I am officially....

...blocked.  That's right.  I finished this book, oh, about 6 weeks ago, and each time I sat down to review it, I became mired in the muck of my own thoughts.  I don't know why I have such trouble with this book (The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende).  I loved it.  Truly.  It is a masterpiece.  And that, my friends, is the root of my problem.  I think I felt, on some level, that my review had to rise up, to scale the lofty peaks of literature, in order to do justice to Ms. Allende's epic.  There, I said it.  "Epic."  Has any word been as over-used when describing books, movies, even some albums?  It is a cliche, but I feel The House of the Spirits has earned it.  Here's why:

1--Exotic setting.  Something about the steamy climes of South America just screams "epic" to me. 

2--Multi-generational plot.  We really couldn't call it an epic if it didn't trace the tragedies and triumphs of a fertile family tree, now could we?


3--Political upheaval.  Nothing ties a novel together like revolution, rebels, tyranny, and barbaric civil strife, especially when it smacks of the true history of an "unidentified" South American nation (ahem, Chile, I'm looking at you!)

4--Heroines a-go-go.  We all know that women are the ones who shine under pressure, and the best novels, the true epics, share these women's stories (Gone With the Wind, anyone?)

5--Magical realism.  Okay, so Allende doesn't truly claim to belong in this category, but anyone who can weave together the winsome, ethereal quality of the supernatural with the mundane, gritty earthiness of everyday life and the grotesque atrocities of war deserves the label.

Aaaahhhh.  Whew!  That feels better.  All in all, I loved the book, and I would definitely recommed it to you, dear friends (especially those of you who enjoy works like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera). 

Up Next:  I'm going to spend a little time with my friend, Jane.  Jane Austen, that is.  I just finished reading Mansfield Park and am in the middle of Emma, so I'll review them together.  And it won't take as long as this one.  Pinky swear.

Happy Reading!!
~Kate

Rocky Mountain high............

Folks, family, friends...we made it to Colorado!  A dear friend from Murray who will remain nameless *coughmonicacough* gave me the inspiration I needed to get back in gear with my 1001 book project.  So, I shall shake off the rust, dust off my reading glasses, and hit the books!  Stay tuned for more reviews, rants, and thin-air musings.  In the meantime, enjoy this lovely picture taken from the top of Pike's Peak:

Up Next:  The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.  This classic should be easy to find at the local library near you!

Happy Reading!
~Kate

Hello!

Hi folks!  I am awfully sorry for the looooooong delay, but life has its way of intervening in my reading plans :(  For those of you who don't know, I'm moving in two weeks, so life has been a flurry of real estate shenanigans, home repairs, packing, saying goodbyes, etc.  I'm sure it will be a little while longer until I get settled in Colorado, find a library, and commence reading once again.  Thanks for your patience, and I hope this time has allowed you to read some of the previous books I've reviewed!  I'll be back as soon as I can!

Happy Reading!

--Kate

Time Keeps on Tickin', tickin', tickin'......

Haha, now you all have that song in your head!!  Ok, sorry about that, but it is actually relevant to the book I recently completed: The Hours by Michael Cunningham.  I know, I know, you all are wondering what happened to The Kindly Ones, my 900-and-some-odd-page monstrosity.  Well, I recently took a brief trip on an airplane, and I was concerned that the weight of said book would hamper the aircraft's ability to take off and maintain altitude.  Thus, The Hours, a much more travel-friendly tome.  It must also be said that I knew that the film version of this book was highly acclaimed and, although I never saw the film, it did pique my interest a little.

Now to the good stuff.......I loved it.  Truly.  Michael Cunningham is a stud. :)  The novel traces the lives of three women living in different times and places: Laura Brown, a somewhat demented Stepford-ish housewife, Clarissa Vaughan, a hippy-chic urban lesbian who cares for her AIDS-ridden best friend Richard, and.....dum da dum....Virginia Woolf, yes, THE Virginia Woolf.  Dying to know more?  Of course you are!!  Read on :)

Ok, so here's the rundown: Woolf's story line picks up just as she is beginning to write her legendary novel, Mrs. Dalloway.  We all know how her story ends up (don't we?), so Cunningham focuses on her growing dissatisfaction with her life in suburban London and her frustration with the writing process.  Clarissa Vaughan's life seems to parallel that of Woolf's title character, so much so that Richard has taken to calling her "Mrs. Dalloway."  Laura Brown is in the process of reading Woolf's novel as she becomes disillusioned with her own life story.  Sound confusing?  Trust me, it's not; Cunningham does a masterful job of weaving these three stories together, devoting specific chapters to each of his three women.  The story lines interconnect in stunning fashion and, more than once, I slapped my forehead and thought "Duh, how did you not figure that out?"  So much fun :)

