This won't be long, I have so many other plot lines floating in my head but I wanted to touch on this book once again if only to say 10 books later this was one of the best. I don't remember having, or knowing about, such wonderful fiction when I was a child. The story was engrossing, touching, humourous and timeless. What a trite word, timeless, but it is the best that I have at this moment.
I hijacked my sister's Kindle and bought this book for her (I pushed the buttons and she paid for it). She too found it enjoyable and she like many of the other astute readers out there got the vampire gig from the get-go. At any rate, Bod's story was meaningful to me even as an "adult" and use the term loosely. I rambled enough about this during the book club discussion so I am going to leave it at that.
Total thumbs up and this probably one of the few I have read so far that I would recommend to just about anyone.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Soooo
As it turns out I have read 10 books since my last post and have managed to write not one single review. This, I think, may make me the worst Cannonball reader of the bunch. In a sad attempt to rectify the situation I am going to sit here, playing hooky (kind of) from work and knock these bad boys out. I am going to get all 10 off my stack of to dos so I can finish the last half of this challenge with a clean slate. So faithful reader (hellooooo anyone there?) here I go.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Book 11. The Graveyard Book
I just finished and I just finished crying. Maybe the end hit me so hard because it is my birthday and all I can think about with the passage of time are the things I haven't done and probably never will do. Not to mention the stupid mistakes that I have made. Though without them, I wouldn't be me but that doesn't stop me from obsessing. What a great book. I need to let it resonate for a day before I finish this. Sigh.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Book #10 The Nanny Diaries Part 2
I really tend to publish these reviews in bulk. With that said, there isn't too much to say about this book. I read the first Nanny Diaries when it came out several years ago. Kind of at the height of the "chick-lit" (which always sounds sexual to me) phenomenon. I remember it as being very entertaining and "informative" concerning the lives of Upper East Side families. I guess that was before Gossip Girl (not that I watch that trash... faithfully).
So this book picks up several years later after Nan has married, moved abroad, and finally settled with her Husband in NYC. In the past I have bitched and moaned about authors who insist upon recapping the previous book in a serious in the first two chapters. I am here to rescind that gripe. The author (too lazy to get the Kindle to figure out her name) makes vague references to events in the past but doesn't flesh them out. Which would be all fine and dandy if some of those events weren't integral to the plot in this book. At any rate, Nan's husband goes to Africa for business leaving her alone in their under-renovation Brownstone. Late one evening her charge from her Nannying day shows up drunk and despondent on her front stoop. He lays into her for the way she left (something to do with a confession spoken into a stuffed Nanny-cam bear) and promptly passes out. Hijinx ensue. Seriously. She somehow ends up in charge not only of the 17 year old but of his pre-teen brother Stilton whom the parents have also managed to treat as an object to be had rather than a child. I don't know, other people come and go, some such business about a helicopter pad at the private school at which she is employed (doing some type of vague staff liaison job), Ponzi schemes make an appearance as well as faking cancer to avoid a scandal. Snooty friends from private school, a trip to Hamptons, inappropriate groping by an entitled husband, and a discount Miro (Rothko? Neither? Don't remember) round out the story.
I can usually plow through these types of books in an afternoon. For some reason, this just didn't hold my interest. I couldn't remember character names, I had to go back and reread to figure out what the hell was going on when I would pick up the book after a few days. The sentences were oddly constructed (not that mine prove to be much better). It all seemed kind of trite. Kind of already done on Gossip Girl or other upper east side trash shows.
It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. If you have read the first, you may as well read the second. If you watch Gossip Girl, you will have heard it all before and quite frankly better. So, thumbs neutral.
So this book picks up several years later after Nan has married, moved abroad, and finally settled with her Husband in NYC. In the past I have bitched and moaned about authors who insist upon recapping the previous book in a serious in the first two chapters. I am here to rescind that gripe. The author (too lazy to get the Kindle to figure out her name) makes vague references to events in the past but doesn't flesh them out. Which would be all fine and dandy if some of those events weren't integral to the plot in this book. At any rate, Nan's husband goes to Africa for business leaving her alone in their under-renovation Brownstone. Late one evening her charge from her Nannying day shows up drunk and despondent on her front stoop. He lays into her for the way she left (something to do with a confession spoken into a stuffed Nanny-cam bear) and promptly passes out. Hijinx ensue. Seriously. She somehow ends up in charge not only of the 17 year old but of his pre-teen brother Stilton whom the parents have also managed to treat as an object to be had rather than a child. I don't know, other people come and go, some such business about a helicopter pad at the private school at which she is employed (doing some type of vague staff liaison job), Ponzi schemes make an appearance as well as faking cancer to avoid a scandal. Snooty friends from private school, a trip to Hamptons, inappropriate groping by an entitled husband, and a discount Miro (Rothko? Neither? Don't remember) round out the story.
