34. Love in the Time of Cholera

34. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (10/21/2011 - 11/1/2011; 12/24/2011 - 1/14/2011)

I ran into a problem with this book: it's interesting, but it's not super engrossing at the beginning; thus, I put it down around November 1st and didn't pick it up until the end of December.

Gabriel García Márquez is an amazing author -- I loved One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is one of the best books I've ever read, so I was excited to pick up Love in the Time of Cholera.

This was an unusual book.  The beginning takes a really long time to get going; there's a lot of background information that Márquez uses to get to the actual story, and it turns out that most of that background information really isn't that important to the plot.  From there, the story is told largely through flashback -- most of the 300 pages of the book is a really long flashback -- but it eventually makes a full circle back to the end of the first chapter of the novel.

The love story is that of Fermina Daza and Florentina Ariza, two individuals who fall in love while they are teenagers.  Their love is interrupted by Fermina's realization that it was all an illusion, and she instead marries a rich and successful doctor.  They live out about 50 years of marriage in relative happiness, and she doesn't give Florentino much of a second thought.  But Florentino never forgets his love for Fermina; he ends up having over 600 affairs to pass the time between Fermina's rejection of him and the death of her husband more than 50 years later.

It's a very confusing thing, this book.  My empathy went back and forth for Florentino; sometimes I was on his side, but sometimes I decided he was probably the creepiest character I could think of.  And Fermina seemed very stuck up at times, so I wasn't really on her side either.  But the end of the book is quite spectacular.  After Fermina's husband dies, Florentino seeks her out to profess his love to her again.  And, surprisingly enough, there is a happy ending for the two of them, despite pretty much all the odds in the book, including Fermina's own professed hatred for Florentino.

So I liked this book, but ultimately, I think One Hundred Years of Solitude is a better example of Gabriel García Márquez's work.

33. Bicentennial Man

33. The Bicentennial Man and Other Stories by Isaac Asimov  (10/2/2011 - 10/20/2011)

Since I was so fired up by i, Robot, I started this book immediately after finishing it.  However, I have to say I was rather disappointed.  Some of the stories were downright amazing, but some kinda sucked.  So I would have to say that I would recommend some of them but not all.

I would avoid the following: "Feminine Intuition," which was ironic but kinda bizarre, "Waterclap," which was just awful, "That Thou Art Mindful of Him," which is a conversation between two robots and doesn't make a lot of sense, "Strangers in Paradise," wherein two brothers meet in a future where siblings are one of the rarest and strangest relationships on the planet, and "The Life and Times of Multivac," which is about a supercomputer that makes all of humanity's decisions for them.
Actually, these stories make up roughly the first half of the book. Yeah, I'd avoid the first half of this book.

But the second half -- this is where this collection of short stories got good.  "The Winnowing" is about a group of humans that, in an effort to solve world hunger, ask a scientist to develop a virus that will arbitrarily kills about 80-90% of the people exposed to it. This virus will be packaged with food parcels sent to starving villages, thus wiping out most of the population and solving the hunger problem.  The twist is awesome and I won't give it away except to say that the story is definitely worth reading.  "The Tercentary Incident" is about an accident that kills one version of the president of an organization that is basically all countries on Earth (there are two versions to prevent problems arising, one human and one robot copy).  The problem is, no one can determine whether the robot was killed -- which is totally acceptable -- or if the human was killed, which is a huge problem because then the world is being led by a robot.  This was my favorite story from this collection (other than "Bicentennial Man").

"Bicentennial Man" is the story of a robot that wants to be human and so gradually humanizes himself, starting with wearing clothes and eventually escalating  into surgeries and operations that make him physically into a human.  This is the story that the movie with Robin Williams is based on and it was amazing.  I mean, the movie is good (a childhood favorite of mine), but the subtleties of the novella are amazing.

If nothing else, read "Bicentennial Man."

Another General Update

As I move through my final year as a graduate student, I find myself busier and busier, and I know that's not going to change.  It does go a long way toward explaining why I only read one book in September, though :)

But I would like to start to change something on this blog.  In one of my education classes, we have been discussing how to recommend books to our students, especially considering reading level and what's content appropriate for a high school student and about a dozen other issues.  So I'm going to try something a little different and see if I like it -- I'd like to start thinking about whether or not I'd recommend books that I read to my students.  Of course, not everything I read is good, which is a major consideration, but beyond that, I'd like to be able to share this blog with my students, and I think that best way to hopefully get them interested in reading some of what I've read is to make it relevant to them. 

I really want my students to want to read, I want them to see that reading can be fun and it's not boring the way school makes it seem.  And I think that I can start to show them that through this project.

32. i, Robot

32. i, Robot by Isaac Asimov (9/14/2011 - 10/1/2011)

This book was truly awesome. Its contents are so different from the previous Asimov story I read (Foundation) that I was barely sure that both novels were written by the same author.  Foundation was so removed from the action, whereas these stories plunge the reader right into the heart of robotics and its consequences.

Technically speaking, this isn't a novel -- it's a collection of short stories connected through the simple framework of a reporter interviewing Dr. Susan Calvin near the end of her life.  Each short story is Calvin recounting some conflict between robotics, humans, and the Three Laws of Robotics that create all these insane problems.  The 3 Laws are as follows:

     1.  A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

     2.  A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the    First Law.

     3.  A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Each story can stand on its own without trouble -- "Robbie" is about the thin line between human and robots, "Little Lost Robot" is about a modified robot (the first Law has been altered so he can perform a certain task) who goes missing, "Reason" is about a robot who gradually comes to believe that a man-made laser is a god and will only follow its 'orders,' and so on.  The set-up makes for quick reading; each story can be easily read in one sitting, and each is so engaging that the book is genuinely hard to put down.  

The short stories included in i, Robot are:

• "Introduction" 
• "Robbie"
• "Runaround"
• "Reason"
• "Catch that Rabbit"
• "Liar!"
• "Little Lost Robot"
• "Escape!"
• "Evidence"
• "The Evitable Conflict"

I would highly recommend this book, especially if you have any interest in Asimov's writing.  I will point out that the movie i, Robot is not based on any one story from the collection but is rather a Hollywood creation in the same general universe as the rest of Asimov's robotics writings.  

31. Until I Find You

31. Until I Find You by John Irving  (9/2/2011 - 9/23/2011)

I really do love John Irving; The World According to Garp is one of my all-time favorite books.  But despite that love, parts of Until I Find You were downright disturbing. 

John Irving is a difficult author to recommend to people because the content of his books is questionable.  He is so frank about sexuality, probably in an attempt to include it as part of daily life as it actually is when you live life, that his works tend to come off as over-sexualized.  This is definitely true of this book, especially since the main character is a devastatingly good-looking movie star named Jack Burns.

But the book chronicles this movie star's entire life, starting from age 4 when his mother sets off on a quest throughout Europe to find his father, who abandoned them almost immediately after impregnating Jack's mother, Alice.  Alice is a fairly well known tattoo artist, and since I love tattoos, this section of the book was fascinating -- she travels essentially from shop to shop across Europe searching for William (Jack's father). William is a professional organist and bears an in-progress full body tattoo comprised of the music he loves; thus, he is constantly on the move for the next historically awesome organ to play and the next famous tattoo artist to ink him.  This is all so well written that even though there is a lot of tattoo history travelling around, I don't think you need any specialized information to understand it. It may help -- I know I was impressed when Alice and Jack stayed with Henk Schiffmacher and Sailor Jerry -- but it isn't necessary, Irving explains who everyone is and why they are important. 

What is disturbing about the book is that, from the time Jack is in kindergarten until he is in 4th grade (during which time he attends an all-girls school where they allow boys only in those younger grades), Jack is continually sexually molested or harassed by the girls and women around him.  And it is very very creepy to read about.  I was actually getting a little paranoid when I was reading it, like someone sitting near me might happen to read over my shoulder and think I was really enjoying this stuff.  I don't know what it is, but Irving writes this character so that, from essentially age 6 and beyond, he is absolutely irresistible, and that's really disturbing. 