To Sum Up: The Hours is an identity-questioning-lady-loving-life-altering-tragicomic-estrogen-fueled-whirlwind that kept me, at least, flipping the pages into the night.  I won't lie to you; it is dark, but in a very approachable, cringingly humorous kind of way.  I recommend it, and I even took the plunge to purchase my own copy (ok, so it was more like a plunge into the shallow end of a mud puddle since the book only cost $0.10 at my local public library)....but STILL!  That means something, right? :)  

Up Next: The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

Happy Reading!
--Kate

Book 3 Finished!

The rate at which I read Carry Me Down, a novel by M.J. Hyland, should tell you a little bit about my opinion of it.  I finished this one in 2 days, even staying up past my bedtime to squeeze in a few more pages! This book is one odd duck, but I kind of loved it for all its oddity.  And why wouldn't it be odd?  It's a book about the Irish, after all!  The quirkiness and bluntness of Hyland's Irish characters make this book a standout.  The subject matter has a tendency to lean to the dark side, but there is a hint of levity and wit in the characters' manners that provides a nice balance to the general creepy weirdness of the story. :) 

I don't want to reveal too much in this review, but I will say that the main character, John, an Irish "tween" who believes he has a special gift, will have you smiling one minute, cringing the next, and scratching your head in disbelief.  You really do have to keep reading this one once you start, because there is just no telling where this kid's mind is going to go next.  He is weird, his mother is weird, the book is weird, heck, the author might even be weird, but this weirdness is what gives it a unique charm. 

To Sum Up: If you like things that are a little off-center, this book is for you.  It is moving, but not in a sappy way, and there is a HUGE plot twist that will make your jaw drop.  Except for the last two paragraphs (which I hated and think should have been left out), this is a well-written, imaginative book that will keep your wheels turning while you're turning the pages.  Enjoy!

Up Next: The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell.  By the way, this is a wee 983-page number, so I might do some updates along the way instead of waiting for the end to do one massive one.  Wish me luck!!

Happy Reading!
--Kate

Better Late...

I am so happy to be able to post that I completed The Inheritance of Loss!!  I was delayed by all sorts of circumstances (i.e. sickness, husband visiting, demon-puppy), so I decided that I needed to start reading again from the beginning.  I am not one of those people who can read a little, put the book down for a week, and then pick it back up again.  I like to read pretty much straight through, so this one took longer than it should have.  Sorry, folks!

I am also happy to report that....drumroll, please....I enjoyed this novel very much!  It wouldn't go on the "Best Books I've Read-Would Go Back and Reread" list, but I did learn a great deal from it and I thought it was exquisitely written.  Some of the language....ahhhh....made me go back and read over certain paragraphs because the description was so lovely.  The plot is heartrending, so it is an interesting contrast to be able to revel in author Kiran Desai's beautiful diction while feeling anguish for individual characters and an embattled country.

Inheritance, a novel of heartache, hope, injustice, and loss, takes place in 1980s India, with several flashbacks to previous generations.  Tensions are rising between native Indians, especially those with British accents, educations, and airs, and Nepali Indians, or Ghorkas.  From tentative beginnings of peaceful protests and strikes to horrifying riots, murders, and starvation, Desai uses the lives of her characters to trace the evolution of a social movement that changed the face of an entire nation.  And I must say, I did enjoy her characters :)  If you read my review of Falling Man, you know that is a big deal for me.  I sympathized with Sai, a young Indian girl coming of age and learning hard lessons of first love and heartbreak amidst a landscape of terror, mistrust, and confusion.  My heart broke for Biju, a beloved son who fails to achieve success in America, but does not recognize the India he finds upon his return.  And don't get me started about Mutt.   Okay, I have to leave something for you to find out on your own, right??  :)

To sum up:  This is a worthwhile read.  I really learned a great deal about India's struggles and the various sides to her story.  More importantly, I am inspired to learn more!  The characters are appealing and the language will have you envisioning lush jungles and mists cloaking the peak of Kanchenjunga, as well as the heartache of a nation plunged into tumult. Go forth and read!!

Next up: Carry Me Down by M.J. Hyland.

Happy Reading!
--Kate

Back on Track...

