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Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Young People’s Literature
I hadn’t read these or any of the shortlisted titles in any category, though I did have Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor checked out from the library. It was on the ya shortlist.
 Click for Amazon info “Those Impressionists,” she said, “they certainly knew about color. And about light and shade. Different kinds of shade: thinner shadows that let the light through, and heavier, denser ones. And it’s as if Monet made this garden to show the world how he saw colors. How he saw their power, their potential, and their purpose. I think he wanted to show that the world is color. That life itself is color. That if we can just see the colors, really see them, life will be beautiful. And meaningful. Because beauty has a value of its own, that”s how I see it anyway.” – p. 37 “People who read books,’ he went on, “tend to be dispensable. Extremely.” – p. 48 Useful or dispensable? A life of choice or no choice? And what if your own choices led you to have to give of your own body to the ‘needed’ until your ‘final donation’? I love dystopian fiction, and this book was no exception. It reminded me quite a bit of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, so if you enjoyed that book, you’ll probably like this one as well. Reading books like this is always a reminder of the ways society could go horribly wrong, and sadly, I wouldn’t be surprised if parts of the book actually do come to pass someday. Dorrit, age 50, has reached an age where she is now considered dispensable because she has no children or parents to take care of and because she is a writer, which is considered an unessential occupation. The dispensables in The Unit are provided for in every way, a nice apartment, exercise facilities, and entertainment venues, etc. Except that they are monitored 24/7, and of course, they may never leave The Unit. Dorrit makes great friends here, and in some ways her life is better than when she was on the outside, but, obviously, her life and her body are not her own. She is essentially a commodity of the State. The book raises some excellent ethical questions. Is a person’s life itself precious and valuable, or is it only what they can contribute to society that is deemed worthwhile? My view will always be the former. How obtained: I checked this book out from my local library. 2006 (Swedish), 2009 for the English translation; 268 pp. Other reviews:
Since I didn’t have a Sunday Salon last week, I’ll go ahead and tell you what I’ve read so far this month instead of just this week. I’ve listened to quite a few audios lately because I’ve been feeling under the weather (hence the lack of posts). These included Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland, and The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. And then I also read The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. All of them were 4 or 4.5 stars. Just great books so far for the month of November. I was most surprised by how much I appreciated The Forest Lover. I had seen mixed reviews on it, but I heartily recommend this fictional biographical look at one of Canada’s foremost female artists. I knew I would probably like The Unit because I’m fascinated by dystopian fiction, and I did. Dystopians always scare me but in a good way. Afterward I’m so appreciative of living under our own government (though, of course it has its flaws). And I always take great delight in Smith’s books, this one was the last (so far) of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series, and I’m not at all getting tired of them yet. The Good Thief was entertaining as well — it was sort of a mix of Dickens and Twain. I will definitely be reading more of Tinti’s works. I’m not sure what I’m going to take up next, perhaps something for the Women Unbound challenge. By the way, The Forest Lover would definitely qualify for the challenge, and you could make an argument for The Unit to count as well. Have a great reading week!
There will be a Pub 2010, so if you want to participate, get your lists ready! The books I read:
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And the winners are:
I have quite a few library books out now. I always like to have options, so I tend to always have a bunch of books out. I also like to read a few pages of a new book to see if it grabs me. If you’ve read any of these, please help me determine which should go higher on the priority list, or vice versa, which books I can take back. Here are the ones I have checked out:
How is it the middle of November already? It doesn’t seem possible. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, though. I’m probably going to Colorado to see my side of the family so that’s always exciting.
I’ve finished this challenge, and might even read more books published in 2009 this year, but I thought it was time to mark this challenge complete. It’s hard to pick favorites, when I really liked so many of these books, but my two favorites were probably The Housekeeper and the Professor and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. My least favorite was The Last Bridge.