So I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and I loved it! Finally, a book I could get excited about reading. My only regret is that I finished it in one day and have to move on. The story is about a writer with writer's block who begins corresponding with a man on the island of Guernsey who happened to find her name and address in a book she once owned. Through their correspondence, she discovers the background of his "literary society", finds a number of new friends, breaks through her writer's block, and learns about World War II from the Channel Island perspective. The story was cute, funny, poignant and moving. Overall, definitely one I would recommend if you haven't read it yet.
Now I'm moving on to Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. This is a book that has intrigued me for quite a while, so we'll see what I think after...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
1932 down, 48068 to go
Since the last time I posted about my reading progress, I've finished two books, gained a bit on my goal, and have almost hit 2000 pages read.
The first (and by far the better) was The Iron Lance by Stephen Lawhead. It is part of his Celtic Crusades series. I had read another series by Lawhead, The Song of Albion, during high school and loved it, so I thought I would try out some of his others. While it is definitely not a quick read since it is thick with vaguely royal characters with very interchangeable titles, it was a interesting look at the Crusades. While I knew that the Crusades were overall very bloody, I had no idea the magnitude of the carnage involved. Even though I don't feel motivated to dive right into the next book in the series, Lawhead will probably be an author I revisit later in the year.
The other book I tackled was Michelangelo's Notebook by Paul Christopher. The teaser on the back of the book calls it a "breathtaking thriller," so I was motivated. After finishing the book, however, I think it can be relegated to the pile of DaVinci Code wannabes. While the premise seems interesting (young art historian stumbles across smuggled art and delves into a world of danger and intrigue), the entire plot seems very shallow and pointless. The author makes half-hearted connections between events, kills people who barely seem relevant, and leaves you with quite a let down in the end. One of the historical angles that could have been very interesting if developed (Pope Pius XII's illegitimate child) is, for the most part, ignored and simply inserted as a reason to kill off a few more characters. Overall I can't find this book worth the time and effort it took to read it.
Next on my list is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. So far I've read the first letter and already been giggling, so hopefully things are looking up.
The first (and by far the better) was The Iron Lance by Stephen Lawhead. It is part of his Celtic Crusades series. I had read another series by Lawhead, The Song of Albion, during high school and loved it, so I thought I would try out some of his others. While it is definitely not a quick read since it is thick with vaguely royal characters with very interchangeable titles, it was a interesting look at the Crusades. While I knew that the Crusades were overall very bloody, I had no idea the magnitude of the carnage involved. Even though I don't feel motivated to dive right into the next book in the series, Lawhead will probably be an author I revisit later in the year.
The other book I tackled was Michelangelo's Notebook by Paul Christopher. The teaser on the back of the book calls it a "breathtaking thriller," so I was motivated. After finishing the book, however, I think it can be relegated to the pile of DaVinci Code wannabes. While the premise seems interesting (young art historian stumbles across smuggled art and delves into a world of danger and intrigue), the entire plot seems very shallow and pointless. The author makes half-hearted connections between events, kills people who barely seem relevant, and leaves you with quite a let down in the end. One of the historical angles that could have been very interesting if developed (Pope Pius XII's illegitimate child) is, for the most part, ignored and simply inserted as a reason to kill off a few more characters. Overall I can't find this book worth the time and effort it took to read it.
Next on my list is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. So far I've read the first letter and already been giggling, so hopefully things are looking up.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Spin Cycle: Pet Peeves
So this is my first week on the Spin Cycle, and the topic is Pet Peeves. I'm not sure there is enough space in this blog for all of my pet peeves, so I think we'll go with a top three and leave it at that.
1. As an English teacher, my main pet peeve has to be bad grammar and spelling. I'm not sure if it is the fault of modern technology or just plain laziness, but it seems so ridiculously common to not care about proofreading. Honestly, how much longer does it take to write "people" instead of "ppl"? For those of you I may occasionally text or email, I apologize if I seem a bit overly proper or wordy, but I believe in actually using language.
2. Silly as it seems, I am also annoyed by people who don't smile. Some people seem to go through life on autopilot. You know the type: head down, always in a rush, always with a frown. I happen to have a fairly adorable daughter who loves to make people smile. When she meets one of these automatons, she behaves in her usual precious manner. She is, however, very upset when she doesn't get a reaction from those people. All she really wants is to make you smile, so do me a favor and at least crack a grin!
3. My final pet peeve is constant cell phone usage. From the person in front of me in line at the store who won't hang up and acts like the cashier is being rude by doing her job to the couple at the next table on my night out who talk loudly, not to each other, but into their phones, the excessive use of cell phones runs rampant. I don't understand when other people became so important and why their meaningless drivel can't wait until after shopping, dinner or driving their kids home from school, but I really wish they didn't have to disrupt my day with it.
I could go on and mention a lot of other things that get under my skin, but I'll leave it at that.
1. As an English teacher, my main pet peeve has to be bad grammar and spelling. I'm not sure if it is the fault of modern technology or just plain laziness, but it seems so ridiculously common to not care about proofreading. Honestly, how much longer does it take to write "people" instead of "ppl"? For those of you I may occasionally text or email, I apologize if I seem a bit overly proper or wordy, but I believe in actually using language.
2. Silly as it seems, I am also annoyed by people who don't smile. Some people seem to go through life on autopilot. You know the type: head down, always in a rush, always with a frown. I happen to have a fairly adorable daughter who loves to make people smile. When she meets one of these automatons, she behaves in her usual precious manner. She is, however, very upset when she doesn't get a reaction from those people. All she really wants is to make you smile, so do me a favor and at least crack a grin!
3. My final pet peeve is constant cell phone usage. From the person in front of me in line at the store who won't hang up and acts like the cashier is being rude by doing her job to the couple at the next table on my night out who talk loudly, not to each other, but into their phones, the excessive use of cell phones runs rampant. I don't understand when other people became so important and why their meaningless drivel can't wait until after shopping, dinner or driving their kids home from school, but I really wish they didn't have to disrupt my day with it.
I could go on and mention a lot of other things that get under my skin, but I'll leave it at that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)