But the book gets better (thank goodness). As Jack gets older, goes off to boarding school and eventually moves into Hollywood movie star-dom, things change a little. He is no longer molested but does lead a rather perverse life; he's sleeping with all sorts of disgusting-sounding women while he's in school, and he doesn't seem to be able to have an actual relationship with anyone.... ever, really.  He does eventually start seeing a therapist, probably 3/4 of the way through the book, and it's around this time that, for me, the book actually became rather hard to put down.  Up until that point I was just interested enough to keep reading but not super interested as to devour the book in a matter of days (which is why, of course, it has taken me almost the entirely of September to finish the damn book -- although it is big book, hardcover size and over 800 pages long). 

Jack's mother's quest to find William was wildly unsuccessful, and it isn't until Jack is in his mid-30s that he considers trying to find his father himself.  The fact that he doesn't have a dad has been right smack in the reader's face for the entire book and so when he finally decides to try to find his dad, I was thinking, "Thank god, this book might have a sense of closure!"  Now of course I won't spoil it for you, since the ending section of the book is absolutely the best part of this book, possibly better than most of Irving's other works even.  But I'd recommend it, just based on that ending. 

Going back to my first thought: this is a tough book to recommend.  The ending is incredibly powerful but the first maybe 300 pages of the book are really uncomfortable and/or disturbing, and that's a tough thing to suggest people wade through.  Ultimately, I guess, I'd probably just recommend The World According to Garp and leave Until I Find You to itself, at least for a while.

30. Julie and Julia

30. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell  (8/29/2011 - 9/2/2011)

I cannot quite decide how I feel about this book.  I did not like the main character, but the quest she has embarked on (the plot!) is interesting and engaging; I did find myself asking if I could cook all of Julia Child's 524 Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes in a year (answer: probably not, and I probably wouldn't want to. More later).   Since the story is a non-fiction memoir, the author obviously cannot help being unlikable, and I do have to give her some props for being willing to bare her most awful moments as a human being to her audience.  But like I said, I didn't like her.  She pitched hissy fits constantly, probably once every three or four chapters, so to me she came off as very childish.  In addition, I just found her to be generally unlikable -- there are instances wherein she seems to be cruel to her husband for no other reason than spite, where she takes her friends for granted in their support, and I just could not relate to her despair over her lack of success as an actress (she lives in New York, where she works as a secretary while waiting for her 'big break' - really?).  I have to say that I suspect part of this is my annoyance over her lack of motivation: while she undertakes this huge cooking thing, she never once auditions for a part or seems to try to find another job -- so why should I care that she's miserable? She's not trying!

Anyway.  The story itself is fascinating -- the things that the French would apparently eat are disgusting, which makes their placement in a modern NYC kitchen almost hilarious.  For example, Julie cooks calves' brains a number of times, makes aspice (which I'm still not 100% what it is) out of hooves, creates sauces out of bone marrow, and NOT ONCE do she or her husband hesitate to eat these things.  I personally would never undertake any sort of pledge that would require me to eat brains or bone marrow, but they don't seem to be bothered! That's not true -- they are bothered by the bone marrow the first time (but not the second!).  They never seem bothered by the brains. 

There are some instances when the author imagines what Julia Child's life was really like; these scenes are based off letters and journals obtained from Julia and her husband, and they are generally very good. Unfortunately, they are very short, and I would definitely have enjoyed more of them. Someone told me that the movie version of this book is really good, especially the scenes with Meryl Streep (who plays Julia), so perhaps there are more scenes with Child imagined in the movie. 

Overall... I'm not sure I'd recommend it.  The cooking misadventures are often funny, and a few are outright hilarious, so I did enjoy the reading experience.  But the main character is so unlikeable that that may cancel out the funny moments.  I'm not sure -- like I said when I started, I'm still not sure if I liked this book or not. 

29. Dune

29. Dune by Frank Herbert  (8/11/2011 - 8/28/2011)

Thus far in this experiment, I think this is the longest that I've taken to read a book.  To my credit: Dune IS almost 900 pages long (closer to 1,000 if you read all the appendices).  And it's an awesome 900 pages -- I'd never read Dune before but had always heard great things; hell, the cover of the book calls it "science-fiction's supreme masterpiece!"  Now, I'm not 100% sure it's the best sci-fi book ever written, but it's up there with the best sci-fi I've ever read.

Dune is the story of the Atreides family, who are moved to the desert planet of Arrakis (aka, Dune) and soon betrayed by their enemies.  Some insight is given into the minds of these enemies throughout the book, but the majority of the tome focuses on the life of the Ducal heir, Paul, who will be ultimately be accepted into the Fremen as Muad'dib -- essentially, as the Fremen savior that has been prophetized  for generations.  There are many interwoven layers to this plot -- the Bene Gesserit women who have been planning for the coming of their own savior, the movement to transform Arrakis into a veritable Eden, the stealthy workings of the Emperor and his Sardauker, the betrayals of the Harkonnen family, and the list goes on.

That being said, I do caution against delving into Dune too quickly.  The narrative style takes some getting used to; for probably the first 250-300 pages, almost all of the action takes place off the page and you as the reader are learning about it through characters talking about what happened. Don't get me wrong, it's still super interesting stuff! But it's secondhand.  That does lend some authenticity to the narrative, but it is a little difficult to get used to.  In some areas of the start of the novel, I felt like I was reading something close to Asimov's Foundation (book 5 on this list) wherein characters would discuss the plan and then the story would jump to after it had been successfully completed.  And just like with Asimov: it's a little disconcerting until you get used to it.  This does change, like I said, around page 300 or so, and from there on out, all action is being carried out in front of you on the page.  It is, in my opinion, after this point that the true genius of Herbert comes forward in the writing.

Herbert has done something truly amazing with Dune -- he has created a plot so complicated yet so simple to follow and understand and, most importantly, believe that I as a reader could not help being entirely enthralled from start to finish.  There were moments where I would quite literally forget that I was sitting in my living room; I was so engrossed, I almost believed I was a Fremen warrior following along as the story of Muad'dib unfolded around me.  I think at one point I actually yelled at my fiancee when he interrupted my reading to ask me a simple question -- I believe my exact words were something like "Go away, they're trying to kill the main character and he CAN'T DIE!" When I started, I was skeptical that Dune was a masterpiece; now, on the other side of the plot (but not even close to finished with the appendices, which are actually useful for the first time in fiction's history since Tolkien), I completely agree. Dune is amazing. Future science fiction reading will never be the same.

28. The Interpretation of Murder

28. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld  (8/3/2011 - 8/10/2011)

This is totally strange book that I picked up on a whim from the clearance section of my local bookstore; the plot involves using Freudian psychology to solve a murder mystery, and it's very unusual.  Set in the turn of the century, the book imagines what Freud's first and only visit to America might have been like to make him deem Americans as savage and underdeveloped.  So there is no claim of factual evidence to support that happenings of the book; Jed Rubenfeld is apparently just fascinated by Freud.  And also by Hamlet, judging by how the main character, a psychologist named Stratham Younger, waxes poetic about the deeper meaning of Hamlet roughly 100 times in the course of the book. 

Despite its weird set up, it's actually not a bad book -- if you a) know a little about psychology (all I know is what my GenEd Psych class taught me and that was just about enough) and b) can get through all of the psychological politics that take place.  The murder mystery part itself is pretty straightforward -- several young women are attacked and brutalized, one is murdered and the other suffers amnesia, which is how the psychologists (who just happen to be staying in the same hotel) get involved.  It's a good mystery, full of twists and turns and adventures into odd spots in early 1900s New York. 

But the psychology stuff gets old pretty quick -- Jung, Freud's disciple, is cold and aloof, which distresses the others but to the reader is merely unlikeable, and there is some sort of cloak-and-dagger trio working in the background to keep Freud from making a series of speeches at a well-known university -- which is explained by the end but really isn't satisfying in that it doesn't seem really necessary for the plot.  There is also some questioning among the psychologists as to who they should be allied with in the psychology world, which is a little confusing and I suspect that one would need a detailed grasp of psychological history to fully understand. 

I did overall enjoy the book and if you like psychology and murder mysteries, you would probably really enjoy it as well.  But I do have to point this out: since many of Freud's theories are largely debunked within the psychology community, the book takes on a whole different layer of amusement. After all, since his ideas about the human psyche are what ultimately solves the mystery, I must wonder: if someone else's psychology was applied, would there have been a mystery in the first place?