I can usually plow through these types of books in an afternoon. For some reason, this just didn't hold my interest. I couldn't remember character names, I had to go back and reread to figure out what the hell was going on when I would pick up the book after a few days. The sentences were oddly constructed (not that mine prove to be much better). It all seemed kind of trite. Kind of already done on Gossip Girl or other upper east side trash shows.
It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. If you have read the first, you may as well read the second. If you watch Gossip Girl, you will have heard it all before and quite frankly better. So, thumbs neutral.
Book 9. Lolita
I could have sworn that I read this book in it's entirety years ago, and perhaps I did but I just don't remember all of it. Well, either way, I have read it again. I think that when Humbert started to lose it on his final cross country trip with Dolly I started to shut down. Once she was gone and things became a bit more coherent I was able to power through and finish it (in the nick of time I might add). I found the end note by Nabakov to be more interesting than the manuscript itself. Or at the very least a wonderful addition to the story. Was Humbert truly sorry for the life (lives) that he ruined? Was he truly mad? Was Lolita's behaviour a result of his affections or used to gain his affections? It has been so many years that I have been out of school and have "needed" to read a book for more than the passing of time and enjoyment that this was a good exercise for me. I do look forward to the discussion tomorrow.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Book 8. Pirate Latitudes
Not really sure where I have been but as it turns out Michael Crichton has died. A quick scan of Wikipedia tells me that this happened November of 2008. Hmm. Completely missed it, but then that may because I have read absolutely nothing that he has written. ER was the only acquaintance I had with him and that was years and years ago when I watched that. So yeah, I have never seen Jurassic Park, sue me. What led me to Pirate Latitudes? I honestly have no idea. Maybe it was on some Kindle list? New releases? All I know is that unlike most of the things I buy (I am a total Kindle Hoarder, like what they are going to do stop selling certain books? Are the digital version is going to sell out? Jesus, get a grip) I read this right away. I must have been in the mood for some pirates, sea monsters, cannibals, and corrupt government officials.
This was good stuff. You know how some books make you want to hop in your time machine and in this case your sex change machine and be the main character in the book? Or even a supporting character? I totally wanted to do that. I wanted to be a pirate in the 17th century. These weren’t Disneyfied pirates, they were womanizing killers and thieves. I don’t know if it was the plot, the descriptions, or a combination of the two that made me want to be there. Whatever it was, it made for a really good read.
The book starts in 1665 in Port Royal, Jamaica. The governor, Sir James Almont is on his way to attend the hanging of a man convicted of being a pirate. In this colony privateering is a completely acceptable profession, but pirating will get a guy hung. The difference between the two is all semantics. A merchant ship arrives in the bay carrying Almont’s new secretary Hacklett, his wife, and group of female English convicts meant to be wives for the men on the island. Almont hears that on the trip to Jamaica the people aboard the Godspeed saw a Spanish galleon at anchor in the bay of Spanish controlled island. A plan is born. Enter Hunter, a well respected privateer with a small sloop. At the behest of Almont he gathers together a crew and they set off to capture a seemingly uncapturable Spanish treasure ship. In the course of the narrative, Hunter and his crew are captured, there is sword fighting, cannonball fire, sinking ships, treasure, sea monsters, cannibals, oh my. When he and his crew finally return to Port Royal the situation is not as they had hoped.
Admittedly, at the first sighting of the sea monster all I could think was oh crap, this is turning into some weirdo scifi gig. It conjured memories of that horrid made for tv movie about the giant squid. What the hell was that tripe called? Not important. I also kept thinking that this was total Hollywood material that would no doubt be presented as a summer block buster riddled with CGI and some milquetoast actor as Hunter. I hope that this scenario does not play out.
There was bit more blood and guts than I accustomed to in my usual fictional fare. On the flip side there was a good deal of pirate superstition and nautical folklore. Which I find to be interesting. All in all, a really good adventure story. In the future I do not think I will be sliding into any other Crichton works only because I don’t find the subject matter particularly intriguing. As it stands, Pirate Latitudes: A Novel gets the thumbs up.
This was good stuff. You know how some books make you want to hop in your time machine and in this case your sex change machine and be the main character in the book? Or even a supporting character? I totally wanted to do that. I wanted to be a pirate in the 17th century. These weren’t Disneyfied pirates, they were womanizing killers and thieves. I don’t know if it was the plot, the descriptions, or a combination of the two that made me want to be there. Whatever it was, it made for a really good read.
