deLille's updates

deLille's updates http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rss/992712 en-US Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:17:32 -0700 60 deLille's updates http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 32801931 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:17:32 -0700 Review28401780 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Gal: A True Life']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/28401780

to: Gal: A True Life (Paperback) by Ruthie Bolton
bookshelves: could-not-finish
I had to put this book down. I felt like I could not take one more book about abused women. ]]> 32800771 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:51:15 -0700 Review17746076 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Surrender the Pink']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17746076

to: Surrender the Pink (Hardcover) by Carrie Fisher
bookshelves: could-not-finish
]]> 32798319 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:18:31 -0700 Review18767385 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18767385

to: Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America (Paperback) by Ursula Hegi
After reading all the interviews in this book, my greatest take-away was that people just aren't as impacted by their country of origin as much as they are by their families. I sensed that the author, Ursula Hegi, was hoping to draw some clear themes regarding the impact that German ancestry has on post-WWII German immigrants to the United States. However, the people she interviewed seemed to regard their Germany ancestry as mere background music compared to the more influential factors in their life: Mom and Dad. What this said to me was that a strong family can help a child overcome almost anything. ]]> 32796996 Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:00:25 -0700 Review17816664 <![CDATA[deLille added 'The Year of Magical Thinking']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17816664

to: The Year of Magical Thinking (Paperback) by Joan Didion
Those readers who feel a sense of disconnect from Joan Didion's book because of her privileged lifestyle are missing the point that death is the great equalizer. Rich dead people don't have more fun than poor dead people. And survivors of rich dead people suffer as much as survivors of poor dead people. Joan Didion shows that she is as fragile as the rest of us, and that the material trappings by which some would judge her don't mean a thing when the love of your life is suddenly yanked from this world. This book is not a novel (don't go looking for plot or action scenes), but a stark memoir of what it's like to be the one left behind. ]]> 32252408 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:19:46 -0700 Review27974781 <![CDATA[deLille added 'The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/27974781 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (Hardcover) by Barack Obama
bookshelves: currently-reading
Just started this book because, as a Republican who is receiving alarming emails about this guy, I thought I would read his work for myself. I've worked my way through the first two chapters and other than the fact that he alludes to the unfairness of all states having the same number of delegates in the Senate (what, did he miss the junior high school history class about how Congress works?), he doesn't really say anything other than "America likes apple pie and so do I". In other words, he says nothing anyone can disagree with regardless of their political persuasion, or at least, not in the first two chapters. Stay tuned.... ]]> 32251893 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:05:02 -0700 Review17813350 <![CDATA[deLille added 'The Book of Ruth']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17813350

to: The Book of Ruth (Oprah's Book Club) by Jane Hamilton
I finally finished this book which has been on my "could-not-finish" shelf for ages. What can I say... it is a lyrical book with beautiful prose, but the subject matter is extremely depressing and it never lifts itself up. It's like Hamilton has never heard the term "comic relief". I loved Jane Hamilton's "A Map of the World" and "A Short History of a Prince", but this book made me weary of Hamilton's metaphor-a-minute writing and her continuous dwelling on everything ugly about people. Everyone says that this book has a hopeful ending; well, that's not saying much considering that there is no where else to go at the end of this book except up. ]]> 30815836 Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:07:42 -0700 QuestionUserStat34260 <![CDATA[deLille took the never-ending book quiz]]> http://www.goodreads.com/trivia 992712

deLille took the never-ending book quiz.

questions answered:	4
correct:	4 (100.0%)
skipped:	20
best streak:	2
questions added:	0

beat her score »

]]> 30265908 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:19:13 -0700 Review26433869 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Buffalo Afternoon: A Novel']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26433869 Buffalo Afternoon: A Novel (Paperback) by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
]]> 30265341 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:17:43 -0700 Review26433406 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Vinegar Hill']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26433406

to: Vinegar Hill (P.S.) by A. Manette Ansay
This is the book that made me finally decide that I was sick and tired of reading books about dysfunctional families, particularly ones that are recommended by Oprah. If you want bleak and depressing, this is it. ]]> 30261194 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:03:18 -0700 Review26429949 <![CDATA[deLille added 'Monsoon']]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26429949

to: Monsoon (Paperback ) by Di Morrissey
I recently returned from Germany where I met a woman from New Zealand who was reading this book and she gave it to me to read after she was finished with it. Since it was the only book I had to read in English while I was in Germany, I read it, and my feelings on it are mixed. The writing style is very simplistic -- it seems as though the author, Di Morrissey is deliberately trying to write to a mass market audience -- which is rather disappointing because I feel that she is capable of so much more. This book is set in Vietnam and I think Morrissey describes well the feeling and mood of the place; it is in her ability to capture a few little images so that the whole scene comes alive that hints at her true writing ability. I enjoyed this book for its ability to transport one to another place... she is a good "travel writer". If you have any interest in traveling to Vietnam, I would recommend this book.

Morrissey's plot line also delivers enough adventure to keep one turning the pages, but it's a bit predictable and in some cases, a little unbelievable. I kept feeling like I was reading a book targeted to the "young adult" (teenager) demographic, but upon further reading about the author, I've come to understand that she is a best selling fiction writer among adults in Australia. She is not a "young adult" writer, although if she were, I would have probably given this book four stars.

Oh, well, I'd rate this book in the same manner as I rated "The Red Tent", which was all the rage in the US a few years ago, but I personally thought was very poorly written. (No one else seems to agree with me on that point, though!) However, I give "Monsoon" a higher star rating than "The Red Tent" just for its ability to evoke the feeling of present-day Vietnam.

This book was not in Amazon's or Good Reads databases so I had to enter it in manually. Here is a synopsis of the plot by Pan MacMillan Australia:

"Monsoon... is a journey into the hearts and memories of those caught in a certain time in a particular place.

Sandy Donaldson has been working for a volunteer organisation in Vietnam for the past four years. As her contract nears it end, she is reluctant to leave so she invites her oldest friend, Anna, to come for a holiday and discover its beautiful tourist destinations.

Both girls have unexplored links to this country. Sandy's father is a Vietnam vet and Anna's mother was a Vietnamese boat person.

During their travels, they meet Tom, an old Australian journalist who covered the war and plans to report on the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. It is Tom who tries to persuade Sandy's father to return to Long Tan and settle the ghosts that have haunted him for 40 years, and suggests that Anna should delve into her mother's past.

But the girls are reluctant, swept up in their own concerns, relationships, and a business deal that has the potential to go horribly wrong. However, it is the near-blind Buddhist nun living alone in the pagoda atop one of the karsts in Halong Bay who might hold the key."

Okay, my opinion is that the "near-blind Buddhist nun living alone in the pagoda" was a weak attempt to interject some Buddhist spirituality into the novel, but the description of traveling to her pagoda was quite interesting and you could almost feel yourself actually being there. ]]>