27. Sphere

27. Sphere by Michael Crichton (8/1/2011 - 8/2/2011; has yet to be finished -- see entry) (restarted 9/26/2011 - 9/29/2011)

This is really embarrassing but I physically lost this book the day after I started reading it. AND I have a) yet to recover my copy, and b) yet to find a copy available at a library near me (all the copies are checked out! argh!).

Here's what happened: I put this book in my car along with my planner and  a new pair of shoes in their box.  After I left home, I realized that my driver's side door was open and the car sensor was not registering it as open, so I sorta panicked.  At a light, I opened both my side and the passenger side doors to see if the sensor was broken for both or just for my side (it turned out to be just my side). When I did, I'm about 90% certain that Sphere fell out of the car onto the road.  I didn't notice this at the time as I was waiting to get on the freeway but by the time I got home and realized what had happened, someone had taken it or something because it was no longer on the road.  I still haven't been able to figure out why someone would take it, but as my fiancee suggested, "Hey, free book!"

So as of right now, I have not yet finished this book.

Update: I started Sphere again on 9/26/2011 after obtaining a copy from yet another book fair and finished it 9/29/2011.

I really like this book.  I hear a lot that Michael Crichton isn't actually great literature, that he's more akin to intellectual drivel, but I happen to enjoy his writing.

This book is ultimately about what happens when you place about 6 people at the bottom of the ocean in a life-threatening situation and then watching what happens to all of them psychologically.  All of these people bring strengths to the investigation of what appears to be a spaceship from the future that crashed onto the bottom of the ocean.  The problem is that something inside the spaceship brings the unconscious thoughts of any given individual to life, so that the underwater environment in which they are all living is threatened by poisonous snakes, jellyfish, and a gigantic squid.  Once they figure out that these manifestations are being created through someone's thoughts, they quickly turn on each other -- hence the psychological thriller tag that this book carries.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for something easy to read that will inspire some thinking.  I was certainly left thinking about my own deepest fears after finishing it -- and I was really glad that the chances of me encountering something this scary in real life are pretty much nil.

26. Silence of the Lambs

26. Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris  (7/24/2011 - 8/1/2011)

I was surprised by this book.  I've seen the movie, but it's been a really long time but I do remember how emotionally charged and creepy it was.  The book was good, but I'm just not sure if the book was better than the movie.

The plot of the book and the movie are nearly identical.  A young FBI agent, Clarice Starling, is brought in to help solve the murders of a series of young women by a serial killer that's been nicknamed "Buffalo Bill."  The FBI agents in charge of the case want Starling to talk to the imprisoned serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter -- nicknamed "Hannibal the Cannibal," which tells you all you need to know about his crimes -- to try to understand the mind of Buffalo Bill.  The majority of the plot of the book unfolds as a game between Lecter and Starling; Starling has suffered through some major trauma in her life, and Lecter delights in making her recall her tragedy in exchange for information about Buffalo Bill.  As the case unfolds, it becomes clear to the reader that Lecter actually knows exactly who Buffalo Bill is and he's just toying with Starling.  The climax of the book is amazing (and also long -- which makes the final few moments that much more awesome) so I won't give away any details.

The book is full of super-interesting details about what it's like to be an FBI agent and hunt down a serial killer, and the suspense at the end is stunning.  The insight into the mind of Lecter is scary -- both in his thoughts and the potential that Lecter's created inner dialogue is totally accurate of serial killers' minds. Yikes.

But the book itself, while fascinating, is almost clinical about its main character.  I did not get to know Clarice Starling the way I was expecting to; in fact, I'm not sure that I know any more details from the book than I did from the movie.  Hannibal Lecter is certainly creepy in the book, but I have to say that I think Anthony Hopkins brought the character to life more effectively that Thomas Harris.

25. The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite

25. The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá (7/24/2011 -7/27/2011)

Gerard Way is probably better known as the lead singer/lyricist of My Chemical Romance, but he has always expressed a love for comic books and graphic novels, and thus this is one of his first major creations (at least, it's one of the first that I'm aware of -- doesn't necessarily mean it's actually his first :) ).  A friend of mine gifted this first installation of the Umbrella Academy to me and I greatly enjoyed it.  The delivery style is a little difficult to read, and I suspect that I'd benefit greatly from reading it again to be sure I understood it, but it's incredibly imaginative and I can't wait to get my hands on the second one.

The Umbrella Academy is made up of seven people who were born to mothers who didn't know they were pregnant.  And no, not like that awful TV show -- these mothers didn't have any signs or symptoms, didn't gain weight, didn't go into labor, etc.  Instead, about 40 babies just suddenly popped out wherever their "mothers" happened to be.  Most were abandoned but these seven were adopted by an eccentric old man who raised them and cultivated their unique talents into a somewhat superhero-like group.  The first chapters detail this as well as their first "public" appearance as the Umbrella Academy (wherein they fight an Eiffel Tower that has apparently gone insane).  The rest of the graphic novel is the story of The Apocalypse Suite, a composition that will, if played perfectly, destroy the world, and the still-involved members of the Umbrella Academy must stop it.  There are a lot of complicated emotions and stories at work throughout this, but I won't go into them for fear of either giving something away or screwing it up entirely. 

Suffice it to say this: if you enjoy graphic novels, read The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite.  I've always felt that graphic novels belong in a much more accepted place in American literature, and this one certainly proves that graphic novels can be just as complex and emotionally involved as any "regular" novel. 

24. Big Trouble

24. Big Trouble by Dave Barry (7/22/2011 - 7/24/2011)

Ah, Dave Barry. This is his insane and delightful first attempt into the realm of fiction, and I have always loved it.  (I will always love it and will always in particular love my copy of this novel -- more later!)

The plot consists of roughly 500 misunderstandings that quickly spiral out of control between about 10 or so characters. To be quite honest, I'm not 100% sure how to describe this book.  Two hitmen are after a guy who is stealing money from his company, that guy's wife and step-daughter are respectively into another guy and his son, there's a homeless guy who lives in the first guy's backyard, two cops get involved in a very confusing way, and they all end up at an airport trying to stop two idiots from carrying a bomb -- that they turned on as they went through airport security to prove it wasn't a bomb -- from getting on a plane.  And that doesn't even begin to cover all the insanity in this book. It is an absolutely delightful read because it is so random and hilarious, provided you are okay with the fact that the book doesn't have much of a plot.  I'm having a hard time describing this and I know it, but this is one of those books where, if you already know and love Dave Barry, you can't possibly not like it.

Side Note:  If you are for some reason wondering about the movie that was made out of this novel, take my word for it: do not waste your time! Since so much of what makes Barry's novel hilarious comes from his descriptions, the story simply does not translate onto the screen.  It's unfortunate, really, since this book is so fantastically weird that one would think it'd make for a hilarious movie, but it just doesn't work. 

Now, my copy of this book: I was super lucky and Dave Barry visited a library near me on Aug. 13, 2011, so I got to meet him!!! This was one of those moments that will be a highlight of my entire life (along with my wedding :)).  He and Ridley Pearson, who write children's books together, were on a book tour and since Pearson lives in St. Louis, they started with the Headquarters of the St. Louis County Library system.  There were a lot of awesome things about this night, but the best part for me was when I was running around going, "I'm gonna meet DAVE BARRY!" and Dave Barry himself looked at me being crazy and turned to my fiancee and said, "She's very excitable, isn't she?"  And then he introduced himself and shook my hand and signed my copy of Big Trouble!! It now proudly says, "Stay out of trouble! - Dave Barry" and it's easily the coolest book I have ever or will ever own.

Yay! I met one of my favorite authors!! Now, to hunt down Stephen King...

