Kady's 24 Book Challenge

[Kady]

Very excited to join this group and post about my favourite books! I'll be aiming for 24 books - 2 per month is more than enough for me. If you'd like to follow along, all of my read books will appear in my '2016' shelf.

I'll be following the Popsugar list, as I did last year, but my real goal this year is to try and branch out and read books that don't fit the style of books I normally read. Any recommendations are always welcome.

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (5/5, A book that takes place on an island)
2. The Strange Library (3/5, A book that's under 150 pages)

[Kara]

Welcome to the challenge, Kady! And your first book is one of my all-time faves.

[Kady]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz

The short version: Absolutely gripping in a way I haven't experienced in a long time. Dangerously addicting after the second part. Can't wait to read more of Diaz's works.

The long version:
Steve Sckenda probably said it best when he wrote:

"I respond to stories of courage. I love it when the weak and timid find their voice and their courage to stand up to bullies. I responded to this story in the same way I responded to LOTR. I am a simple Hobbit. I want my pipeweed, my garden, my books, and my flagon of ale at the Green Dragon. But, once in a while, Hobbits have to fight for Middle Earth and all the values that we hold dear. Hold on little shirelings. I believe that we are living in such a time, and I need my stories (stories like this) to give me courage; to give me heart; to give me cheer; and to give me hope. Is there hope? I invite readers knowledgeable with Joseph Conrad to compare the last lines of this novel– "The beauty. The beauty”– to the last lines of “Heart of Darkness”– “The horror. The horror.”'

Oscar Wao is not the most remarkable of protagonists, but that's what makes him so wonderful. At nearly 300 pounds, stuffed to the brim with sci-fi and SAT vocabulary, he's an image we all have in our mind; the super-nerd. He stumbles through life looking for love, aware he isn't the most desirable candidate.

Along the way we learn more about him and his family; his sister Lola, his mother Beli, and the indomitable La Inca. But most importantly, we learn about the fuku - the curse that followed their family from the Dominican Republic and back. By the end, you have no idea how much is real and how much is superstition.

Diaz takes us through a non-linear timeline of the events that lead up to Oscar's early death, revolving around each family member and their own personal crises. You get a crippling sense of having seen the same thing before, but it only adds to the eeriness of the story. Once I reached the second half of the book it was hard to put it down, wanting to see where the story went next. It's really thrilling to get that feeling after such a long time.

This book is one that left me with many surprises. Firstly, it's rare that I'm given a course book that I feel compelled to read in practically one sitting. Secondly, it's rare for me to finish a course book before said course has even started. I'm not one for reading ahead of the class - when a professor sends me a list ahead I rarely jump on it right away - but this seemed interesting right from the get-go, and I wasn't disappointed.

It's also rare for me to get so hooked on a writing style. My copy is covered in fine lines to emphasize sentences that stuck out to me - and there are a lot of them. This book oozes with quotable material. Always good for a paper.

[Megan]

Thanks for the review and congrats on reading your first book in 2016!

[Kady]

Thanks so much, Megan! I'm looking forward to trying my hand at reviews.



The Strange Library, Haruki Murakami

The short version: Mystical and different, but not the best introduction I could have had to Murakami. I'll need to explore his other books to see what it is about this I'm not as keen on.

The long version:
This book reads like one long, whimsical dream; it seems normal on the surface, but as you delve further and further along the story picks up details from your subconscious. By the time that you've finished, you're struggling to process what has happened, let alone explain it to someone in a rational way. I've been told that's what much of Murakami's writing is like - this warm, lucid state of dreamlike potential that slowly settles on your psyche.

Of course, this is concentrated Murakami, compressed in a way that gives you only the slightest glimpse of his prowess. It's more of an art project than it is a novel in how it presents itself - it's even listed in the typography section at the Tate Modern bookstore. For first-time Murakami readers such as myself, that taste was interesting but far too fleeting to be able to be identified.

Still, proper merit should be given where it's due. Each word in the prose is precious and carefully thought through. The translation work is stellar. The pacing is perfect and the imagery strong. But I only wish that I could have experienced it as a Murakami veteran, not a novice.