Chuckreads

Too long, what have I been doing?

2011-04-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was sitting around last night thinking I should start to keep notes on my books via blog or some such manner, then I thought didn't I used to have one? Yes, I did here it is and not a post since 2007, wow! I have read during all this time but obviously haphazardly and now I can't remember what I read, if I liked it, hated it or why. So hopefully I'll remember now to be better at this.

A Short History of Tractors in the Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

2007-02-09T01:36:00.000-08:00

I was a bit late getting around to this one, I just finished it last night, I enjoyed it. Like others have mentioned I thought it was an amusing, quick, easy read. I enjoyed the characters and snickered at several of the scenes of family drama. I don't know if I'd read it again or consider it a favorite but I was not disappointed by it at all, it was just as I had expected it to be.

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

2007-02-06T02:21:00.000-08:00

Not as good as his others 6/10

I did not like this book as much as I liked the Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go, I did not feel interested in the story until I was nearing the end, I don't think I would have continued on had I not enjoyed his previous books I'd read.

I really didn't care for the main character, Christopher. at all (I don't think you were supposed to) seemed he wasn't as well liked by the other characters either but they more or less humored/tolerated him and he did not see it this way (there were hints at his mistaken perception of himself and his relatiionships with others) and so while I do think Ishiguro intended for the characters and story not to be liked in the traditional sense, I don't think that it worked for me and the whole thing dragged and slightly annoyed me.

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

2007-01-30T01:24:00.000-08:00

Didn't quite do it for me 6/10

It came close but didn't quite to it for me. I can't put my finger on exactly what put me off, there was much about the book I did like but somehow I did finish not caring much for the book. Maybe I should have started with a different Murakami book, I've heard so much about him and was very curious about his books. I did not have any issue with the writing itself, I think mostly I didn't care for the main character Kafka Tamura, although I really enjoyed many of the other characters, Oshima & Nakata were really the ones that captured my attention and pulled me through the story. I will definitely try more Murakami books but was less than thrilled with this one.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

2007-01-27T01:00:00.000-08:00

Adventure through familiar fairy tales 8/10

It is a dark, sometimes gory adventure through many familiar fairy tales with new twists. Although it was somewhat predictable I enjoyed it and it was a quick, easy read.

From the cover- "High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother. He is angry and alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in his imagination, he finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a land that is a strange reflection of his own world, populated by heroes and monsters, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book ... The Book of Lost Things." "An imaginative tribute to the journey we must all make through the loss of innocence into adulthood."

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

2007-01-21T08:39:00.001-08:00

A shame the story is lost in repetitious filler 5/10

I really wanted to like this book, being a plant person with some interest in orchids and a small knowledge of their history. The book did have some interesting information, too bad it was buried in all the filler or repeated so many times you wondered if the book had an editor and if that editor bothered to read it or just skimmed through. I would think 1/3-1/2 could have been trimmed off and not taken any of the story away. It was as if whole paragraphs were copied & pasted again and again throughout the book.

The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen

2007-01-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

Good vs. Evil, suspense/thriller 7/10

From the cover- "Peccavi. The Latin phrase is scrawled in blood at the scene of a young woman's brutal murder: I HAVE SINNED. It's a chilling Christmas greeting for Boston medical examiner Maura Isles and Detective Jane Rizzoli, who swiftly link the victim to controversial celebrity psychiatrist Joyce O'Donnell - Jane's professional nemesis and member of a sinister cabal called the Mephisto Club." "On Beacon Hill, the club's acolytes devote themselves to the analysis of evil: Can it be explained by science? Does it have a physical presence? Do demons walk the earth? Drawing on a wealth of dark historical data and mysterious religious symbolism, the Mephisto scholars aim to prove a startling theory: that Satan himself exists among us." "With the grisly appearance of a corpse on their doorstep, it's clear that someone - or something - is indeed prowling the city. Soon, the members of the club begin to fear the very subject of their study. Could this maniacal killer be one of their own - or have they inadvertently summoned an evil entity from the darkness?"

Another, quick, easy book. It was a good story, if typical of this genre. It was my first time reading a Tess Gerritsen book and I liked it, she set a spooky tone, it was not far fetched and it was very easy to get into.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

2007-01-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

Quick, light, interesting read 7/10

From the cover-
"On a winter night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced by a blizzard to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy. Yet when his daughter is born, he sees immediately that she has Down's Syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split-second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and never to reveal the secret. But Caroline, the nurse, cannot leave the infant. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child herself. So begins this story that unfolds over a quarter of a century - in which these two families, ignorant of each other, are yet bound by the fateful decision made that long-ago winter night. Norah henry, who knows only that her daughter died at birth, remains inconsolable; her grief weighs heavily on their marriage. And Paul, their son, raises himself as best he can, in a house grown cold with mourning. Meanwhile, Phoebe, the lost daughter, grows from a sunny child to a vibrant young woman whose mother loves her as fiercely as if she were her own." "The Memory Keeper's Daughter articulates a silent fear close to the heart of every mother: What would happen if you lost your child, and she grew up without you?"