23. The Firm

23. The Firm by John Grisham (7/16/2011 - 7/22/2011)

I started this book looking for something fluff-like to read after Interview with the Vampire, and this ultimately was a perfect choice for that purpose.  It's an easy read and super-interesting, especially the ending (which I won't describe because it would give a lot of things away -- let's just say it's very action-packed and high adrenaline).  The plot is simple: a young lawyer named Mitch McDeere takes a job with a small but apparently super rich tax firm in Memphis and his life basically unravels as a direct result of this choice.  It turns out that the firm is really a front for money laundering, among other highly illegal things, and the FBI wants to take it down. Guess who they chose to help them: that's right, Mitch. From that point, the entire book is very on-edge; I've read it before and was still so involved that I didn't notice what was going on around me in the real world -- I kept  wondering if this time, would they get caught stealing documents or meeting with the police or whatever.

It's a well constructed plot that keeps the reader engaged and guessing, and like I said before, it's an easy read. (One thing I will mention is that you do need to keep in mind that it was written in 1991 -- Mitch is bargaining constantly for about 1 million dollars, and that just didn't seem like much to me! But it was obviously a LOT more money twenty years ago.)  I greatly enjoyed it, plus it served its purpose for me, which was to read something that was not dense and would not require a lot of mental effort on my part. Read into that what you will -- it's a good book.

22. Interview with the Vampire

22. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (7/10/2011 - 7/15/2011)

I've tried to read Anne Rice before and found her writing dense and sometimes difficult to read -- not because it's hard to understand necessarily, but because it gets boring.  This time I thought I was prepared to actually read and appreciate her writing (I tried before about 6 years ago and put it down almost immediately), but it turns out that ultimately, Anne Rice's vampires simply don't appeal to me.  The main vampire in this novel is really quite depressing -- he has trouble dealing with the immortal life he's been given and plus, frankly, he's kind of boring.  And the plot is large and slow-moving; this vampire is telling his story, which extends from about the 1790s or so until roughly modern day, and it is simply not that interesting.  I read the entire book, but I had to force myself through some sections -- no matter how I tried, I could not get really into this book. 

I realize that Anne Rice has many many rabid fans out there who love her books, and that's just fine with me -- I'm just not one of them.  I thought about reading another in the Vampire Chronicles just to see if I'd like that better, maybe the protagonist would be more interesting or something, but I just couldn't make myself. 

21. Marley and Me

21. Marley and Me by John Grogan (7/7/2011 - 7/9/2011)

Anyone reading this can easily tell which books I really enjoyed -- I tend to crank through them in about 2-3 days or less.  And this is so very true with Marley and Me.  It's a popular book (and surprisingly, a decent movie) that's been read by a lot of people, so I won't dwell on it too much, but I do love this book.

Even though I'm not sure I could actually care for a dog at this point in my life, I still like reading about dogs and the craziness they tend to bring to their owners' lives -- which is definitely what happens in Marley and Me.  Author John Grogan isn't working with a plot, per se, but is instead simply chronicling the growth and development in himself and his family throughout their lives with this one insane dog.  Many of the dog's antics are hilarious, such as making a break for it out the window of a moving car to avoid being neutered and a brief role in a movie, while others are heartbreaking, especially Marley's gradual descent into dog old-age.  It's a book that both makes me want to get a dog and avoid getting one at all costs; Grogan spares no details on how awful it is to watch a beloved pet start to die but he also lovingly portrays how much fun that dog can be. 

I would recommend this book to almost anyone -- it's a quick read and many parts are charming.  But I would especially recommend this book to anyone considering getting a dog; I think this book can really help potential owners understand what they'd be getting into by getting a puppy or adult dog. 

20. A Map of the World

20. A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton (6/29/2011 - 7/7/2011)

This was frankly a very unusual book.  The story arc described by the back (which was what I used to buy the book) and the story that the book contains are very different.  The back describes roughly the first 50 or so pages of probably 300 or so, and what they describe has only the most basic and minimal relationship with the rest of the plot.

Alice and Theresa are neighbors and close friends in a small farming community, and they alternate watching each other's kids.  One morning, Alice is watching Theresa's children when one of them gets away from her; this child wanders out of the house without anyone realizing and ends up drowning in a pond on Alice's property.  Alice and Theresa's relationship takes an awful turn, of course, as Theresa struggles with her child's death.  But this accident has a major effect on Alice as well, who spirals into a horrific depression to the point where she will barely climb out of bed.

From this opening, I was expected the rest of the story to deal with the changes in the lives of both of these women; what actually happens, though, is quite bizarre.  Alice is arrested about a month after the little girl's death under accusations of child molestation from a boy who attends the school where Alice works as a nurse.  Since this is such a shock to the community, she is kept in jail under $100K bond until her trial, so her husband struggles to get her released.  Up until this point, the story is told from Alice's first-person perspective, which I did not find appealing as she spends a remarkable amount of time feeling sorry for herself.  But after she fails to be released pending her trial, the narration switches to her husband Howard's perspective, and he is a much better narrator.  The story is still a little confusing because the first part seems so irrelevant; Theresa actually ends up caring for Alice's children during the majority of the time she's imprisoned, so why Hamilton would kill off one of the children is just beyond me.

I suppose there is some enormous lesson about forgiveness here, but when a mother forgives her child's murderer, whether that death was accidental or otherwise, within about two months, that doesn't seem like forgiveness really to me -- that seems like insanity.  I won't give away the ending except to say that while Theresa continues to keep in touch, ultimately the two families drift apart.  I think perhaps that this story is more aimed at people around my mother's age and not mine; it seems like the type of thing she would enjoy far more than I would, especially considering that she knows what it's like to have children and so could imagine the horror of losing one, whereas I cannot possibly fathom that.

19. Under the Dome

19. Under the Dome by Stephen King  (6/26/2011 - ???)

I started this book after finishing the Green Mile, and my hopes were very high.  For roughly the first 100 pages (out of more than 1,000), my hopes were proven successful: King's description of the early events of the book is amazing.  Essentially, this is what happens: a force field drops in exact conformation to the town lines of a small community in Maine, and I do meant in EXACT conformation -- one example King uses to illustrate this point is a woman who, while inadvertently reaching across the town line to pull a weed in her garden, loses half of her arm to the outside of the force field and consequently bleeds to death.  (King may not be as amazing at crafting a plot as he used to be, but he can certainly still craft quality and creative gore when he wants to!)

That being said, I was unimpressed with this book. The first few pages are fine, like I said above, but the plot quickly descends into snotty people squabbling, murderers getting appointed as stand-in police officers (aha! the irony! King seems to be saying, except instead of saying it he's slapping me in the face with it -- no thanks!), and some small-town big shot trying to run the hero out of town so he can play puppeteer. One review I read on Amazon compared it to a comic book-style villainy/plot and I could not agree more; there just seems to be no density to the characters once the set-up of the book is completed.

Normally I love Stephen King -- I have a Dark Tower tattoo! -- but I don't yet know if I'll be finishing this book. My money is on "no."

18. The Green Mile

18. The Green Mile by Stephen King (6/21/2011 - 6/25/2011)

There are many reasons why I love this book, not least of which is that I tend to love Stephen King's writing, especially his older works.  There is a density to his writing that makes it feel real -- every character, no matter how short his or her appearance in King's novels, has a first and last name, a background, a story that I as the reader can use to flesh out the surrounding landscape of the book.  Consequently, there is something about Stephen King's writing that makes me too want to be a writer, makes me want to be able to construct my own stories the same artful way that he does.  (This is unlikely, as that is part of King's voice and not mine, but nonetheless: I am envious of his skill :) )

The plot is both easy and difficult to explain:  It is the narration of a former Death Row prison guard as he looks back on his life and what happened during about six or eight months in the 1930s.  But it is also about John Coffey, a man and a prisoner who possesses an extraordinary gift but also a terrible price to pay for that gift -- and about how others around him respond to his very existence.  I have a difficult time writing about the plot without giving anything away, which I certainly don't want to do.  The events of the story are astounding. 

I also love the Green Mile for its depiction of the death penalty.  I won't go into much of my own opinion here since I know the potential that has for opening political debates, but suffice it to say that I am against the death penalty.  And despite this book's setting -- quite literally on Death Row -- I feel like it ultimately carries a very anti-death penalty message.  (This may turn you off from the book now, and if that's the case, then this probably isn't the book for you.)

