Books Part II

A few months ago, I posted some of my thoughts about what I had been reading lately. I got a lot of positive response to my post, so I thought I would take a few minutes and share again what I have been reading lately. I think it would be great if some of you commented or posted on your own blogs about the books you have been reading too because I am always on the lookout for something good to read. I am in two book clubs but somehow and still always hungry for more, especially for things recommended by my friends.

Also, many of you have suggested I join GoodReads. I joined three years ago but rarely use the site. I don't like how the website is constructed or how it functions as a tool for sharing and interacting with others, but best of luck to all of you who persist with it.

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Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt et al.--Interesting book but not quite as good as the original Freakonomics, which you should definitely read if you haven't. Some of his most interesting points were made in Chapter 1: that prostitution makes more financial sense than many of the viable jobs for women out there, that television has actually caused the positive evolution of gender roles in some third-world countries, and that a woman getting a sex-change can probably count on getting a raise, among others. Some of his least interesting points (to me) were made in his last chapter on simple solutions to global warming and other "green" issues; his ideas and approach here have been highly criticized by scientists and specialists alike, but I just got bored with how he goes on and on here.

Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner--A highly-generic chic lit novel. Sometimes I love a good, fluffy novel to take me away from real life, but this really wasn't it. Way oversexualized and explicit, undeveloped characters that I couldn't sympathize with, and a thin plot. Don't bother.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson--Despite some people's very justified negative reaction to the gruesome ending of the first book in this series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), this second book was even better and more compelling than the first. Granted, it still contains some violence, and there is a lesbian love scene that will make many uncomfortable. (I missed nothing in the plot by just skipping ahead a page or two.) But I like the feminist undertones of these books. The heroine is a crusader against men who act violently toward women, and it is hard to dislike that. The mystery keeps you turning page after page. I could hardly put it down once I got into it. Can't wait for the final book in the trilogy.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Annie Barrows--This book is charming, witty, well-written, and will appeal to those who love a semi-fiesty heroine who walks somewhat on her own path. Basically, it is about a woman who, while throwing of a rich and handsome suitor, is writing a book about a book club that forms and meets on the island of Guernsey during WWII. My church book club couldn't say enough nice stuff about this book. While I enjoyed reading it, and especially learning a lot about how WWII affected people on the front lines in Great Britain, there is also something a little boring and white-bread about the main story. I felt at times like it was trying too hard to be the favorite book of middle-aged white women everywhere. Or maybe I just didn't like the guy who gets the girl in the end ...

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich--This is a "between the numbers" book in her Stephanie Plum series that is on Part Four Zillion now. As I have said before, Janet Evanovich needs to stop writing this stuff. But somehow, I just keep reading them anyway. This one wasn't too bad--a short, fun little Christmas adventure for Stephanie--but I still recommend #1-10 to anyone who is looking to laugh, likes a mystery, and isn't offended by the occasional (or sometimes frequent) F-bomb.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger--This book really sucked me in from the start. A woman dies, but her ghost stays in her apartment (conveniently located next to a cemetery) where her two twin nieces that she has never met come to live. But the book rapidly became uninteresting when the ghost and the nieces start communicating. Things get crazy, far-fetched, and downright depressing. It is difficult to empathize with any of the characters besides the upstairs neighbor man who has OCD and is trying to get his wife back. The best part of the book is that you learn a lot about the famous Highgate Cemetery in London, where much of the book takes place.

Cecilia by Fanny Burney--I am a huge fan of Fanny Burney. If you love Jane Austen but have finished all of her books, you may want to try this book or Burney's Evalina. Cecilia is a beautiful heiress who grows up into the country but is whisked away into dissipated London society when her guardian dies. She meets all sorts of interesting Regency stereotypes, many of whom are hot after her money. Of course, she meets Mr. Right among all of them, but theirs is a love that can never be ... until it is, of course! Apparently, Austen was a big fan of Fanny Burney's in her own time, and one of her characters in Northanger Abbey actually reads a Burney book. But Burney is no Austen. Her dialogue is insightful, but her wit is not as sharp, and her women simper and faint and throw themselves upon the mercy of the superior male intellect not infrequently, which is more than a little annoying to a twenty-first century woman (or at least this one!).

Bloodroot by Amy Greene--I will admit that I am only halfway through this book, but I really like it. It is the story of a family connected to Bloodroot Mountain high in the hills of Tennessee (yes, they are rednecks/hillbillies) struggling to undo a curse that leads generations of them into sorrow and madness. Greene is an insightful, prosaic author who understands the kind of life she is portraying very well. You feel for her characters even when you don't like them, perhaps because most of their stories are told in a first-person voice. It is both beautiful and sad how their lives turn against them as they struggle. (I hope I like the second half of it so that I don't have to come back here and recant.)

There you go! Now, let me hear what all of you have been reading.

Addendum: I finished Bloodroot last night. Pretty darn good and with a semi-happy ending that left me content.