I liked the concept of this book very much, twins are born one is perfect and one is not, what do you do? How does your decison effect your life? your family's? The story was good, although to me, there were places where it seemed to stretch the bounds of normal human reactions. It was a fast read, I finished it in 2 sittings.

Lucky by Alice Sebold

2007-01-12T09:53:00.000-08:00

I can't really sum this up without diminishing it 9/10

This book deals very bluntly, vividly and honestly with the tough topic of the author's rape during her freshman year of college. Sexual assault has touched the lives of so many and yet so few will talk about it or truely listen to those that do share their experiences. I think Sebold did a remarkable job of sharing hers and it will resonate with many.

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

2007-01-10T07:23:00.000-08:00

Average vampire book 6/10

Okay vampire book, nothing too bad or too good about it. I had never read it but heard it mentioned a bit and gave it a go.

The Life And Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

2007-01-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Funny, quick look at childhood in the 50s 8/10

Bryson gives a quick, funny, nostalgic glimpse into his 1950s childhood. I saw a review comparing this book to Jean Sheperd's, A Christmas Story, and would agree that the two are very similiar in style. Full of familiar (even to those that came along later like me) items and events from the 50s.

Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi

2007-01-04T07:06:00.000-08:00

Beautiful, sad and engrossing 10/10

This book was full of wonderfully drawn characters, the best of which was Trudi, the main character and narrator of the story. Set in a small town in Germany, spanning both world wars and giving a very intricate account of how the Nazi party seeped in and infected the town. Trudi, who helps run the pay library with her father, lost her mentally ill mother at a very young age, runs the town's rumor mill and is also a dwarf, introduces us to everyone in town and their family stories, she also gives detailed accounts of their lives as the Nazis steadily take over the town.

For me this was the only book I have read that really showed how that would of been possible, how so many would have let the holocaust happen and even been percipients, Hegi shows the transformation of the decent, close knit community, to the hate filled, war torn town, in awful but very plausible detail. She also paints the picture of the everyday workings of their lives as the war progresses and how some do heroic deeds for strangers, while others turn their backs on close friends and relatives to try to save themselves.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith

2006-12-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

A very good portrait of a time and place 8/10

I enjoy books like this, the ones that take you to a different time & place and make you feel a part of it. I loved that the tone seemed to stay light even though the subject was dark and heavy. It was very well balanced it was serious and upbeat at the same time, it could have so easily began to drag but it never did.

I saw a lot of my own attitude in Francie and even her family seemed much like mine, the strong characters and links of her female relatives. The way it was the women that pulled together and got through, so very like my own family.

Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

2006-12-15T02:16:00.000-08:00

Funny travel book 7/10

This was a rather funny book about traveling through Europe. It had me giggling at some of his observations of the different countries and their people, as they were so similiar to my own experiences.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

2006-12-09T14:43:00.000-08:00

Interesting 7/10

From the book jacket- "In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men - Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication - whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time." "Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, "the kindest of men," nearly commits the perfect crime."

I thought this book was interesting, although not quite as gripping as his Devil In The White City (which I loved). They were both written in the same style and I thought both were well done. I may have just had too high of an expectation for Thunderstruck and while it came very close to meeting it, I wanted just a tad more from it.

Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott

2006-12-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

Rather blah and scattered 4/10

From the flap-

"Mattie Ryder is a marvelously funny, well-intentioned, religious, sarcastic, tender, angry, and broke recently divorced mother of two young children. Then she finds a small rubber blue shoe-the kind you might get from a gumball machine-and a few other trifles that were left years ago in her deceased father's car. They seem to hold the secrets to her messy upbringing, and as she and her brother follow these clues to uncover the mystery of their past, she begins to open her heart to her difficult, brittle mother and the father she thought she knew. And with that acceptance comes an opening up to the possibilities of romantic love. In a disarming blend of everyday life and the sublime, of reverence and irreverence, and of humor and grace."

This was a hard book for me to get through, it was just a little on the scattered side for my taste and for all the shuffling around it still seemed to drag and be on the blah side of the fence.

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

2006-11-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ah, hmm, I really don't know about this one 5/10

From the cover

"Part detective novel, part psychological thriller, Surfacing is the story of a talented woman artist who goes in search of her missing father on a remote island in northern Quebec. Setting out with her lover and another young couple, she soon finds herself captivated by the isolated setting, where a marriage begins to fall apart, violence and death lurk just beneath the surface, and sex becomes a catalyst for conflict and dangerous choices. Surfacing is a work permeated with an aura of suspense, complex with layered meanings, and written in brilliant, diamond-sharp prose. Here is a rich mine of ideas from an extraordinary writer about contemporary life and nature, families and marriage, and about women fragmented...and becoming whole."

I understand what was trying to be done with the book and I really loved a few sentences, very quote worthy but this book really didn't do it for me. I was left with a flat, confused, possibly irritated feeling. This is the only Atwood book I've not really liked.

First off, I don't feel that the blurb from the cover comes even close to describing the story. It was not at all like a detective novel nor thrilling. I don't think I've ever read a more misleading blurb.