For the record: I have not yet seen the movie version of the Green Mile, so I can't offer any comparisons.  Since Tom Hanks can be a decent actor, I have hope that it hasn't been butchered. But unfortunately, I don't have a lot of hope :) Stephen King novels tend to be destroyed when they encounter Hollywood (ex. The Shining), so the movie could be awful. I'll try to get back to this point after I've seen it.

17. Possible Side Effects

17. Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs  (6/17/2011 - 6/20/2011)

Something about essay writing must draw me to certain authors and their work, because I loved Burroughs' Magical Thinking (a collection of essays), hated Running with Scissors (a memoir), and loved this book, Possible Side Effects (another collection of essays).  I find his voice engaging and fun to read, and I'm starting to think that I may actually like his voice better than that of David Sedaris, which, to me at least, is very surprising.

There is a reality to Burroughs' writing that I don't find in a lot of nonfiction writers and I think that's what draws me to his work.  His life is interesting, I suppose, but he writes in a way that doesn't make me feel like my life is boring by comparison; in fact, he writes with such clarity that I recognize aspects of my life through his writing in a way that I never expected.

While I may not be a fan of his official "memoir," I do recommend his writing.  Perhaps someday I'll read the rest of his work.

General Update :)

I've realized something about myself as I continue work on this blog, and I should probably share this insight as it has a potentially major impact on this project.

That insight is this: The reading of a book is far more important to me than writing about it.
That's not to say that I don't enjoy this blog, because I do. It's just that I get so caught up in reading that I forget to update these entries.  That's why, for example, the entry on Midwives is still (at this moment) empty, even though I finished that book almost a month ago.  It was a difficult book to read for its emotional content and I think that's part of why I have trouble going back to it and reflecting on the experience of reading it.
Other books aren't nearly as emotionally draining but I still get caught up in reading the next book and thus forget to finish the entry about the other books I've finished.  I'm trying my best to get them all done, but bear with me :) 

I will always be a reader first, a writer second. 

No # -- Chang and Eng

No # -- Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss  (started 6/14/2011, stopped 6/16/2011)

The concept of this book sounded mildly interesting -- enough for me to purchase it for 25 cents from a clearance rack at my local bookstore.  However, I just couldn't get into the text itself.  The writing is rather stiff and I found myself disliking the narrator from the very beginning.  In addition, the story jumps back and forth through time seemingly at random -- there will be a scene from near the end of the twins' lives, then suddenly the story will jump to their birth, then back to the first scene, and there will be no logical pausing point in the original scene to allow the story to jump.  In addition, the author's forward bothered me: he explained that he originally started the book for its ungrammatical appeal (the first sentence goes back and forth between the singular and plural first person, which frankly is irritating and hard to read). 

Overall: I just did not like the book.  And the main thing I found myself wondering about the twins' lives was not what they had achieved as the first famous Siamese twins, but a) how they had managed to convince two women to marry them, and b) how they had managed to each father more than 10 children. The mechanics and shame factor alone are mind-boggling.  But since those questions were not going to be answered in the first 30 pages or so, I lost interest.  If anyone has had more success reading this book, I'd love to hear about your experience.  The novel has won several awards, so maybe there's something I'm missing. 

16. Pope Joan

16. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross (6/8/2011 - 6/13/2011)

I loved this book.  I don't normally read books that are specifically focused on "strong women" or anything like that -- to me, it seems like any book should be able to have a woman in the main role without it having to be labeled as a pseudo-feminist text or something silly like that and it's rare that I read a book specifically aimed at any group or idea (for example: I don't read fluffy romance novels aimed solely at women).  But I could not resist this book. Maybe its appeal lies in a woman rebuffing all of Christianity :) No matter what the reason, I could not put it down.

The plotline is pretty straightforward -- a young, brilliant girl is repressed for her gender, assumes the identity of her brother after his murder, and eventually rises to become the Pope -- but what Woolfolk has does with that plot is incredible.  She paints a fascinating picture of life in this time period, which is roughly 850 AD, and does not spare any details with what it meant to be a woman, particularly a smart woman, during that time.  She handles the historical uncertainties well (and acknowledges them at the end in a note) and balances Joan's romantic feelings and inclinations toward one character perfectly with her desire to help the Catholic people/Church from the highest office available.  Even though I know that this text is fiction, I could have easily believed in its historical accuracy -- and in fact there is some evidence that the major events of this book took place. 

I also found this book to be a fairly easy read, but that may have more to do with my Catholic upbringing/schooling than with the construction of the text itself.  Having some understanding of Catholic dogma and attitudes definitely helped me make sense of some areas of this text -- such as dissections of Biblical passages and the scenes of Joan and other scholars arguing a point by quoting scriptures back and forth at each other.  Some background knowledge too of how women have been historically treated is helpful but not as necessary.  I'd recommend this book to anyone, ultimately, although those who cling more dearly to their Catholic faith may not be thrilled with the content :)

15. The Princess Bride

15. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (6/2/2011 - 6/7/2011)

I've always loved this movie and consequently always loved the book.  The writer(s) of the movie did a fantastic job of editing the text because the movie mimics the book's storyline exactly.  There honestly isn't much to say about it past that.  It's a fun read just as it's a fun movie, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who would listen :) I doubt anyone would be disappointed with reading this text.   

14. Go Ask Alice

14. Go Ask Alice -- Anonymous  (6/1/2011)

I suspect that my expectations were far too high for me to actually enjoy this book.  For a short period of time, I considered myself something of a counter-culturalist -- I liked to fancy that I fought the mainstream. (Granted, this didn't last long and I eventually stopped bothering to try to classify myself into anything.) While I was in this phase, many many people recommended that I read Go Ask Alice, and I'm not 100% sure why -- I never tried drugs or anything like that, and I was far enough beyond 15 when I lost my virginity that I certainly didn't need to read this book to keep me from the "dangers" of sex.  But for some reason, this book was always pushed by my friends -- too bad I just now got around to reading it.

Unfortunately, I didn't really enjoy it.  The story itself was fine I suppose, but I just didn't find the shock factors that shocking -- sure, a 15-year-old falling victim to drug abuse, sexual abandonment, homelessness, etc is terrible, but for pure shock value in a piece of work you absolutely cannot beat the film Requiem For A Dream -- and frankly, I'd rather watch that again and be scared off drugs than try to read Go Ask Alice for the same purpose.  I also did not enjoy the language; I realize the book was first published in the early 70s, but it's written very stiffly and uses a lot of archaic language.  Overall, I just didn't find it to be a very compelling read once I got started -- I finished it because it was short and I was curious about the widely-advertised ending, but that too brought little satisfaction. 

The controversy behind this book is pretty interesting, and I suppose that was also part of why I wanted to read it.  The book's author is anonymous, but it's been suggested for a long time that the book's publisher is actually its author -- minus the suicide/death ending, of course.  I wondered about that as well -- the book is listed on its copyright page as fiction, but whenever I've seen it at the library it's in the non-fiction section, and people talk about it as non-fiction.  If I remember correctly, this is because of the publisher's efforts. The whole situation is rather complicated and I hoped that reading the text would help me understand.  From reading the language and the descriptions of situations, I suspect an older writer -- no fifteen year old would say things like "it pleases me so" when she's happy a friend's visiting or something like that.  But past that, alas, I have no further insights into the author of the book.  Perhaps with a little more research, I could find a better answer.

13. Midwives

13. Midwives by Chris Bohjalian  (5/24/2011 - 5/30/2011)

Bohjalian crafted a masterpiece in this book, in my opinion.  I could not put it down -- the combination of courtroom drama with the primal acts of both giving life and taking it made for a quick and fascinating read.

The plot is both wonderfully basic and amazingly complex.  The events themselves are relatively straightforward: during a dangerous winter storm, Sibyl, a midwife, performs an emergency C-section on a patient she believes has died during the trials of giving birth.  She is trapped in the patient's home by ice and road conditions, and ultimately saves the baby while the father and her assistant look on in horror. Within days, Sibyl is charged with murdering the mother and the rest of the plot revolves around her trial, intermixed with journal entries that help illuminate the world of home-birth, especially as compared with hospital births and the controversies that try to force mothers to have babies in hospitals instead of at home (if a home birth is what they desire).

