Category: 100 Books in 2009

I finished two books this week. One was literature and the other was pure escapism.

Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett was the book club book for the month. It engendered a very interesting discussion. Ann Patchett is the author of Bel Canto and several other books. Truth and Beauty is her story of her friendship with Lucy Grealy, the author of Autobiography of a Face.

The book is subtitled, "A Friendship" so I assumed it would paint a positive picture of friendship and would give me insight into what makes a good friendship. It did neither. None of the book club ladies liked the picture of Lucy painted in this book and in fact the lady next to me said that she found Ann Patchett to be passive aggressive. She thought this book was Patchett's way of getting back at Lucy. I agree.

I did enjoy reading Truth and Beauty for it picture of a codependent friendship. Patchett is a wonderful story teller. I found Truth and Beauty to be engaging.

While I was reading Truth and Beauty I decided I needed some escapism too. So I read Nora Robert's Chesapeake Blue. I think I like her books so much because I like the people in her books. They are pure fantasy but they are just real enough to draw you in and make you enjoy them.

While I was on vacation I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. What a wonderful book! It is a series of letters written after World War II. Through the experiences that are shared in the letters lives unfold and the experiences of the people of Guernsey during the German occupation are shared. This is a real feel good book without being sickly sweet. I would recommend it to anyone. I've added it to my list of books read this year here.

The book club selection for the Reno Newcomers Club Book Club this month was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I decided to get this book from the library rather than buy it for my Kindle because I didn't think I would want to read it again but now I am not sure.

I can't say I enjoyed reading this book because  as I read it I had a sense of dread. How can you not have a sense of dread when the book is set in Nazi Germany and the narrator is Death.

In spite of the fact that I didn't enjoy reading the book I was totally blown away by the book. What a masterpiece. The multiple layers. The unforgettable characters. I feel like I know them. My sense of dread was because I cared about them.

The Book Thief talks about the power of words to heal as well as wound. It talks about the power of words to calm. One of my favorite parts of the book was when the main character, Liesel, reads to her neighbors and family in the bomb shelter. It reminds me of how I read to my girls when they were growing up. Especially how I would sit between their two rooms and read to them when they were teenagers and were going to sleep after an exhausting day.

I think if I were to read The Book Thief again I might be able to relax and enjoy the intricacies, the colors, the words and the rich themes of love, loyalty, humor, community, and the power of words.

Over the weekend I finished reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman on my Kindle. It is my 12th book this year. The list of books read this year is here.

This is the first Gaiman book I have read but it won't be the last. The Graveyard Book won the Newbury award this year. To quote form the American Library Association web site "The Newbery Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."  If you want to smile you should read Gaiman's blog about the phone call he got saying he had won the award.  In fact I would recommend reading Gaiman's blog regularly it is very entertaining.

The Graveyard Book is a children's book in the same way that the Harry Potter books are children's books. In fact Harry Potter is the closest thing I can compare The Graveyard Book to. But The Graveyard Book is also different. For one thing Bod is the only child living in the graveyard.

This is a book that you want to read. It is intriguing, entertaining. As I was reading it I kept thinking of people who I knew would enjoy it. I will be very interested to hear Allie's opinion of the book, and Shan's opinion, and Linda's opinion and the list goes on.

I usually would not enjoy a book that starts with a toddlers parents and sister being killed. In the graveyard Mr and Mrs Owens eventually adopt the baby. When I read the following my heart was warmed and I was hooked

"Mrs. Owens bent down to the baby and extended her arms. “Come now,” she said, warmly. “Come to Mama.”

Because it made me laugh one of my favorite quotes from the book is the following:

"It is going to take more than just a couple of good-hearted souls to raise this child. It will,” said Silas, “take a graveyard.”

Neil Gaiman was interviewed on The Colbert Report . He said that the moral of The Graveyard Report is "Life has meaning". I like this quote from the book about potential.

I think this is the crux of why The Graveyard Book is so wonderful and why I might just read it again soon.

If you've read other Gaiman books which one should I read next? Maybe one of his adult science fiction books?

Last night I stayed up late reading to finish Nora Robert's book Angels Fall. I don't read romance novels very often but when I do Nora Roberts is my favorite author. Angels fall is a Murder Mystery too. I used to read a lot of murder mysteries. I've read everything that Agatha Christie wrote. I have never read a Nora Roberts mystery before It turns out that this was the best murder mystery I have read in years. Maybe I'm rusty but I didn't figure out what was going on until Roberts revealed it.

For escapism and entertainment I definitely recommend Angels Fall.