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The Crying of Lot 49

2006, Books in Bed, Classics, Don't Read This, Favorites /

Because I couldn’t make my way through Gravity’s Rainbow and because Gravity’s Rainbow was one of my Summer Reading Challenge books, I decided to take a recommendation from someone at “work” and read Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 instead. About the only thing I can say is I managed to make it through the whole book

Conspiracy theories, bah who cares. And can someone tell me why this guy insists on writing incredibly long sentences? He’s much worse than I am. Look, this is how it starts:

One summer afternoon Mrs Oedipa Maas came home from a Tupperware party whose hostess had perhaps too much kirsch in the fondue to find that she, Oedipa, had been named executor, or she supposed executrix, of the estate of one Pierce Invararity, a California real estate mogul who had once lost two million dollars in his spare time but still had assets numerous and tangled enough to make the job of sorting it all out more than honorary.

I mean really, was that necessary? The whole book is like that. The whole book is unnecessary. No more Pynchon for me, thank you.

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Some Pig!

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

I never did want a pig. Not even during my Charlotte’s Web fixated childhood and certainly not after my childrens’ Charlotte’s Web fixated childhood. I have inquired into the health of the pot-bellied pig which belongs to friends of my children, and commiserated over a botched hoof surgery. But a pig, no, it isn’t a pet I’ve ever been interested in. When TW talks about having a cow, I’ve always been pleased that she didn’t toss a pig or two into her fantasies.

When Katie said she needed some folks to read The Good Good Pig with her, I started to refuse. But, she read The Moonstone with me so I owed her one. I think I got the better deal.

Christopher Hogwood’s story was a lot like Marley & Me, but from a pig point of view. I thought it was going to be a little to “back to the earth” for me but it wasn’t like that at all. Just a normal married couple who like animals and nature and wind up with a pig. It’s a terrific feel good story. Read it, you’ll feel good when you finish.

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The Girls

6 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction /

I don’t seem to read many books about “elders” or “seniors”. Is that because there aren’t many? Or am I simply overlooking them? I should go talk to Ronni Bennett about this…

The Girls is a book I picked up at the Friends of the Library sale – I don’t know if it was in the spring or if it was last fall, I just know it’s been on the shelf for quite awhile. It probably would have stayed on the shelf for quite some time if Sassymonkey hadn’t put the “read 5 books you own but have never read” item on her summer reading challenge. That would have been a real disappointment.

I loved the whole Jewish/Miami/South Beach scene. I loved all four sisters. Flora reminds me a little of my grandmother, though even my grandmother wouldn’t have been that umm, interesting. Retirement villages, nursing homes, assisted living, assisted suicide with a little racial prejudice and religious stereotyping tossed in – all tough topics but the book, well, go read it and see what you think.

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The Shadow of the Wind

3 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery /

I wasn’t looking forward to reading The Shadow of the Wind. I kept pushing it back further on the “to be read” list. I kept picking it up and putting it down. I even read Vanity Fair before The Shadow of the Wind because I was sure this was going to be a dud. I was soooo wrong.

From the first paragraph to the last, I was totally hooked. I love the idea of a Cemetary of Forgotten Books. I loved every single character in this novel, including the “bad guys”. I loved the twists and turns and the impossible connections between the characters. I even loved the ridiculous and completely impossible coincidences.

The only thing I didn’t like was that the book ended. And I wish, I really wish, I could read Julian Carax’s novels.

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Percy Jackson – Sea of Monsters

2006, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed Sea of Monsters. Ignoring the fact that I’d have enjoyed just about anything after the horrors of Vanity Fair, Sea of Monsters was terrific. Great fun for kids and grown ups and an excellent sequel to The Lightning Thief. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

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The Book Thief

7 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Young Adult /

Wow! A fictional story set in Nazi Germany that I loved. Amazing. It’s been a very long time since that happened. The Book Thief was excellent. If you haven’t read it, push it up to the top of your “Must Read List”. Skip whatever is on your Summer Reading Challenge list and read this instead.

Maybe it’s the whole “death” thing, how many books are narrated by “death”? Not many that I’ve read, that’s for sure. Death is a good thing, I’ve always known that but The Book Thief has proven it.

Wow!

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Kindred – Octavia Butler

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really hate to admit it but this is the first Octavia Butler I’ve read. What in the heck was I waiting for? If Kindred is any indication, I need to read them all – maybe even own them all.

I loved the sci-fi twist on a slavery novel, it’s brilliant. If I met Dana on the street today and she told me her story, I think I’d have to believe her. That’s how brilliant this book was.

After my SRC is over, I’ll want to read more of her work – do you have any suggestions about which I should start with?

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