Read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 on my quest to read 50 books.
This is my late summer/early fall reading report. The links lead to the full book reviews I wrote.
Dune Road / Jane Green » I had a hard time getting past the British slang spoken by supposed Americans and the terribly convenient plot. Not chick lit at its finest.
Wedding Night / Sophia Kinsella » Chick lit at its semi-finest. I still think I’ve Got Your Number is better, though.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane / Neil Gaiman » I loved this book. Read it on the plane ride to Hawaii (at less than 200 pages, it goes fast). It’s a fantasy novel about innocence, sacrifice and suppressing knowledge to survive. Not sure any description will do it justice, so I’ll just leave you with this passage: “Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences.”
The Light Between Oceans / M.L. Stedman » I wanted to like this book more than I did. About the moral dilemma that unfolds when a lighthouse keeper finds a baby washed ashore on his island and brings it back home to his wife, who insists they raise the baby as their own. The book is well-written, the characters are complex, but there’s just too much tragedy (and I can take a lot of tragedy).
Where’d You Go, Bernadette / Maria Semple » This book had me at hello. Love it infinitely. About a woman who may or may not be a little insane. That is, before she disappears. I will tease you with a bit of the wit you can expect: ” ‘That’s right,’ she told the girls. ‘You are bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.’ “
The Original 1982 / Lori Carson » What if I could go back in time and not have those two abortions in the early 1980s, the singer-songwriter author asks. The answer is bittersweet, and knowing that the book is all an exercise of what-ifs and what-coulda-beens left a bad taste in my mouth. There are places where the fantasy child doesn’t ring true (LOL, like you can expect a toddler to sit still/be quiet at your workplace? C’mon). All this being said, it was a quick read. Carson has writing chops.
This One Is Mine / Maria Semple » I simply had to read this after Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Semple can tell an original tale, all right. Be prepared to be disgusted by the protagonist in this story of Hollywood excess, where a housewife who has it all is completely unappreciative of her husband (a comparative saint) and daughter (merely a prop) in order to pursue sex with a broke, hepatitis-infected, drug-addicted dirtbag.
Requiem / Lauren Oliver » Talk about dropping the ball. This third and final dystopian installment was pure torture to read. I lost all empathy for the protagonist, who was too busy stringing along one guy while pining after another to focus on the fact that they are fighting for their lives. Can we collectively agree to bury the love triangle arc of these dystopian series? They are past their expiration date …
The Universe vs. Alex Woods / Gavin Extence » A kid gets hit in the head by a meteorite! That’s about the best part of the story, and it happens at the beginning. The philosophical questions later on aren’t as intriguing or compelling as they should be.
Looking for Alaska / John Green » Just when I think John Green can’t get any more pretentious, just when I am about to write him off for being too smart for his own good, he delivers in the second half of this novel. Just as good as “The Fault in Our Stars,” maybe even better. Thank god, because I waited six months for the library copy, and it was worth it.
In this list of 10 book reviews: two have the word “Ocean” in the title, two mention Kurt Vonnegut, six feature slightly (maybe even majorly) insane female protagonists. The three best: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Looking for Alaska
There you have it. I’ve read 40 out of 50 books so far this year. I’m almost there! And, according to my Goodreads app, I’m one book ahead of schedule. That’s me, overachieving by a slight margin.
What have you been reading? I’m always on the lookout for a good read.
