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June 18
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Stephanie
is currently reading:
Touch (Mass Market Paperback)
by Elmore Leonard
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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April 30
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Stephanie
gave
to:
Amsterdam (Paperback)
by Ian McEwan
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my rating:
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read in April, 2008
Stephanie said:
"I have become a full-fledged devotee of Ian McEwan. Along with Zadie Smith, he's currently my favorite writer.
It takes most of the novel for McEwan's characters to get to Amsterdam, but there are memorable chapters in London and out in the Lake D...more
I have become a full-fledged devotee of Ian McEwan. Along with Zadie Smith, he's currently my favorite writer.
It takes most of the novel for McEwan's characters to get to Amsterdam, but there are memorable chapters in London and out in the Lake District along the way. The novel is centered around a couple of friends, each of whom has been lovers and friends with Molly, who is memorialized at the beginning of the book. They then end up on opposite sides of an ethical dispute after having promised to help one another end their lives in the event of a catastrophic illness (think Alzheimer's or worse). It's a smart bit of plotting, enhanced by McEwan's usual, insightful treatment of characters and moral/ethical issues. He won the Booker Prize for this one, and I think his deftness with the plot probably kicked it over the line. (I personally would have thought that Saturday would win, but another year, another field, I guess.)
No one's writing opens me like Ian McEwan's. I feel richer for every book of his that I have read. ...less
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April 25
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Stephanie
gave
to:
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Hardcover)
by John Perkins
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my rating:
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Stephanie
gave
to:
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (Paperback)
by Jon Krakauer
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my rating:
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read in April, 2008
Stephanie said:
"To me, Fundamentalism is an F-word, and Krakauer's book feeds the impression. The focal point is the murder of an outspoken wife of a man who is being drawn into a fundamentalist sect of Mormonism by his brothers who are Commanded by God to get her o...more
To me, Fundamentalism is an F-word, and Krakauer's book feeds the impression. The focal point is the murder of an outspoken wife of a man who is being drawn into a fundamentalist sect of Mormonism by his brothers who are Commanded by God to get her out of the way. Krakauer, who also wrote Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, is the writer after the odd situation, and here he travels back and forth through the strange history of Mormonism to shed light upon the strange world of the men who have soldiered on in the polygamy first countenanced by LDS founder Joseph Smith, whose overactive libido seems to have been a greater force in divine policy than any actual heavenly mandate. (Along with his 40-plus wives, Smith was a regular patron at brothels in the Midwest.)
With the strange goings-on in Texas, Krakauer pierces the veil obscuring the men who believe that they will not be "exalted" without multiple wives, and the women at whose expense such "exaltation" occurs.
...less
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April 21
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Stephanie
gave
to:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Hardcover)
by Junot Díaz
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my rating:
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read in April, 2008
Stephanie said:
"What a great read. Diaz is one part comic book writer, one part commentator on the sad history of the Dominican Republic, all parts exciting novelist. The title prepared me for the heartbreaking conclusion.
Great new voice in American letters.
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Stephanie
gave
to:
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Hardcover)
by Brock Clarke
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my rating:
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read in September, 2007
Stephanie said:
"I loved this novel. Clarke is equal parts funny and eloquent, and his hapless protagonist lurches between his alcoholic parents and a series of literary hot spots.
Clarke creates wonderful characters and does a great send-up of academia. I'll nev...more
I loved this novel. Clarke is equal parts funny and eloquent, and his hapless protagonist lurches between his alcoholic parents and a series of literary hot spots.
Clarke creates wonderful characters and does a great send-up of academia. I'll never think of Willa Cather again without Clarke's allusion. ...less
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April 16
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Stephanie
read and liked
Stephanie 's
review of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation:
"Ok I admit it, he's preaching to the choir. And this REALLY reinforced the negative feelings I have for our current administration (or maybe I should say "the current administration" as I don't want to claim them in any way).
Condi shoul...more
Ok I admit it, he's preaching to the choir. And this REALLY reinforced the negative feelings I have for our current administration (or maybe I should say "the current administration" as I don't want to claim them in any way).
Condi should be mortified. My God, this is appalling. This book, along with the recent news that she was among those who approved each separate method of torture that we have practiced, just makes me incredibly disgusted and ashamed.
I admit I have always wanted there to be a full investigation. I am not necessarily convinced of what happened on 9/11, but (or AND) I think the fact that we have not truly had a full investigation is such a slap in the face to the American public, esp. the families of everyone associated w/WTC (victims, first responders,etc.).
I still don't believe the explanations for either the WTC collapse or the Pentagon (where the hell did the TITANIUM-clad jet engines go? They were vaporized? not bloody likely).
And to think we allocated a whole $3M to "investigate" this worst tragedy on US soil, and we allocated FORTY MILLION to investigate the Challenger explosion? What is WRONG with us that we just let this stuff be poured onto us and we just keep nodding and saying "Ok, whatever you say, and what did Britney do today?" AAARRRGGGHHH.
Not sure why I keep reading things that make me want to throw the book across the room. Kind of like the Peter Lance book "Triple Cross" - now THERE is a scary tale (same subject, 9/11)....less
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April 03
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New comment on Stephanie 's review of
The Poisonwood Bible
reply to this comment
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Stephanie
gave
to:
Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God (Paperback)
by Jack Miles
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in March, 2008
Stephanie said:
"This book picks up where <em>God: A Biography</em> left off.
It's difficult to paraphrase Miles, but God, having messed up relations with his chosen people, uses Jesus to give human experience to a spiritual being. Implicit here is th...more
This book picks up where <em>God: A Biography</em> left off.
It's difficult to paraphrase Miles, but God, having messed up relations with his chosen people, uses Jesus to give human experience to a spiritual being. Implicit here is the idea that God hasn't done that well with his creation. At the first transgression he has saddled humanity with death. Through Jesus he offers a wrenching sort of empathy that results in the overcoming of that very state which he imposed on humanity.
Miles zips back and forth between the Old and New Testaments to show where Jesus and his disciples are coming from. It's like a weaving, a beautiful tapestry of sorts.
...less
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Stephanie
gave
to:
God: A Biography (Paperback)
by Jack Miles
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in January, 2004
Stephanie said:
"Jack Miles is a theologian who reads the Bible as literature and discusses it accordingly. God is therefore a protagonist in the throes of learning to live with his creation(s).
I found his way of approaching God to illuminate the kinds of thought...more
Jack Miles is a theologian who reads the Bible as literature and discusses it accordingly. God is therefore a protagonist in the throes of learning to live with his creation(s).
I found his way of approaching God to illuminate the kinds of thoughts and feelings that I've always had as I read the Bible. He is refreshing, a one of a kind theologian.
Very cool!...less
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