must Converge, but that’s not because I didn’t like it. Now that I have a job, I’ve been reading a lot less. I get up, go to work, come home, and watch bad TV. I’ve only been reading during my (very short) break at […]
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 […]