The book starts in 1665 in Port Royal, Jamaica. The governor, Sir James Almont is on his way to attend the hanging of a man convicted of being a pirate. In this colony privateering is a completely acceptable profession, but pirating will get a guy hung. The difference between the two is all semantics. A merchant ship arrives in the bay carrying Almont’s new secretary Hacklett, his wife, and group of female English convicts meant to be wives for the men on the island. Almont hears that on the trip to Jamaica the people aboard the Godspeed saw a Spanish galleon at anchor in the bay of Spanish controlled island. A plan is born. Enter Hunter, a well respected privateer with a small sloop. At the behest of Almont he gathers together a crew and they set off to capture a seemingly uncapturable Spanish treasure ship. In the course of the narrative, Hunter and his crew are captured, there is sword fighting, cannonball fire, sinking ships, treasure, sea monsters, cannibals, oh my. When he and his crew finally return to Port Royal the situation is not as they had hoped.
Admittedly, at the first sighting of the sea monster all I could think was oh crap, this is turning into some weirdo scifi gig. It conjured memories of that horrid made for tv movie about the giant squid. What the hell was that tripe called? Not important. I also kept thinking that this was total Hollywood material that would no doubt be presented as a summer block buster riddled with CGI and some milquetoast actor as Hunter. I hope that this scenario does not play out.
There was bit more blood and guts than I accustomed to in my usual fictional fare. On the flip side there was a good deal of pirate superstition and nautical folklore. Which I find to be interesting. All in all, a really good adventure story. In the future I do not think I will be sliding into any other Crichton works only because I don’t find the subject matter particularly intriguing. As it stands, Pirate Latitudes: A Novel gets the thumbs up.
Hell. Book 7. No really, the title is Hell.
So I finished this sometime in mid Dececmeber, but as usual, I put off the reivew. I have found that I have been to busy at work flirting with a Canadian over email and reading Pajiba to write the review, oh and do any actual work.
At any rate, from what I remember Robert Olen Butler’s Hell is well written and quite funny. Hell, in his imagination, is a thoroughly modern place with all the amenities of today’s society. It seems everyone is there from the obvious, Stalin, Hitler, Henry the VIII, to the less obvious Bill Clinton (who is compelled to pull down his pants everytime a woman enters his hotel room), Shakespeare (his writing is doomed by the Blue Screen of Death), and a manical Nixon as a chauffer. I seem to remember the Bee Gees being there. Huh.
So the premise is this, Hatcher was a newscaster in life and is now one in hell. He lands the interview of the his afterlife with Satan for his on going series “Why Do You Think You Are Here?”. Though this interview is just a small portion of the book, I found it to be the absolute funniest part. To aviod giving too much information, I will go on to say that as a result of this interview Hatcher figures out that he still retains his own free will and that his thoughts are his own, Satan is not in on everthing. From this discovery he begins to formulate a way out of Hell. With the help of Virgil, Anne Boylen, his exwives, and many other guest appearances he eventally finds what he is looking for.
Again, engaging, well written (unlike this review), and somewhat thought provoking. From Bulter’s comments on society, to the “cameos” this is one of those books that you read the frist time for the content and the second time to pick up all of the humor you missed on the first pass. Kind reminds me of An Evening of Long Goodbyes and Good Omens (funniest book ever, and I missed 99% of the British Humor).
So yeah, that is it on this one. I would read Olen’s other titles. In short, thumbs up – from my perspective. Oh yeah, one problem. The Kindle version was kind of jacked up. The ‘y’s were cut off at the bottom and would show up in random places leading to confusing formatting at times. And that is my only gripe. On this topic.
At any rate, from what I remember Robert Olen Butler’s Hell is well written and quite funny. Hell, in his imagination, is a thoroughly modern place with all the amenities of today’s society. It seems everyone is there from the obvious, Stalin, Hitler, Henry the VIII, to the less obvious Bill Clinton (who is compelled to pull down his pants everytime a woman enters his hotel room), Shakespeare (his writing is doomed by the Blue Screen of Death), and a manical Nixon as a chauffer. I seem to remember the Bee Gees being there. Huh.
So the premise is this, Hatcher was a newscaster in life and is now one in hell. He lands the interview of the his afterlife with Satan for his on going series “Why Do You Think You Are Here?”. Though this interview is just a small portion of the book, I found it to be the absolute funniest part. To aviod giving too much information, I will go on to say that as a result of this interview Hatcher figures out that he still retains his own free will and that his thoughts are his own, Satan is not in on everthing. From this discovery he begins to formulate a way out of Hell. With the help of Virgil, Anne Boylen, his exwives, and many other guest appearances he eventally finds what he is looking for.
Again, engaging, well written (unlike this review), and somewhat thought provoking. From Bulter’s comments on society, to the “cameos” this is one of those books that you read the frist time for the content and the second time to pick up all of the humor you missed on the first pass. Kind reminds me of An Evening of Long Goodbyes and Good Omens (funniest book ever, and I missed 99% of the British Humor).
So yeah, that is it on this one. I would read Olen’s other titles. In short, thumbs up – from my perspective. Oh yeah, one problem. The Kindle version was kind of jacked up. The ‘y’s were cut off at the bottom and would show up in random places leading to confusing formatting at times. And that is my only gripe. On this topic.
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