2011-36 - Death and the Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov

36 - Death and the Penguin, by Andrey Kurkov, 228 pages, Random House, 1996
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by Nick Hornby in one of his essays on books
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Good

Hmmm.  This was an interesting story.  Viktor is a struggling writer who, along with his penguin (who he adopted when the zoo couldn't afford to keep him) live in Ukraine.  He gets a job writing obituaries for the newspaper, and slowly gets sucked into a seedy underworld where his obits are prepared in advance of powerful people's manufactured demise.

Through this, he remains somewhat detached from the situation, and yet is a likeable character.

What stopped this book from being very good is the ending... I simply don't understand it.  So please, someone, read it and explain it to me?

2011-35 - Getting the Girl, by Markus Zusak

35 - Getting the Girl, by Markus Zusak, 250 pages, Scholastic Inc, 2001
WHY I PICKED IT: Markus Zusakt wrote it.
ELAPSED TIME: 4 days
RATING: Good

Zusak's follow-up to Fighting Ruben Wolfe sees our hero (Cam Wolfe) finding inner strength to define himself separate from the shadows of his achieving brothers.  It's a well written, quick read, targeted to a teenage angst-ridden audience... However, if you're only going to read one book by Zusak, I'd still recommend The Book Thief... and if you have read that and loved it, don't expect more of the same in this (earlier) work.

2011-34 - State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett

34 - State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett, 353 pages, Harper Collins, 2011
WHY I PICKED IT: Ann Patchett wrote it.
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Very Good

As with all of her other work, I found this book to have characters that are engaging and warm.  I found this story to be gripping and written with enough detail to draw me into that world, but not so much so that it became a book of descriptions.


Dr. Marina Singh is a research scientist sent into the forests of Brazil to find her former teacher (Dr. Annick Swenson) who is working on a wonder-drug.  The hunt is not easy, especially considering that the last person sent to find her ended up dead.  Swenson is focused, brilliant, and totally lacking in empathy.


The the story ends by bringing together the loose ends, but stops short of wrapping it all together is ... well, quite brilliant.

2011-XX - Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

XX - Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson, 247 pages, Harper Perennial, 2004
WHY I PICKED IT: Nick Hornby wrote good things about it in one of his essays
ELAPSED TIME: 7 days
RATING: Not Good

This is the story of an old preacher in middle America writing the story of his life for his young child.  He writes about his father (who was a preacher), and about his grandfathers (both of whom were preachers).  He writes about the struggles of the Depression, and of his own life.

The (massive) problem is that it's written like an old man telling a story... it meanders, it jumps forward and backwards, and it doesn't really have a point (other than, "this was my life").  If I were his child I'd be interested, insofar as I am interested to know my background, but for the rest of us...?

A week in, and I've barely hit the half way point.

Pass!

2011-33 - How to Be Lost, by Amanda Eyreward

33 - How to Be Lost, by Amanda Eyreward, 290 pages, Ballantine Books, 2005
WHY I PICKED IT: Nick Hornby recommended it in one of his essays on books.
ELAPSED TIME: 3 days
RATING: Very Good

This is a really well written story... Of the impact on a family when the youngest child, Ellie (aged 5) goes missing.  This (already dysfunctional) family almost completely unfray.  Eyreward tells multiple stories... the main one is 15 years later, from the perspective of the oldest sister (Caroline), but she interweaves several other stories... and pulls it all together into a nice bow at the end :).

Great literature?  No.  An entertaining read that'll leave you generally satisfied?  Absolutely!

2011-32 - A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, Julian Barnes

32 - A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters, Julian Barnes, 310 pages, Cambridge University Press, 1989
WHY I PICKED IT: Someone referred it to me, but I don't quite remember who
ELAPSED TIME: 7 days
RATING: Good

This book is ... odd.  Ten and a half stories that are seemingly independent of one another, but with threads that interweave.  This is less a book of history and more a book tying religion, history, and art into a book of fiction.

In one chapter Barnes tells the story of Noah's Ark ... from the perspective of a woodworm.  In another, he starts with the story of the Medusa, a ship that hit a reef in 1817 (-ish), and the story of the art that it stimulated (in 1819).

Some of the chapters were engaging ... but the lack of a unifying theme made this a difficult book to enjoy.

2011-31 - House-keeping vs. The Dirt, by Nick Hornby

31 - House-keeping vs. The Dirt, by Nick Hornby
WHY I PICKED IT: Second book of reviews by Nick Hornby
ELAPSED TIME: >1 month
RATING: Good.

Okay, so I found having read some of the books referred by Nick Hornby that I like his reviews more than I like what he reads... but was still compelled to make a list of 12 books that he reviewed in this book that I want to consider reading.

This book of essays was not as enjoyable as his first, but perhaps it's because the novelty has worn off.

2011-XX - Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Munro

XX - Who Do You Think You Are?  by Alice Munro, 219 pages, Penguin Canada, 1978
WHY I PICKED IT: Recommended by my friend Shelby
ELAPSED TIME: >2 weeks
RATING: Not Good

So I got 139 pages into this book... only because of the respect that I have for Shelby.  But I just couldn't bring myself to finish the last 80.  The first 1/3 of this book was drawn out and boring, the next third got slightly more interesting, and when the last third looked like it was going to revert, I had to quit.

There are a few good sentences, showing the skill of Alice Munro... But overall, the book reads like the depressing life of the protagonist.

2011-30 - The Next Thing on My List, by Jill Smolinski

30 - The Next Thing on My List, by Jill Smolinski, 283 pages, Three Rivers Press, 2007
WHY I PICKED IT: It looked lighthearted.
ELAPSED TIME: <1 day.
RATING: Good.

So I read a book in the "chick-lit" category... so sue me, I needed something lighthearted, and this fit the bill.  I might even read more by Smolinski, if she's written more.

This is the story of a woman (June) who had been coasting through life, who finds herself finishing the bucket-list of a dead 24-year old... The 24-year old had been in June's car when there were in an accident... and June kept the list.  The story is sweet and generally lighthearted.

Funny thing, if I made a list, I think it would be a list of destinations more than anything else :)