2013 Book #39: The Book Thief
I read The Book Thief because I felt like I had to: there’s a movie coming out that I thought I might like to see, and it’s all over Tumblr. I was convinced that I’d hate it for being sappy and preachy, but I started reading it, and my opinion slowly changed. I decided to give it […]
2013 Book #38: Coin Locker Babies
Well. Coin Locker Babies is certainly a book. Not exactly my kind of book, but a book. And not a bad one, either. It’s just a little too extreme for me. I’ve been going back and forth about quoting the first paragraph so you’d see exactly what I mean, but I’m a little scared that I’d be flagged […]
2013 Book #37: The Autumn of the Patriarch
There is no way I can do this book justice, but I guess that goes for everything I’ve read by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The Autumn of the Patriarch has been on my Fail Pile for several years now. I tried reading it a few years ago, but I just couldn’t get through it. It just ran […]
2013 Book #36: The Angel Esmeralda
And DeLillo reappears. The Angel Esmeralda, DeLillo’s first collection of short stories that I know of, has been sitting on my Kindle for a long time. Languishing. By now, you probably know my thoughts on DeLillo, so I’ll keep the explanation short: he writes the same novel over and over again. Meh. That said, these are […]
2013 Book #35: A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
I have an embarrassing confession to make: Until I picked up this collection, I hadn’t read the oft-assigned “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” What, you ask? How did you get an English degree without having read this most ubiquitous of short stories? A simple, two parted answer: I pretended to have read it, […]
2013 Book #34: A Storm of Swords
I can’t stop! I’m entirely hooked on A Game of Thrones, now. I’m sad that I’m not currently reading one, and that’s right after I finished A Storm of Swords, a true behemoth. I’m also ahead of HBO! Having never actually seen the show, I figured the third season covered the third book (like the first season the […]
2013 Book #33: Anansi Boys
Roughly halfway through every year, I get tired of reviewing every single book I read. That feeling is compounded by the fact that I’ve been reading so much lately. Which explains why I’ve waited so long to review a book I finished two weeks ago. Anyway. Anansi Boys. Have I mentioned that I love Neil […]
2013 Book #32: All the Pretty Horses
I only discovered Cormac McCarthy a few years ago. It might even have been The Road that put me on notice. (I loved that book, by the way.) I think I read Outer Dark after that one. Outer Dark is my second-favorite. Blood Meridian is my favorite. So where does All the Pretty Horses fit […]
2013 Book #31: The Third Reich
I’m on a tear! Actually, too much of one. Anyway. The Third Reich is the second Bolaño novel I’ve read. This one was easier to read than The Savage Detectives, but it wasn’t as rewarding. Though it’s still an excellent novel. It’s about a German named Udo who goes to Spain on vacation with his girlfriend, […]
2013 Book #30: A Moveable Feast
After the intensity of Salem’s Lot and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I needed something more calm and grounded. Enter Hemingway, who is always safe. (Though I don’t particularly like two of his novels, they never make my head feel like it’s going to explode.) A Moveable Feast has been on my list for quite […]