Well-read in August September 6, 2007
Damn it. I just lost the post I’d started writing about what I read last month. And I just remembered I was supposed to call my sister tonight. Double damn. Sorry Rachelle!
Anyhoodle… on with the list!
~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (7)
The biggest disappointment about this book was that I didn’t try to get a copy the first weekend it came out so that I could participate in the grand shared experience of spending the weekend (or, in my case, the afternoon and evening) reading this book. As to the book, I liked it - it was darker and more intense. I thought the characters matured a lot, and that Ron got in some great one-liners (there was one about how impressing girl witches wasn’t all about “wand work” which had me cracking up). The saddest part was when Harry read Snape’s memories, and finding out where his patronus came from. However, I felt the epilogue was too short and rushed; there were a lot of other characters I would have liked finding out about. On the other hand, it gives me free reign to cling to the belief that Percy Weasley got a job at his brother’s joke shop eventually.
~ Jeffery Eugenidies, Middlesex (8.5)
This was a book club book. At first, I was concerned that I wouldn’t like it as much as I remembered (I stayed up all night reading it); fortunately, it was as good the second time around.
~Olivia Goldsmith, Dumping Billy (5.5)
After all that heavy reading, I needed something light and fluffy.
~ Alan Moore et al, The Watchmen (7.5)
Kind of creepy. The pirate story was seriously disturbing, but it was interesting to see “superheros” made out to be normal humans with flaws and appetites.
~ Neil Gaiman, Stardust (8.5)
It was like reading an olde-fashioned faerie tale written by someone with a sense of humour. It was the first book of his I read lo those many years ago (Neverwhere was the second). The movie, which took several liberties with the book, was also pretty awesome.
~ Ami McKay, The Birth House (8.5)
This is going to be our next book club book. A beautiful story about a midwife in rural Nova Scotia in the early 20th century.
~ Lauren Willig, The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (6.5)
Cheesy and a little over-the-top, all the while winking at the reader and wallowing in its bodice-ripping moments.
~ Stephen Fry, The Liar (8)
Dry, witty, and devious. Andrian Healey reminds me a lot of Nick Twisp, of the book Youth in Revolt. One of the characters is in the habit of recording messages for broadcast on the BBC, and all I could think was, “hey! He’s an early adopter of podcasting!” God, I am such a geek.
Ohhhhh… I keep looking at The Birth House when I’m in the bookstore. I just needed someone to tell me that it was good. That settles it - I’m buying it!
My great-grandmother was a Nova Scotian midwife in the early 1900s. She never talked about it much, so all my grandmother and great aunts know is that she started attending births when she was 14!
I see myself checking a few of those out when I’m at work tomorrow. Thanks for the reviews!
[...] using to keep track of them.) All I can tell you is that the Stephen Fry book I put in the August read list was actually read in September. It was a terrible error, I accept responsibility for my actions, [...]