Oh, I suppose I could post the April reading report. It will be short, because I don't have enough energy to go on and on. but THREE great books this month, which is like manna from heaven, don't you think? I can't even remember the last time I read three good books in one month.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Well, of course I've heard of her. But I'd never read anything by her. This is one amazing book. It's received so much press I probably don't have to say much about it, but briefly, it's the chronicle of the year following her husband's unexpected death. She is just ferociously intelligent, you can see it in every paragraph. And the writing is so clean and sharp it's like a razor. It's a wonderful read, even though her grief shadows every page. Highly recommended. the new "best book so far this year."
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Another amazing book. It's about a young boy whose father was killed at the Top of the World restaurant on 9/11. Foer's great achievement is the voice of the boy, Oskar-- it almost echoes in your head, it's so clear and distinctive. You're almost relieved when he (briefly) moves to a different narrator. but it (the narrative voice) starts to falter and drag a bit toward the end. Otherwise it would have knocked the previous entry out of the "best book so far this year" spot. The plot is very carefully worked out, though, I thought it ended well-- which doesn't always happen, as previously discussed.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Very moving and inspiring account of a former mountain climber's determination to build schools in Central Asia. I actually still have about 50 pages to go, but it's a great read, very absorbing.
and that's all for now.
Aunt BeaN
No comments:
Post a Comment