The story is told from the point of view of Sibyl's daughter, Connie, which allows for much speculation on the reader's part as Connie is not always privy to everything happening around her and thus neither is the reader.  In some of the courtroom scenes, Connie doesn't know what is really happening -- after all, she is only 14 and her father and grandmother are trying to protect her from potentially seeing her mother convicted of murder.

No details are spared the reader whatsoever.  I am fortunate and my mother works as a labor and delivery nurse, so I've seen several live births and am familiar with what accompanies life's entry into this world.  Not all readers may be as familiar with the situation and so there is some potential for misunderstanding or just generally being grossed out.  However, Bohjalian does a great job of giving the reader enough details to understand what is happening (most of the time, at least).  And the suspension crafted by the end of the book is incredible -- even I was not expecting the ending that was delivered (no pun intended :) ).

The experience of reading this book was highly emotional for me, possibly because I understood it so well. It's difficult to root for a main character that may or may not have murdered her patient, and since I was ultimately allowed to make that decision for myself, based on the ending evidence that the book provides, I was extremely emotionally involved by the end.  In fact, thinking about it now (I am writing quite a long time after finishing the book), I'm still not 100% sure whether I think Sibyl is innocent or guilty.  There are so many factors that play into what happened, and more are introduced as the book continues.  As I mentioned before, the events themselves are pretty basic -- a woman dies while giving birth during a storm, and the midwife, since they cannot make it to a hospital, performs an emergency C-section to save the baby.  But the information that comes out throughout the rest of the book makes even these events so much more complicated -- and all before I as the reader tried to decide between guilty or innocent.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book, especially for women.  The information given about home vs. hospital births is well researched and so this book could potentially help readers understand or even make decisions about their birthing choices.  But even more than that, Midwives is a well written book that makes for a great read (provided you can handle some slightly graphic descriptions).

12. Under the Banner of Heaven

12. Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer (5/19/2011 - 5/23/2011)

I have read most of Krakauer's other books, including Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, and so have been anxious to read this one. Under the Banner of Heaven details the events leading to and surrounding the murder of a 24-year-old mother and her infant daughter by her two brothers-in-law -- who have consistently claimed that they were instructed to "remove" this woman by the voice/guidance of God.

Ultimately, this is a book about Mormonism, and not the mainstream Mormonism that now permeates American society (I know I've seen many commercials aiming at showing how normal Mormons are, and that's fine but that's not what this book is talking about).  This book discusses hardcore fundamentalist Mormonism, which includes a variety of sects that are scattered throughout the American West and Western Canada.  These groups, which are surprisingly large, some over 40,000 people, practice a religion that I can only really describe as horrific.  From the stories, women are treated essentially like slaves, unable to protest or even utter a word really about their treatment by their husbands -- treatment that includes physical, verbal, and emotional abuse, rape, pedophilia (many women are married off before they are 15), and of course the foundation of fundamentalist Mormonism: polygamy. 

Don't get me wrong -- I am entirely for religious freedom.  The problem that I see with this religion is its blatant denial of the Constitution of the United States as a governing document.  What seems to happen, from the carefully collected and documented research in Krakauer's book, is that these sects deny that the US government has any authority over them, that their only authority is the voice of God -- until someone tries to point out that their religion is perpetuating a belief -- polygamy -- that ends up creating a community that thrives on what is essentially statutory rape (which is defined as "an adult and a minor below the age of consent," from http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/statutory-rape/ ).  When this happens, these people instantly cry "Religious persecution! Unconstitutional!"  There's a double standard built into their belief system in this area, but that does not seem to matter to them -- and unfortunately, it creates a problem for any politician that would consider taking them on.  No matter how much good it would ultimately do, no politician yet seems to want to tarnish his or her reputation by being accused of being unconstitutional to a religious group (no matter how specific or accurate or proven the evidence of patterns of statutory rape). 

Obviously, this book brings up some hot issues for me -- I don't at all understand the mindset of anyone who believes that having sex with a 14-year-old is sanctioned by God, let alone that murdering an innocent woman and her child was commanded to these two men.  But since I've gotten all that out there, I'll try to give some straightforward information about the book itself. 

The story overall is very interesting to read, especially if you are at all interested in American history or at all fascinated by how religious fervor seems to outweigh all reason.  Krakauer intersperses the overarching plot with a thorough history of Mormonism -- starting with its very beginning under Joseph Smith and detailing the religion's split into what we now recognize as the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints and their lesser-known but far scarier breakaway fundamentalist sects.  The story itself is very interesting, but some of the history can get boring -- there's a section close to the end of the book where I was actually tempted to put it down.  Krakauer had detailed the actual murders and then suddenly leapt backward about 80 years into the past and given a summary of most history, which in my opinion was his biggest blunder in the pacing of the book.  In addition, I recognized early on that Krakauer is not an unbiased observer or reporter of this story -- even though I hadn't expected him to be, I was surprised by his obvious contempt for his subject matter's beliefs and to me that seems a touch flawed for a writer of his skill and reputation. 

But overall, I'd recommend the book.  It's an eye-opening look into a scary part of American history, and definitely an important read for anyone considering a conversion to even the mainstream part of this faith.  In a way, I almost feel bad for those mainstream Mormons -- they themselves seem harmless, and Krakauer does a good job of making sure to separate those Mormons who exist peacefully and away from the fundamentalists.  But nonetheless, by nature of their religion's history and its title, those mainstream Mormons are trapped with the reputation, stereotypes, and ultimately prejudices that this country carries against the beliefs that I now understand are (mainly) limited to the fundamentalists.  The Mormons can have all the commercials they want, but I don't think it's going to change the history and unfortunate actions of the few that harm the good of the many people that espouse this religion. 

It's a good book -- I'd recommend it to anyone even remotely interested.  Read it -- it'll open your eyes about what religion really means in America. 

11. Tepper Isn't Going Out

11. Tepper Isn't Going Out by Calvin Trillin (5/15/2011 - 5/19/2011)

I was surprised by this book -- it wasn't really laugh-out-loud funny, but it was a pleasant read full of small jokes, absurdities, and the occasional chuckle.  It's a very simple concept: a man enjoys reading his newspaper in his parked car on the streets of New York. But since parking is such a charged subject in NYC, things quickly get out of hand and become ridiculous -- but not in a bad way.  The irrational ways in which people react to small things were perfectly characterized in this story in such a way as to point out how strange we are when confronted with something we don't understand.  I especially enjoyed the mayor in this book, who is constantly yelling about "the forces of disorder" and trying to arrest Tepper simply for reading the paper.  Not a lengthy read, but an amusing one.

10. Running with Scissors

10. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs (5/13/2011 - 5/15/2011)

I have to say that I was very disappointed by this book.  I enjoyed "Magical Thinking" and so purchased this at the book fair, hoping it would be as good or better considering that this is the book I always hear about when people discuss Augusten Burroughs.  But it just wasn't -- the situation he is in is horrendous and I found nothing funny about any of the story at all. In fact, I felt horrified -- how, for example, was his mother not  prosecuted for child abuse by leaving him in that situation? How could this so-called doctor he was living in be licensed? How could any of those kids/family members do things like that to other people? There was nothing redeeming about this book except the I think obvious fact that you should not leave your child with someone you really don't know. How dumb can you be?  I would write more, but frankly I just don't want to -- the book was that bad. Hopefully the other book by him that I own, "Possible Side Effects," is better...

9. Meg

9. Meg by Steve Alten (5/12/2011 - 5/13/2011)

Quite frankly, I only picked up this book because a newspaper ad on the cover said "Meg: Jurassic Shark" as a joke and I love Jurassic Park (movie and book) with a passion.  Unfortunately: this book was terrible.  It was poorly written and a little cliche -- by about halfway through, I started noticing the classic serial killer movie plot: those characters who were immoral in some way, be it by having sex or screwing over the main guy or whatever, got eaten by an insane prehistoric 60-ft shark.  Of course, this was highly entertaining at times, but the book got old fast -- there just wasn't anything that original about the plot. Also, Jaws is a huge favorite of mine, so that could have colored that too.

