Watcha Reading in June/July

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

I started If on a Winter's Night a Traveler at Andrew's recommendation. I am about 30 percent through and am somewhat confounded by the book thus far. Once I start reading a book, I always finish it, so the plot mechanics have been a bit challenging for me. I am withholding additional judgement until I am further into the story.

I am about halfway through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I put it down to start the other book and am antsy to get back to it. I am enjoying it so far and it has been a speedy read up to this point. The only difficulty I am experiencing is keeping all of the characters straight from one another. I think the sole form of communication being in letter format has made this somewhat more difficult.

[Andrew, Wound Up]

I finished 2666. It was a sprawling epic that wove together stories spanning the last century in a grand arc. The title is never referenced in the book, but refers to a year in the future that acts as a shared horizon line for all the stories. The novel is actually five smaller books grouped together with multiple shared themes and characters.

I think that an overarching theme was living in a shadow of violence. This shadow vacillated from a close intimacy to a city tormented by a mass murderer or murderers to a German soldier in WWII.

This novel took me a long time to get through and is not an easy read. The author died before final editing was done and it is translated from Spanish. I recommend this as a modern masterpiece with the caveat that it is overly complex and at times gets lost in itself.

I also finished If on a Winter's Night, discussion should be up soon!

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

I finished The Man Who Ate Everything in early June. I am somewhat conflicted by it. The prose is witty, and the author is sassy and smart with a masterful use of language. I just wasn't thrilled with all of the chapter content which oscillated between very hot and very cold for me. Stories range from an in-depth taste test of ketchup to Steingarten's personal, and often very comical, culinary experiments with a bit of world travel and a few recipes thrown in for good measure. I would definitely read Steingarten again, I'm just not certain who I would recommend this specific book to.

I finished both If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for the July book club selections. I'll post my thoughts on both of these in the book club discussion sections.

I started The Spiritual Singularity and am about halfway through. This is the third installment of the Day Eight series. I will wait to comment further until I have completed it since I am at a point in the plot where a lot is going on.

Andrew resumed reading The Dragon Reborn aloud. We are about three-quarters of the way through. I'm LOVING this book in The Wheel of Time series.

I think that brings me up to date.

[Suzie]

I discovered, quite by accident, that a new installment had been published this year in one of my all time favorite sagas, the Outlander series. Because my memory is so awful I am forced to re-read every book in a series before I start the latest so that I can get the most out of the book. Financially this is actually a blessing...I keep reading the same books over and over again and I still love them! The downside is that once I start a series, I can't interrupt it for anything else, or I will forget all the details! Sadly, this has meant that, so far, I've not been able to get to Potato Peel, because it is one of my favorite books, and I'd love to discuss it. But there is hope...I'm a pretty fast reader, if I can finish the current book and then read the last two (1500 page per) books before August, I will join you in the fin discussion! And I am thrilled by both the upcoming books...I love Grisham, and I've never been able to get through anything by Dostoyevsky, but I am hoping that with the groups help I will scale that peak!

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

@Suzie - I too am a Grisham fan, it is one of my guilty pleasures. I petitioned for the shorter Dostoyevsky (Andrew really wanted The Brothers Karamazov) to ease into heavy Russian lit. At any rate, I REALLY hope you join us in it.

[Andrew, Wound Up]

I'm reading The Last Unicorn as a quick filler and working through the foreword of Crime and Punishment.

Unicorn is surprisingly great. I'll be back with more details soon as it is a short book.

[Suzie]

I am really looking forward to the experience of watching the Finazzos attack Dostoyevsky. I am hoping that keeps me motivated to keep reading, even when I despair that I will never finish it. I do not have a happy history with the Russians!

[Andrew, Wound Up]

I finished The Last Unicorn and really loved it. This book is a fairy tale aware of its place among other tales. It tells the story of a unicorn who realizes she may be the last unicorn in existence and sets out to disprove that theory. She meets characters who defy their archetypes and goes on an unequaled adventure. The author's prose carries a magical quality that was exhilarating to read.

"Do you know what I am, butterfly?" the unicorn asked hopefully, and he replied, "Excellent well, you're a fishmonger. You're my everything, you are my sunshine, you are old and gray and full of sleep, you're my pickle-face, consumptive Mary Jane." He paused, fluttering his wings against the wind, and added conversationally, "your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name."

Are their other unicorns left? When asked the magician Schmendrick surmises "They are surely gone, lady, all but you. When you walk, you make an echo where they used to be."

Schmendrick is a character you should look forward to reading about. Here he prepares to counter an attack: The magician stood erect, menacing the attackers with demons, metamorphoses, paralyzing ailments, and secret Judo holds.

One amazing thing about this novel is how Beagle takes things that generally annoy me like songs and overt alliteration and charms me instead. Two examples (I shan't include any of the songs here but let me say this - they are impossible not to "sing" as you read them):

You are bored with bliss, satiated with sensation, jaded with jejune joys.

He forbids everything, from lights to lutes, from fires to fairs and singing to sinning; from books and beer and talk of spring to games you play with bits of string.

I believe these few quotes may do better than any review I could write to encourage your reading of this story. Beagle has created a world which delighted me with dark corners, evil curses, and heroes who haven't yet figured out their destiny.

I think I'm going to jump right into the sequel, written decades later: Two Hearts.

[Andrew, Wound Up]

And I finished Two Hearts, it was actually just a very short story/coda to the original novel. It also teases a future novel which I certainly hope is being written right now.

I am contemplating beginning my first steps into Crime and Punishment now. I have so much I'd like to do - but I think I need to read a chapter to get my bearings first.

Possibilities:

*A quiz/book giveaway.
*Readers guide covering basic info about the locale and politics as it relates to the story.
*Character guide.

I know that you can find some of that info online easily - but it tends to have spoilers and whatnot that you probably want to avoid if you are like me.

[Suzie]

Andrew, I would really appreciate any sort of guides you put together...I am pretty sure that I won't get through c&p without help!

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

I read the The Spiritual Singularity, the third installment in the Day Eight . I liked each book less then the previous, which is disappointing because the first book began with such promise. The characters did not hold my attention over time and the author tried to incorporate too many tricks into his plot line. By the end of the book, I was reminded very much of The Matrix , which was a new and interesting concept 14 years ago.

I am halfway through The Racketeer which is proceeding at break-neck speed. It is interesting to read John Grisham from a book club standpoint which is a first for me. I am taking notes and getting ready for the final discussion!

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

@Andrew - I'm down with whatever your intricate master plan is for Crime and Punishment.

[Michelle, Overrun By Pets]

I finished The Racketeer. I liked it, but it was not my favorite Grisham book. I'll leave additional commentary on this topic for the current book of the month section.

I started Crime and Punishment and am nearly done with the part one. Keeping the Russian names/characters straight has been the biggest challenge for me thus far.