I found this post tucked away and found I had never published it, until now. It is reviews of books I read at the beginning of the year. I haven't read anything over the past couple of months with all that has been going on. I think I went on a bit of a hiatus from reading, because I wasn't having much success on finding a book I really enjoyed, as you will see below. I've been craving the need to get lost in a good book. I'm hoping to check out our library in our new town soon, so perhaps I will make my hope of a good read a reality in the near future.
World War Z by Max Brooks World War Z is a book of testimonies compiled of the survivors after World War Z aka the Zombie War. Stories are shared from military, political, medical, unethical and everyday people's perspectives of how they survived the zombie invasion and how the horrific disease spread.
Out of all the books in the post, I liked this one the best. It was really interesting. I'm not a huge zombie fan, even though it is a trend these days. However, this book is a lot deeper than just a zombie disease outbreak. Brooks looks at this (im)possible occurrence from every angle. He made this book so believable. Some individuals whose stories you hear are heroes, others you want to hug, others you want to punch in the face for being seedy and getting gain off of other people's pain. Some political and military moves are frustrating and many are too late. If there was a zombie disease that spread, I think it really would play out the way this book describes. My one complaint is that the book kind of dragged for me towards the end. I just felt there were a few too many stories. It was interesting, but after a bit the "personal accounts" started blurring together for me.
Jan's Rating:
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde The Eyre Affair is a sci-fi book that takes place in England in 1985, but in some kind of alternate universe. Time travel and cloning are all possible. The society of this book literature very seriously, to the point that for many it is their religion. The main character is Thursday Next, a tough, female Special Operative who specializes in literature. She is called in on a mad chase after villain Acheron Hades who has stolen technology that allows him to enter famous literature and both alter the story as well as kidnap it's main characters, Jane Eyre being his first victim.
I've decided that to enjoy this book, you need to go into it like you would reading a comic book. Don't take it that seriously, expect some cliches and recognize impossible things will happen and not to question that. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I went into it with this point of view and tried to find the humor in it. I could tell Fforde had a lot of fun writing this book. n all his fun, it made the story feel really scattered to me. I felt like he threw in so many different aspects of sci-fi, that is just seemed random and a little disjointed at times. My favorite part of the book was when Thursday enters the novel of Jane Eyre. Perhaps because it was a familiar setting for me. Overall this book was fine, but didn't really catch my attention as I had hoped.
Jan's Rating:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath This book follows Esther Greenwood, as a bright young woman in the 1960's who was accepted to a prestigious internship in New York at a lady's magazine. Among all the glamour, Esther spirals down in depression and eventually moves home and gets to the point of needing medical help. I feel if I share more of the story, it will give too much away.
From the description, you can presume this book is a depressing one and it is. I'm really torn by it. I felt for the purpose to better understand mental illness, especially depression, this book is an important read. I felt myself being like much of society as I read about Esther sink further and further into depression. I kept thinking, "What is she doing, she is throwing all this opportunity and talent away!" It took me a little while to pull away from that judgmental frame of mind and recognize that this depression was really beyond Esther's control. Another aspect of this book that makes it so heart wrenching is that it is semi-autobiographical of Sylvia Plath's life. You leave with hope for the character, Esther, but in reality Plath eventually took her own life. It just made me so sad for Plath and her internal struggle that she sheds light on in this book. She was a very talented writer.
One thing I really didn't like about this book was the push for sexual liberation, as if that would help Esther in her plight and give her maturity. Sleeping around doesn't make one an adult. It is actually a choice generally made out of selfishness, which is not mature. I could go further on that soapbox, but I'll leave it at that. That mentality just really annoyed me through the book. However, the sexual liberation point of view was coming from a mentally ill girl, so perhaps that shows it isn't a healthy point of view. Anyway, this book is a hard one to read. I think I felt more relief to be through with it than anything. Like I said, it has its value in the sense of having a better understanding of mental illness, but it isn't a book I would just recommend to people.
