|
June 27
|
|
Heather
gave
 
to:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation (Hardcover)
by Paulo Coelho (Goodreads author!)
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in June, 2007
Heather said:
"A modern fairy tale in which a young woman is given the opportunity of escaping her small-town existence at the expense of the lives of the townsfolk themselves. Unremarkable in style and content. The only question it raised for me was, if people hav...more
A modern fairy tale in which a young woman is given the opportunity of escaping her small-town existence at the expense of the lives of the townsfolk themselves. Unremarkable in style and content. The only question it raised for me was, if people have been outsmarting the devil since at least Daniel Webster, why does he keep coming back to match wits with us?...less
"
|
|
June 18
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
The Lost Life of Eva Braun (Hardcover)
by Angela Lambert
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Heather said:
"I thought I should know more about the woman my car is named after, so I picked up this biography. It's done in a fairly unique way, since the author's mother was born at the same time and very near to the same place as the subject. So it covers a lo...more
I thought I should know more about the woman my car is named after, so I picked up this biography. It's done in a fairly unique way, since the author's mother was born at the same time and very near to the same place as the subject. So it covers a lot of ground about what it meant to be a German woman at this time, and I think makes some interesting points about what these women — even Eva Braun — could have known or done about the Holocaust that was happening all around them. It doesn't absolve these women of blame, but it puts them in some context, and it certainly makes one wonder what one would do in a similar situation.
I found it fascinating how the Nazis struck out at their own weaknesses — Goebbels club foot, Hitler's inbred family — by persecuting people for their infirmities, among other things. Freud would have had a hey day.
Amid all this was Eva — eager to please, fatally in love with a charismatic, but truly psychotic, man. There's a tragic fatalism to her story, as if from almost the beginning, she was resigning herself toward and unhappy end, although I don't think anyone could have predicted the horror that lay ahead.
The book reads quickly and the device of pairing Eva's story with that of the author's mother is unique. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a different perspective on Germany during the war. ...less
"
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
Island of the Sequined Love Nun (Paperback)
by Christopher Moore
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Heather said:
"This is a light, silly read ... great for the beach or the pool, but not much else. It's the story of a disgraced pilot who takes a shady job flying for a Dr. No-type scientist on an isolated island in the South Pacific.
There are some good, humo...more
This is a light, silly read ... great for the beach or the pool, but not much else. It's the story of a disgraced pilot who takes a shady job flying for a Dr. No-type scientist on an isolated island in the South Pacific.
There are some good, humorous moments and a generally dry, ironic tone that redeems some of the more outrageous plot elements. I'll probably pick up another Christopher Moore novel for my next vacation, but I won't expect it to be anything more than a guilty pleasure....less
"
|
|
May 21
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
The Ministry of Special Cases (Hardcover)
by Nathan Englander
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in May, 2008
Heather said:
"A heartbreaking dissent into the world of a wife and husband who lose their only child to Argintina's military junta during the 1970s. The most difficult part of this book is the way in which you watch the family fall apart, from the relatively sane,...more
A heartbreaking dissent into the world of a wife and husband who lose their only child to Argintina's military junta during the 1970s. The most difficult part of this book is the way in which you watch the family fall apart, from the relatively sane, if unusual, "normal" life to an insane world in which people wait endlessly by windows, give away their life savings on a vague possibility, threaten government leaders and grow apart in the absence of the child that held them together.
Disappearing is bug part of this book. Not just Pato's kidnapping, but his father's living as a man who makes the names of the unsavory disappear in the local Jewish cemetery, both parents' nose jobs, which erase their identities, friends gone in the blink of an eye when bad news arises.
I like this book because it pulls no punches: no easy answers, no happy endings, as can only be the case when a family is destroyed. ...less
"
|
|
May 18
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)
by John Steinbeck
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Heather said:
"Let me start by saying I wasn't the biggest Steinbeck fan coming into this. His writing had always felt a little cold to me. However, I did really enjoy this book and I think, being longer than some of his other work, he had the chance to move a litt...more
Let me start by saying I wasn't the biggest Steinbeck fan coming into this. His writing had always felt a little cold to me. However, I did really enjoy this book and I think, being longer than some of his other work, he had the chance to move a little deeper into his characters, bringing them better to life and painting some nice pictures. His description of coming into California after the trek across dust bowl and desert was particularly vivid.
The women in this book are the silent sufferers, and I can't help but feel that there was a parallel meant between the rape of the land and the abuse of so many of the female characters in this story. But in the end, it's a man's tale and a man's world....less
"
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine (Paperback)
by George M. Taber
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Heather said:
"The true story of the 1976 blind tasting in Paris that put California on the wine map. It's an interesting history for oenophiles, recounting the stories of the wineries that moved away from producing sugary zinfandels and dessert wines in favor of B...more
The true story of the 1976 blind tasting in Paris that put California on the wine map. It's an interesting history for oenophiles, recounting the stories of the wineries that moved away from producing sugary zinfandels and dessert wines in favor of Burgundian cabs and chardonnays. It drags on a bit long in some places, but otherwise an easy read....less
"
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
Click
by Linda Sue Park, Gregory Maguire, Nick Hornby
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Heather
is currently reading:
Suite Française (Paperback)
by Irene Nemirovsky
bookshelves:
currently-reading
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Heather
added:
The Testament of Gideon Mack (Paperback)
by James Robertson
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Heather
gave
to:
Henry VIII: The King and His Court (Paperback)
by Alison Weir
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Heather said:
"I will admit, I read this biography because I was intrigued by what I saw on Showtime's The Tudors and wanted to see how closely it mirrored "the truth." In particular, I found it odd that Henry could seem so genuinely troubled by his relig...more
I will admit, I read this biography because I was intrigued by what I saw on Showtime's The Tudors and wanted to see how closely it mirrored "the truth." In particular, I found it odd that Henry could seem so genuinely troubled by his religious convictions at the same time that he was so obviously conniving for new wives.
What I learned was that Tudor England was a very different time, both religiously and in terms what leaders could and did do. At the birth of the Reformation, people were more distanced from their faith, and being a "good Catholic" while committing adultery and waging war was even more defensible than it is today.
The Henry of real life was much more private than Showtime's Henry, and I think he did feel disheartened by his serial relationships, although he was more driven to produce male offspring, understandably. Perhaps it is most ironic than that it would be his daughter Elizabeth who would really lead England into its Golden Age.
Oh, and the program is very faithful as far as events are concerned. It even goes so far as to recount small details, like the time Buckingham spilled water from a washing bowl on his enemy, Cardinal Woolsey. However, it plays a little fast and loose with dates, killing Henry Fitzroy off at 4 from sweating sickness rather than at 17 from TB and such. It also decided to swap Henry's sister Mary for his sister Margaret, perhaps because of Princess Mary and for the sake of easier comprehension.
...less
"
|
