Here's the problem with reading a great book: You don't want it to end. I just started The Help and already I've had to ration myself so I can't devour it all in one sitting. I know I'm late in the game on this one but I've had this book on my Kindle forever. I was savouring it.
So I downloaded this little book and devoured it in one sitting. Like a cupcake. It is a quick easy read, but the subject matter is divorce. I'm NOT getting one, but I lived through an Epidemic of them with my friends in the last few years. I'm telling you men need to come up with a new script. The book takes place in Marin County (suburb of San Francisco) where we lived for a few years. It is an unusual place of organic gardens and dot com couples. It's a memoir, and although the subject matter is sad, in hindsight the author makes it humourous. I laughed out loud many times. ( And not just at the husband's, "No, there isn't anyone else!" speech. Oh, there never is ladies.....(yeah right)
Oh boy, the cover of this book is beautiful. But DON'T judge a book by it's cover. This little number took me FOREVER to read, (I used to be a very fast reader) and due to the time span of three generations, I had to take copious notes (due to that pesky head injury) and I kept thinking....this is going to get better right? WRONG. I read "The Secret Garden" a million times as a kid so I didn't need to read a knock off version. She uses so many literary fairy tale metaphors that when one of the characters pricked her finger on a spinning wheel in modern day England I almost wrote the author a nasty note. I was an English teacher, and the book felt like a high school essay on how to modernize a fairy tale with every literary device you can cram in. That's not very nice to say but unfortunately it's true. 
If you are looking for a great novel that will make you squirm until you have to put it down because the characters need to be yelled at, download ANY and all Elizabeth Strout books. I LOVE HER!!
I am writing all those titles down so I can check them out this summer. :) I just read Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. It made me squirm (if that makes sense... kind of like Revolutionary Road and Little Children). I downloaded a couple of free book on Kindle for Iphone. The Apothecary's Daughter was one of them. Oh, and the Stieg Larsson trilogy is good too. I'm trying to read it translated from Swedish to Norwegian but it is hard!
ReplyDeleteI read apothecary daughter.good fast read.
ReplyDeleteAll of Elizabeth Strout books, Her books I wanted to say please stop.. dont say it,...too late you said it. I wanted to laugh and cry. You cant put them down. I loved the help too, it opens your eyes. I love books!!
One more thing on books. last year I read the whole Bible. One book of the old then one book of the new a few lines of proverbs and psalms. It took about 4 months but it speaks to you.. only you ...If you want to know what it says to just you.. read it...Yes a good read
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas mom! I read the Old Testament week by week last year. Whew! I could only take so many rules on how to build the temple brick by brick. G-d seemed a little fed up with his children not listening!
ReplyDeleteI think he was ...so he sent his Son to open the door to the rest of the world. Now we can all be his chosen people..read the rest of the story and it will bring you confort.
ReplyDeletedelete if you want
I too just read the help--I LOVED it--Sometimes
ReplyDeleteI get so caught up in books that I forget that they are books, I think they are tv shows and I wait patiently for next week's episode, but it never comes--LOL