Jan's Rating:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer Nine-year-old Oskar finds a key in a vase that belonged to his dad, who passed away in the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. He is convinced finding the lock to the key will help bring him closer to his father. He ventures out in New York City on this quest and meets many interesting people in the process.
I think I just wasn't up for the many depressing books I read in a row. It is rare that I prefer a movie to a book, but in this case I did. I appreciated the more profound healing of the Oskar and his mom's relationship in the movie than in the book. While the book gives more background on Oskar's past, particularly Oskar's grandparents past, that backstory didn't do much for me, other than make me more depressed. It was a unique story and I liked the friendship Oskar builds with his elderly neighbor as well as the different people he meets in New York. That was probably the most interesting aspect of this book to me. I'm glad I saw the movie before reading the book, because the narrative was really scattered in the book and I think it would have been incredibly confusing if I hadn't known the story a bit beforehand. I also wish Foer had spent more time on developing the character of Oskar's mom. I felt like she was a flat, background character when I think her role deserved more, since she's the one struggling to raise a boy with Asperger's and dealing with the loss of her husband. I could also do without some of the more adult themes in the book that felt thrown in, since the main character is a 9-year-old. Save yourself time and just redbox the movie.
Jan's Rating:
These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner This book is in journal form and based on Turner's great-grandmother, Sarah Agnes Prine's life. Sarah and her family were pioneers and trekked across Texas to Arizona in her young life. The book follows her family settling in Arizona, Sarah's marriages, becoming a mother and her trials over the years.
I had high hopes for this book, as I heard such good things about it, but it was a disappointment to me. The book felt really over the top to me, the love story, the trials on the trail, just all of it. I know I'm going to sound like a prude, but I was surprised by the violence and sex in the book, particularly at the beginning of the book. (Spoiler alert) I found the murders and rapes as they trekked West really disturbing. Also, the love story between Sarah and Captain Jack Elliot seemed completely unreal to me. Captain Elliot just seemed like a figment of a romantic's fantasy than a real man. When I read an interview in the back of the book and found that Turner took a lot of liberties with her great-grandmother's life, it furthered my disappointment. Captain Elliot wasn't even a real person and not the man Sarah married in real life. Sarah Prine did sound like a tough and inspiring woman and I'm more interested to hear the facts of her life and not a made up story about her, because it felt very made up. For a real journal and interesting pioneer story, I would recommend Recollections of Past Days The Autobiography of Patience Loader Rozsa Archer over this book.
Jan's Rating:
Out of all the books in the post, I liked this one the best. It was really interesting. I'm not a huge zombie fan, even though it is a trend these days. However, this book is a lot deeper than just a zombie disease outbreak. Brooks looks at this (im)possible occurrence from every angle. He made this book so believable. Some individuals whose stories you hear are heroes, others you want to hug, others you want to punch in the face for being seedy and getting gain off of other people's pain. Some political and military moves are frustrating and many are too late. If there was a zombie disease that spread, I think it really would play out the way this book describes. My one complaint is that the book kind of dragged for me towards the end. I just felt there were a few too many stories. It was interesting, but after a bit the "personal accounts" started blurring together for me.
Jan's Rating:
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde The Eyre Affair is a sci-fi book that takes place in England in 1985, but in some kind of alternate universe. Time travel and cloning are all possible. The society of this book literature very seriously, to the point that for many it is their religion. The main character is Thursday Next, a tough, female Special Operative who specializes in literature. She is called in on a mad chase after villain Acheron Hades who has stolen technology that allows him to enter famous literature and both alter the story as well as kidnap it's main characters, Jane Eyre being his first victim.I've decided that to enjoy this book, you need to go into it like you would reading a comic book. Don't take it that seriously, expect some cliches and recognize impossible things will happen and not to question that. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I went into it with this point of view and tried to find the humor in it. I could tell Fforde had a lot of fun writing this book. n all his fun, it made the story feel really scattered to me. I felt like he threw in so many different aspects of sci-fi, that is just seemed random and a little disjointed at times. My favorite part of the book was when Thursday enters the novel of Jane Eyre. Perhaps because it was a familiar setting for me. Overall this book was fine, but didn't really catch my attention as I had hoped.
