I had a great time in August reading classics, mainly because I wanted to save the 2001 and up titles for Countdown 2010. I still have to review so many, though! Many of these were audios, and I usually try to have some quotes in the review so I’ve been trying to find some of these books so I can do that. I’ll get caught up eventually!
Thanks, Jenn for hosting again! I really, really wanted to get to these books, and this challenge helped so much with that. I’m backlogged on reviews but will get caught up eventually. I enjoyed every single one of the books I read, and I’ll probably get to even more on this list by the end of the year.
Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith (my review)
The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith (my review)
I have participated in all of Carl’s R.I.P challenges except the first one, and I’m excited to participate this year as well. I’m going with Peril the First, which is to read 4 books from any subgenre.
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
I wasn’t actually sure I could complete this challenge, which had a requirement of 45 books! I wasn’t so much worried about completing the 2009 or 2008 requirements, because I had 2008 completed before the challenge even started and I always read current year books. I was worried about 2007, 2006, and 2005. However, I was able to complete some extras in each category except for 2009 and 2005, so it ended up being all good. I’ve even had to hold off reading books published in 2001 and later so I could use them for next year’s challenge!
There will be one more year for this challenge with the addition of ten 2010 books, which will bring the requiremnt to 55! It will last from 09/09/09 until 10/10/10, and I’ll have sign-ups in a few weeks.
When Cat returns home after a 10 year absence because of her mother’s suicide, this is the note she finds. There are several possible ‘he’s’ in Cat’s life that this note could refer to, so we are kept guessing until near the end who her mother means. As she stays for her mother’s funeral, several ghosts from her past come back to haunt her. Domestic violence and alcoholism are prominent themes in the book.
I didn’t really care for this one. There seemed to me to be some plot holes in the story, or at least some unexplained events. For instance, Cat had an extremely happy childhood until age 5 or 6, but we are never told why at age 7 everything changed. She remembers her parents as loving before that time, but definitely not afterwards. Also, I had a hard time believing that the older Jared was so beloved by both of Cat’s parents. The circumstances between he and the rest of the family didn’t seem to warrant this. I just didn’t understand it. I also wanted to feel more sorry for Cat than I did, and normally I would for a character that has suffered such tragic events. I wonder if I would have felt more sympathy for Cat if the book had been written in 3rd person instead of 1st. Her voice seemed to ‘tell and not ’show’ throughout the book. Third person narration may have been able to correct this. For instance, although I know alcoholism was one of the themes of the book, it just got irritating to hear something to the effect of ”I need a drink’ on every other page when 3rd person narration could have shown her alcoholic side a little better. These are just my own thoughts, though. Several people on librarything and Amazon have loved the book, so be sure to check out their reviews for a balanced opinion.
I read The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2006, and though I didn’t like some of the bad language in it, I absolutely LOVED the story. I think the movie was supposed to come out last fall, but it kept being pushed later and later, so I was a little worried about how it was going to turn out. But with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana as the lead roles (two of my very favorite actors), I thought it couldn’t be too awful.
I really liked but didn’t quite love the movie. It was very emotional for me, just as the book was. Of course they changed some elements of the story (Gomez is all good in the film), but most of the movie was as good as I expected. The problem for me was that the beginning of it didn’t quite work for me. I’m not sure why, but I think they could have set up the storyline a little better than they did. Also, while Erica Bana was great,I didn’t like Rachel McAdam’s acting in parts — it was as if I could “see” her acting. I loved loved loved her in The Notebook, so I was surprised and disappointed in this. But, it was only in parts. In other sections of the movie I thought she was as fantastic as Bana.
My only caution is that if you haven’t read the book, it might be a little hard to follow. And if you haven’t yet read the book, I highly recommend you do so!
I really can’t see myself getting enough of John’s Canadian Challenges any time soon. So many wonderful Canadian authors and books. These are the books I’m interested in reading this time around:
This was my first book by Alice Munro, who was recently named as the 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner. This book of stories is a personal, though fictional, history of her family’s emigration from Scotland and their settlement in Canada. It was on the NYT Notable Book list in 2007.
Munro illustrated the struggles of her ancestor immigrants very well. Though I am of German ancestry, I know many of my great-grandparents had many of the same challenges when they settled in Nebraska from Germany. (I would soooo love to read a fictionalized account of their story!)
I enjoyed this book very much, but some may find it a little slow and boring in parts. I’m very interested in family histories of immigration, so I appreciated both the stories and Munro’s writing. I have to wonder, though, were all European immigrants a little hard and cold? Perhaps just the act of survival took all their energy.
I am now curious to read more of Munro’s work for the Canadian Challenge III. If you have any you strongly recommend, please let me know.
Julie and Julia was a pleasant surprise for me. Of course I knew it was about Julia Child, but funnily enough, I didn’t know it was also somewhat about blogging! I remember watching Julia Child on PBS when I was a kid and thought she was the funniest thing. Meryl Streep has to be one of the best (if not the best) actresses of all time. She played Julia sooooooo well. I’ve loved Amy Adams in other movies, but to me she was a little disappointing in this film. All in all, though, I really liked the film. I most enjoyed learning more about Julia’s life — she was quite a character. [Side note: Did you know Julia was 6'2" tall? Her husband made special kitchen counters for her!]
I don’t even like cooking all that much except for a few dishes that my family loves me to make, but I may just have to get Julie Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The recipes looked and sounded delicious!
Just thought I’d give a little update on my reading progress. I’m still mostly listening to audios this month (and still painting). I knocked out another two Pulitzer winners, The Good Earth and The Age of Innocence, both of which I enjoyed more than last month’s two Pulitzers. I am also slowly reading Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. I’m enjoying it so far but only get to read it for about 30 minutes each night.
As most of you know, the Booker longlist was announced and I’ve made some plans to at least read Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and possibly The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey. I am also interested in How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall and Love and Summer by William Trevor, but neither of them will be released until September. It’s really frustrating to not be able to have access to these at the library yet. I know I can use The Book Depository, which I love and have used many times before, but I’m sort of in a spendthift mood right now. I’ll probably just wait to see which ones make it to the shortlist and go from there.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
by Pearl S. Buck (1931)
by Teri Coyne (2009)
by Herman Hesse (1922)
by Anne Rice (1976)
Cat,
This was my first book by Alice Munro, who was recently named as the 