I've read reviews of this book that pointed out that you do learn a lot about oceans and submarines and such through the course of this novel, and I can't argue that. I also can't argue that it's essentially an action movie stuffed into a relatively short book.  What bothers me is that it is clearly poorly edited -- character names got interchanged at least once in an obvious (the character the woman's name changed to wasn't even in that scene) and unprofessional way, and character development was almost entirely absent, especially considering that the main character (who comes off as kind of a dick) is entirely correct in his theories so there is no need given for him to change as a person.

I guess, if someone were looking for a quick, easy, and action/gore-packed read, this would be a good choice. I myself would not recommend it to anyone :)

8. The Terminal Man

8. The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton (5/9/2011 - 5/11/2011)

Much as I love many, many books by Michael Crichton, I'd skip this one if I could do it again and just re-read The Andromeda Strain.  The book assumes a lot of information and at times it seems like there are whole sections that are left unsaid for the reader to figure out -- but since Crichton is literally writing about brain surgery, it's rather difficult to just get it from the clues. On top of that, there is a lot of background information that can be difficult to pick through and figure out what's relevant AND a lot of action happens off-page.  The ending is very abrupt and does not offer a lot of closure.

The story itself is interesting, as most of Crichton's are: a man suffers from brain damage that causes sudden, extremely violent episodes that he has no memory of but during which he has seriously injured others. A team of doctors attempt a novel surgery on his brain to circumvent the seizures but this backfires and makes everything worse than before.  The story is set up over the course of 5 days, a similar formula to The Andromeda Strain and others of Crichton's previous works.  Unfortunately, this novel just doesn't engage readers like his other works do -- often I finish Crichton feeling like I've really learned something (Jurassic Park: chaos theory and dinosaurs, The Andromeda Strain: space and adaptation, Congo: don't train monkeys as guards, etc), but this time around I did not have that feeling.

The book wasn't hard to read and it certainly wasn't bad, but I would have to say that it's probably the worst Crichton I've read.  Perhaps, if one is interested in the functioning of the brain, it might be better, but otherwise I'd read his other novels.

7. Dog Info Books

Over the course of this summer, I am reading a number of books about getting and raising a dog in order to help myself understand what I'm getting in to (as I am seriously considering getting one at the end of this summer).  These books are quick and easy reads -- I'll keep track of how many of them I do read and their titles, but otherwise I won't count them individually as part of this list.

1. Hi! It's Me, Your Dog! (5/9/2011-5/10/2011) -- A first-person account from a dog's point of view of what it's like to live with, be cared for by, and love a human.  Full of great information and trivia, very straightforward, and also mildly hilarious :)

2. Happy Dog: How Busy People Care for Their Dogs (5/12/2011-5/14/2011) -- Full of advice for taking care of a dog when you have a busy life, but doesn't seem to care about how much money you have; almost all suggestions involve having over people take care of your dog for you, such as dog-sitters and groomers and the like. A great solution if you have the money but a) most people don't and b) then I kinda feel like it isn't really your dog if you aren't the one spending time with it.  All other solutions involve setting your schedule up completely surrounding your dog, as though it's a child -- which isn't not.  Verdict overall: good not great

3. Civilizing Your Puppy (5/15/2011-5/17/2011) -- This book was interesting and some of the chapters were really original and helpful, but others were not.  The author raises Great Danes and is clearly biased toward big dogs; she called little dogs pests and other such things, and some of her tips will not be helpful for anyone getting a smaller dog.  I also noticed that much of this book is a re-hashing of other dog training/tips books -- I don't think that's necessarily the author's fault as much as the dog-books-industry: a lot of dog books out there have the exact same info.  Oh well! Still: not a bad book, especially if you want a bigger dog.

4. 51 Puppy Tricks (5/21/2011) -- This isn't a ton of reading in this book as it's essentially a list of dog tricks and how to teach them to your dog, but it may have been one of the most helpful books I've read about actually training your dog! The tricks are organized by style -- easy ones like "sit" and "stay" are together, housetraining ones (like teaching your dog to ring a bell when it needs to go out) are together, and so on. In the front of the book, every trick is broken down and listed according to what age of dog can best learn it, which will allow a new owner like me to be able to assess what my puppy can probably master (which is awesome!).  And every trick is accompanied by pictures of each step so you can make sure you are teaching your own dog correctly.  I loved this book -- if I end up getting a dog, I'll definitely buy it!

5. Getting Fit With Your Dog (5/21/2011) -- Pretty straightforward. This book contained a lot of basic information about how having a dog can help increase your health and how exercise keeps both you and your pet healthy.  There was also a lot of summarized (at least for me, since I try to stay up-to-date on health risks and fitness) information about why being overweight, out of shape, etc is bad for you and why exercise is good for you. Not the best read, but all I wanted was a quick confirmation that getting a dog can help me be in better health and I got that.

6. The Dog Bible (5/23/2011 -  5/27/2011) -- This is by far the best of these books that I have read! I have had a lot of reservations and mixed feelings about getting a dog -- feeling "trapped" or like I have no personal freedom, guilt about potentially leaving a dog at home, annoyed with a puppy, etc -- and this book addressed every single problem I could think of in the emotional transition of getting a dog.

6. Middlesex

6. Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides (4/26/2011 - 5/9/2011)

I started reading this book mainly because of how much I enjoyed Eugenides' previous novel The Virgin Suicides. That book, which is narrated collectively by a group of boys in the neighborhood, was stunning in its conception and both elegant and heartbreaking in its delivery.  There are certainly times when I feel like I should read it again to fully absorb its meanings, and perhaps I will.  But that book is what drew me to this book, and though the subject matter was rather unusual, ultimately I really enjoyed it.

The actual plot of the novel only takes place in about ... maybe 100 pages, but the book itself is almost 600 pages long.  Some sections, such as Cal's father's tour in the military or Desdemona (the main character's grandmother) and her escapades working for a church or the race riots in Detroit, are very detailed and not really necessary for the plot of the story and so feel rather drawn out -- it's not that they weren't interesting, they were just long.  Other background for the main plot -- which comprises most of the rest of the book -- is fascinating in a conspiratorial and almost taboo way.  I as the reader know the secrets of Cal's family before she does and so I see the twists coming.  Of course, the main 'twist' of the novel (that Cal is a hermaphrodite) is revealed on the back cover.  It's not even a twist, not in the traditional sense.  But the novel does have twists, and well-written ones at that.  Even though I knew what one character would reveal to Cal near the end of the novel, I was still surprised -- Eugenides' writing is wonderful like that. 

I would certainly recommend this book, but it may not be my first choice for all readers.  Some may really enjoy it, others may feel very uncomfortable, and others may experience this work as a mixture of both fascination and near-horror.  I won't hide it: It's an uncomfortable book.  The subject matter is very mature and sometimes the events are shocking or just frankly disgusting.  Anyone who struggles with the concept of homosexuality, for whatever reason, would likely find issues with this book.  But there is a peace to the novel, especially the last few chapters, that is remarkable, and that peace is part of what draws me to love this book. 

5. Foundation

5. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (4/20/2011-4/25/2011)

This book, the first in the Foundation trilogy, is often cited as the cornerstone for the rest of science-fiction literature.  While I've read very little Asimov in the past (though I plan to read more now), I have to say that I immediately saw connections to the other science-fiction I've read or watched.  I was even granted insight into one of my favorite sci-fi series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  The correlation between the Encyclopedists and those, like Ford Prefect, who work at the Guide is striking and extremely enjoyable.  I would recommend that series to anyone out there.

Foundation was an unusual read for me.  I had no idea what to expect since I've never read an Asimov novel, and it turned out to be quite unlike anything I've encountered before.  The prose is a little stand-off-ish; I don't feel a strong connection with many of the main characters even though I do still like them and enjoyed reading about them.  This is a big change from Asimov's non-fiction essays, which are engaging and even hilarious at times. It was like reading two different authors, except that he deals almost exclusively with technology at all times in any work. 

The book itself is set up in an unconventional way -- every few chapters, the story suddenly jumps forward any number of years without a lot of contextual clues to help the reader figure out what just happened.  In some cases, the major actions of the plot actually take place off-page; there are a number of crises that occur, but the most important things - -such as the outcome of said crises -- are often left unresolved for the reader until the next chapter (which could be any number of years in the future).  So: overall, Foundation is a very interesting book and I'm definitely left wanting to know what happens next. But reading it is a bit of a challenge. If someone had suggested that I make sure to be able to focus on just the text, I would likely have had an easier time with it. 