Jan's Rating:
From the description, you can presume this book is a depressing one and it is. I'm really torn by it. I felt for the purpose to better understand mental illness, especially depression, this book is an important read. I felt myself being like much of society as I read about Esther sink further and further into depression. I kept thinking, "What is she doing, she is throwing all this opportunity and talent away!" It took me a little while to pull away from that judgmental frame of mind and recognize that this depression was really beyond Esther's control. Another aspect of this book that makes it so heart wrenching is that it is semi-autobiographical of Sylvia Plath's life. You leave with hope for the character, Esther, but in reality Plath eventually took her own life. It just made me so sad for Plath and her internal struggle that she sheds light on in this book. She was a very talented writer.
One thing I really didn't like about this book was the push for sexual liberation, as if that would help Esther in her plight and give her maturity. Sleeping around doesn't make one an adult. It is actually a choice generally made out of selfishness, which is not mature. I could go further on that soapbox, but I'll leave it at that. That mentality just really annoyed me through the book. However, the sexual liberation point of view was coming from a mentally ill girl, so perhaps that shows it isn't a healthy point of view. Anyway, this book is a hard one to read. I think I felt more relief to be through with it than anything. Like I said, it has its value in the sense of having a better understanding of mental illness, but it isn't a book I would just recommend to people.
Jan's Rating:
I think I just wasn't up for the many depressing books I read in a row. It is rare that I prefer a movie to a book, but in this case I did. I appreciated the more profound healing of the Oskar and his mom's relationship in the movie than in the book. While the book gives more background on Oskar's past, particularly Oskar's grandparents past, that backstory didn't do much for me, other than make me more depressed. It was a unique story and I liked the friendship Oskar builds with his elderly neighbor as well as the different people he meets in New York. That was probably the most interesting aspect of this book to me. I'm glad I saw the movie before reading the book, because the narrative was really scattered in the book and I think it would have been incredibly confusing if I hadn't known the story a bit beforehand. I also wish Foer had spent more time on developing the character of Oskar's mom. I felt like she was a flat, background character when I think her role deserved more, since she's the one struggling to raise a boy with Asperger's and dealing with the loss of her husband. I could also do without some of the more adult themes in the book that felt thrown in, since the main character is a 9-year-old. Save yourself time and just redbox the movie.
Jan's Rating:
I had high hopes for this book, as I heard such good things about it, but it was a disappointment to me. The book felt really over the top to me, the love story, the trials on the trail, just all of it. I know I'm going to sound like a prude, but I was surprised by the violence and sex in the book, particularly at the beginning of the book. (Spoiler alert) I found the murders and rapes as they trekked West really disturbing. Also, the love story between Sarah and Captain Jack Elliot seemed completely unreal to me. Captain Elliot just seemed like a figment of a romantic's fantasy than a real man. When I read an interview in the back of the book and found that Turner took a lot of liberties with her great-grandmother's life, it furthered my disappointment. Captain Elliot wasn't even a real person and not the man Sarah married in real life. Sarah Prine did sound like a tough and inspiring woman and I'm more interested to hear the facts of her life and not a made up story about her, because it felt very made up. For a real journal and interesting pioneer story, I would recommend Recollections of Past Days The Autobiography of Patience Loader Rozsa Archer over this book.
Jan's Rating:
I also was disappointed by These Is My Words-- my friend raved about it, but the way Captain Elliot was described and admired felt unreal and unhealthy!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I love The Bell Jar!
Haven't read WWZ, but saw the movie in 3D and had nightmares! hahah