*Warning* The next might be a spoiler.

I think it did a good job in showing the decline of her emotional and mental state and it felt like it was really building up to something but then the end came too quickly and nothing, there was not any wholeness in the end or if that was what happened then it was all wrong. I can buy that fast of a decline but the recovery would of not came so quickly.

The next disappointment was with the secondary characters, none of them behaved in an expected or ordinary manner. I kept thinking I'd ditch people too, if this was what I was given to deal with, but also that they would not of acted that way, they would not of left her there.

Roots by Alex Haley

2006-11-16T02:15:00.000-08:00

A very moving family saga 8/10

From the cover

"It begins with a birth in 1750, in an African village; it ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, a Navy architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an author. The author is Alex Haley. This magnificent book is his."

To say this book is sad or tragic is an understatement, it deals with the history of slavery in the US and paints a horrific picture of what the experience was like for Kunta Kinte, starting with his life in a small African village and following through several generations of his family as they struggle through many years of oppression and brutality. I think it did a good job of portraying the relationships between the plantation owners and the slaves, the conflict of some owners that tried to be religious and decent and yet own another person was especially done well. The fear that dominated these relationships of both owners and slaves was also very realistically put forth.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

2006-11-05T23:51:00.000-08:00

Interesting topic but ran dry in spots 6/10

From the Jacket

"In April 1992 a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild."

I felt that the story could have been laid out better, it was an interesting subject and I liked Krakauer's Under The Banner of Heaven. Into the Wild seemed to jump around, which made it hard to follow and it dragged in other spots which made me want to skim through. Krakauer mentions that he had originally done a magazine article on the story that drew a lot of response and his own interest to investigate further and I felt like that's what this book was, an over inflated magazine article.

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields

2006-11-01T06:20:00.000-08:00

So, so story delivered with some but not enough style 5/10

From the jacket

"From her calamitous birth in Manitoba in 1905 to her journey with her father to Indiana, throughout her years as a wife, mother, and widow, Daisy Stone Goodwill has struggled to umderstand her place in her own life. Now she listens, she observes, and, through sheer force of imagination, she becomes a witness of her own life: her birth, her death, and the troubling misconnections she discovers in between. With Irony and humor, Carol Shields weaves together the poignant story of this twentieth-century pilgrim in search of herself, and in doing so she creates a story that is a paradigm of the unsettled decades of our era."

I didn't find this book to be all that good. I thought it was a boring, depressing story with bland characters. While it did have some beautiful phrases and would be highly quotable they were not enough to save me from the ho-hum feeling the book gave me. The cover lead me to believe that Daisy tells her story but I didn't feel that I was getting much from her.

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

2006-10-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Better than expected 8/10

I had not expected much from this story of a woman turned werewolf when I grabbed it of the 50 cent cart of my used book store. I thought it would be a Halloween read and nothing more but it was a fun book and well done for a first novel. I found the characters engaging and believable, the story was fast paced and straight forward. I will definitely look for more books in the series (Women of the Otherworld) and by this author.

Where to get great bookmarks and more

2006-10-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

I don't often do advertising for free but Pomegranate is a site that has great bookmarks, postcards, greeting cards, stationary, calenders and more for very reasonable prices and with the holidays coming up I thought I'd share :)

Good Halloween reads for kids

2006-10-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite Halloween stories to read to the kids each year.

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson with pictures by Azel Scheffler, a great story to read aloud with wonderful illustrations of a witch and her friends she meets.

The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey, a very cute story about an embarrassed wiener dog that gets a cute hotdog bun custume from his well meaning Mom for Halloween.

Affinity by Sarah Waters

2006-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Nicely done Victorian suspense 7/10

This is one of those books I picked up because of the interesting cover and took home with no clue of what it was about. I did recognize the author's name from the Booker prize list this year for her book the Night Watch, but had read nothing by her.I thought Affinity was pretty good, I was wanting to know a bit more about many of the lesser characters but I think she did a very good job of building the relationship between the 2 main characters. The setting (a Victorian women's prison) was very detailed and my favorite part of the book. I just wish the lesser characters had been filled in a little more, especially in relation to the key characters, while much was hinted at there was never a sense of knowing for sure how they tied in.

The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

2006-10-16T03:02:00.000-07:00

A beautifully written tragedy 8/10

This book is hard for me to summarize. I had heard very good things and it was a Booker Prize winner, I had very high expectations. When I started the book it was a bit confusing and I had a brief stirring of disappointment but then I realized how beautifully the story was being told, as I let go of trying to figure it all out and let the story unfold for itself at it's own pace, I began to really enjoy it. I can see why some readers gave up on it but I'm glad I didn't and I think it was well worth it.

She Flew the Coop by Michael Lee West

2006-10-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

This was chick lit but good. 7/10

Any gal that's lived in a small town will be able to identify with the characters in this book. I liked the way the story was told to you by different people in the town and they shared a recipe, too. While some of the topics were heavy and depressing (the book dealt with spousal abuse, infidelity, statutory rape, etc) it was all done in a very straight forward, realistic manner that was liberally seasoned with southern humor.