Sorry for the delay in posting.  I was a little under the weather...to put it mildly.  When I don't have the strength or interest to pick up a book, you KNOW I'm sick :)  I'm a few pages into The Inheritance of Loss and am feeling the love!  I expect to have it finished in the next few days, so check back for a review!

I hope you all are enjoying lovely spring weather wherever you are!

Happy Reading!
--Kate

I'm Done!!!

Ok, I know it's just one book.  Can't a girl celebrate a little?  :)

I am happy to be finished with Falling Man.  I must say that this was one of those books that I was just pushing through to get to the end.  Sorry, Mr. DeLillo.  You know how you see some movies and you catch yourself trying in vain to read your watch in the dark, thinking, "Really? This isn't over yet?"  Well, that's how I felt as the pages kept coming.  Of course, the subject matter is compelling, and I think that the book was thoughtfully and skillfully crafted, with its recurring motif of both literal and figurative falling, but it just didn't move me.

One of the things I enjoy most about reading is building relationships (admittedly a little one-sided) with the characters.  I crave books that draw me in and make me care about the folks on the pages.  In plenty of cases, I don't even notice mediocre writing if the characters come to mean something to me.  Falling Man just fell a little flat in that category.  (Sorry, couldn't resist).  To be honest, I just wanted DeLillo's peeps to do or say something, ANYTHING that amused me or angered me or inspired me.  Nada.  There is a tiny thread of narrative from the perspective of one of the terrorists that had hope, but DeLillo never fleshes it out, choosing instead to focus on blah Keith and his blah marriage to a blah woman.  The blah woman's mother is an interesting bird, and her relationship with a jet-setting art dealer breathes some life into the story, but there's just not enough of it to salvage things.

It's a bit of a bummer to start out with a book I don't love, but I'm sure there will be MANY of those on the list.  I will say that this novel might appeal to some of you, and these are only my opinions.  I would never tell someone NOT to read a book if they had some interest in it, and Falling Man certainly is unique, but if you're looking for dynamic characters that grab hold of you....you might look elsewhere.

Up next: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.  I have high hopes for this one!!!

*I'd love to hear any thoughts, questions, opinions from you, dear readers.  Feel free to comment below!*

Happy Reading!
--Kate

Falling for Falling Man??

Howdy readers!

Well, I've taken the plunge and am immersed in the first book for this project, Falling Man, by Don DeLillo.  I anticipate finishing it tomorrow, but I'll share a few thoughts in advance.

I'm kind of in a love-hate relationship with this book.  DeLillo delves into challenging subject matter, setting his book in post-9/11 New York.  I applaud him for taking on the task of portraying the complex emotions that swirled around that event, and I find the various perspectives he provides fascinating.  The book is written in a very disjointed, stream-of-consciousness sort of style which, while frustrating for me to follow, is a perfect reflection of the thoughts and feelings of the survivors, witnesses, and multitudes of stunned Americans who followed the events as they unfolded.  Several story lines intermingle in disorderly snippets, and I have found myself momentarily confused with which character I'm following at a given time.  Early in the novel, DeLillo describes the immediate aftermath in the city streets, with ash, debris, and papers flying wildly through the air.  Reading Falling Man is like standing in the midst of that chaos, grasping scraps of a story, and trying to piece them back together.  I can't say that I love this novel yet, but I will say that I can't wait to see how, or if, DeLillo ties the story strands together in the end.

Stay tuned for more details and, as always, Happy Reading!


--Kate

p.s.  What are your opinions on how I should handle the books I have already read?  There are some on the list that I have read but didn't mark because I don't remember them well.  Others I will probably like to read again so I can have the chance to write about them here.  What say ye?  Let me hear from you! :)

Off to the Library!

I'm starting my quest at the beginning...a very good place to start :)  My selections will be limited, for the moment, to what my rather small public library has to offer.  I'll be checking out five books at a time, to start with, and see how it goes.  The first five to come home with me today will be Falling Man, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Kindly Ones, The Inheritance of Loss, and Carry Me Down. 

Stay tuned as our adventure begins!!

Happy Reading!
--Kate

1001 Books Spreadsheet

And so the odyssey begins...

Here is a link to a spreadsheet with all of the books on the 2008 list. I will be able to keep track of the books I have read, and you all will be able to follow along on your own reading adventure! There are 33 books on the list which I have already read at some point or another, and it will be up to my own discretion whether I choose to read them again.

The following spreadsheet will be for my personal use, but if you would like one of your own, feel free to visit a wonderful site: Arukiyomi and download the original version for yourself!

Excel Spreadsheet:  Click Here! 

 Happy Reading!
--Kate