4. Magical Thinking

4. Magical  Thinking by Augusten Burroughs (4/18/2011 - 4/19/2011)

One or two chapters into this book, I decided that Augusten Burroughs was a second-rate David Sedaris.  I don't think it's Burroughs' fault -- if I'd read him first (and read something comical rather than his memoir Running With Scissors, which sounds rather depressing), I'd have probably liked him better and then I'd be writing that David Sedaris was a second-rate Augusten Burroughs.  But alas, time travel is not possible and so here I am, having read this long after I was first introduced to Sedaris.

However, maybe 2/3s of the way through the book, Burroughs starts writing about his partner Dennis, and every essay after that is transformed by his partner's presence in his life -- and transformed in a very positive way.  One thing I have always disliked about reading Sedaris and that I discovered about reading Burroughs is that they both kinda come off like dicks, like if I knew them personally, I wouldn't want to be friends with either.  Sedaris, I've noticed, is especially bad about this after he begins writing about his partner.  But Burroughs does not -- in fact, the more I read about his and Dennis's life, the more I like him. It's not that he seems more real or anything; it just seems like he has a heart.  And unlike (and so much better than) Sedaris, Burroughs' statements about the love of his life connect so well with my own thoughts about my fiancée.  He writes about how, when you truly love someone, cutting that relationship off stops being an option and so you do everything within this semi-protected circle of love. When you fight, you fight with the understanding that it's not going to break you up.  When you think of your partner's flaws, you love them more because they have flaws.  You think about how you'd rather your partner die first, so they don't have to be alone (which is both selfish and altruistic - a crowning characteristic of true love). And so on.

In reading this, I found that I respected Burroughs for the ability to actually say these things, and say them well.  I've read almost all of David Sedaris' books, and throughout them, I'm not sure I've ever encountered him saying the words "love" and "Hugh (his partner)" in the same sentence, or even in the same essay.  So now, after finishing this book, I have taken back my first impression (which is a rare thing, both for me and for psychological functioning in general).  Augusten Burroughs is not a second-rate Sedaris. He is entirely his own, and in many ways goes above and beyond those writers that refuse to write about the people they love with any honesty or reality.  I appreciate him more for that quality than for all of his best-selling books or movies or anything else, because that's what I value in good writing.





 

3. The English Patient

3. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje (4/7/2011 - 4/18/2011)

While a little dense and not always particularly interesting, The English Patient wasn't a bad book.  Some chapters were fascinating, as the burned-beyond-recognition English patient tried to recount his past and Hana and Kip developed their relationship.  But others were just too long; there is only so much about sandstorm-types and torture and de-arming bombs I can read before I start to get bored. 

The blurb on the back of the book said that the English patient's "memories of suffering, rescue, and betrayal illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning."  I found the opposite to be true -- the more I read, the more I looked forward to learning about Hana's life, to watching Kip fall in love, to quietly observe as Hana, Caravaggio, and Kip lived their lives in this abandoned Italian villa.  The English patient was an ever-present persona for me, much like he is for the characters of the novel, but I couldn't focus on him. It's not his fault, I suppose, but his plight simply did not move me the way the rest of the novel did.  I think that's why this book took me so long to finish -- I wasn't compelled to open it constantly the way I have been with other books.

The ending may have been the best part of the book.  It's set in the last year of World War II, and the final chapter shows the four of them receiving the news of the nuclear bomb being dropped on Japan.  The sudden rift that this creates in their group is amazing, and I wonder if perhaps that's what it would have really been like to be alive to witness the bombs being dropped -- if people turned on each other, if the news ripped apart relationships and families, if life was truly never the same afterwards in ways that I as a child born in the eighties and raised in the nineties can never truly understand. 
Both of my grandfathers were in World War II, but they are gone -- one passed almost ten years ago and the other is dying and doesn't know who I am thanks to Alzheimer's.  My grandmothers are still alive, and I can always ask them what those days were like, but it's not the same.  I miss my grandfathers, and now, suddenly, I regret being a child with them, regret not being older (though there's nothing I can do about that) and able/willing to talk to them about their lives as soldiers.  I will never get that opportunity now. 
One quote from the English patient's narrative of his life in the desert stood out to me:
"A love story is not about those who lose their heart but about those who find that sullen inhabitant who, when it is stumbled upon, means the body can fool no one, can fool nothing -- not the wisdom of sleep or the habit of social graces. It is a consuming of oneself and the past."

2. I'll Mature When I'm Dead

2. I'll Mature When I'm Dead by Dave Barry (4/5/2011 - 4/7/2011)

Dave Barry has always been one of my favorite authors, and I suspect that he always will.  I have read just about all of his previous books, loving every one, and I was so excited to finally read his latest book (and one of his first since retiring from newspaper journalism).  I was not disappointed :)

This book is hysterical from start to finish.  Highlights include: a "guide" to dog ownership, a spoof of TV's 24, and a funny and surprisingly touching essay about watching his son get married.  Barry is always an easy read -- his prose is good but not particularly deep -- but beware of reading this book around other people! I was reading it in a lobby on campus that had maybe 2 other people in it and kept getting stares and weird looks because I was trying to stifle snorts of laughter or just straight-up laughing uncontrollably. 

There's a quote on the cover of one of Barry's other books (I think it's Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down) from the New York Times, which says "Reading Barry with another person in the room invariably elicits one of two responses: 'What are you reading?' or 'For God's sake, shut up!'"  This still rings true for me every time I open one of Dave Barry's books. I can only hope he writes more!

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (4/2/2011 - 4/5/2011)

To my surprise, I really enjoyed this book.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a first-person narrative of what it's like to have autism.  I know a little about autism in general through some volunteer positions and Special Education readings, and from my understanding, it can be incredibly difficult for both the person with it and the people around him/her.  I wasn't sure what to expect from a book dealing primarily with this disorder, but I found that the main character Christopher is really quite endearing and that, from his perspective, autism almost makes sense.  Haddon has done such amazing job of capturing what goes on in Christopher's mind that I can understand his thought processes, understand why he hates yellow and can't have people touching him and why groaning and white noise make him feel a little safer.  I have to wonder if perhaps every person considering going into Special Education should read this book.

Along that same line, I wonder if perhaps every person considering being a parent should read this book as well.  Christopher's relationships with his parents are major focal points within the novel, and those relationships are both complicated immensely by the fact that Christopher has autism.  I can't go much more in depth without giving away some plot twists of the novel, but overall it makes me nervous to have children.  I identify so much with the mother in the novel before I factor in that she has a child with autism that I worry about what would happen to me if I someday have a child with autism. I don't honestly know what I would do.

But despite this overwhelming idea, I enjoyed the novel.  Read it. It's worth it.

Introduction: How many books do I read in a year?

I'm a reader.  I have been for my entire life, starting when I was about 4 and continuing rather obsessively until now, and I don't see  me giving up this beloved habit anytime soon.  I read a lot -- in the two minutes before class starts, while I'm eating, during commercials, at restaurants while I'm waiting to meet people, before bed, anytime, really, that I have to kill, I pull out a book.  My life is busy: I'm a full-time graduate student, I work at least one job (sometimes more), I am currently planning my wedding (and also my life), and I spend plenty of time with my fiancée and our friends.  My life probably won't ever stop being busy, especially since I plan on being a high school English teacher.  Nonetheless, I devote time every day to reading for pleasure -- not for homework or professional development or any kind of constructive purpose, just for the pure joy of reading a good book. I don't really have any rules about what I read -- I will read any genre as long as the book sounds interesting, and I have no problem putting a book down if I get bored.  I am never without a book, and a surprising amount of the time I am reading more than one book.

Thus I am curious: How many books do I read in a year?
I started keeping track on April 2, 2011, and plan on keeping track until at least April 2, 2012.  I'll note what book I'm reading and its author, how long it took for me to read it, and then anything else that strikes me about that particular book. 
So far, I've finished 3 books (which I will update on here as soon as possible), and I'm sure I'll finish more!