I'm getting a lot out of books on cd. With school reading being so overwhelming it's nice to reclaim 3 hours in the car each day I go to school for books I want to read and not have to read.
This one was read by the author which adds to the enjoyment. The audio book had a few things not in the print copy, the poems about dogs bonus track was very funny. But there is a story titled You Can't Kill The Rooster that was in the print but not the audio that I'm told is hysterical. One of my favorite parts of this collection was his story about talking music lessons from a midget obsessed with the female body. Some of the stories were a bit hard to hear, but I think those same bits would have been hard to read as well. Sedaris unapologetically talks about his drug problems while in art school and it's hard not to laugh while cringing over the lows he sunk to.
All in all this was pretty good, I wasn't completely wowed but I liked it.
(Finished September 26, 2013)
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Unaccustomed Earth: Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
I read interpreter of maladies also by Jhumpa Lahiri at the suggestion of my dear Beth and then also at her suggestion I picked up this on in CD to listen to in the car on my very long trip to and from school.
My review will be on the work but also on the quality for the book on cd. I wasn't one for listening to books very much. In the past the exception was the Harry Potter series which for about 2 years my kids insisted on listening to every time we got in the car and so we heard the entire series about 4 times. But I think I have been converted, at least for long car trips such as my trek back and forth from home to school.
Like interpreter of maladies, Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories. One of the amazing things I find with these is that while the stories pick up at a moment in the life of the characters, give us a glimpse into a set of events, and then we leave them. There isn't an ending in the traditional sense. The ending we get isn't meant to be a clean wrap up, there's no "and they lived happily ever after" only a sense of "oh please tell me more". Lahiri does this so well it is both breathtaking and heartbreaking. She also takes what can plain, even ugly words (like flaccid for example) and strings them together and makes them brilliant and amazing.
The cd experience was very interesting. The readers, one male and one female, both very good with the Indian accent and pronouncing words (names and cities) that I might have stumbled across. They were very good at reading with emotion and not using a flat tone and so inserting life into the words. It was over too soon and I am sad to say goodbye to this one.
(finished September 18, 2013)
My review will be on the work but also on the quality for the book on cd. I wasn't one for listening to books very much. In the past the exception was the Harry Potter series which for about 2 years my kids insisted on listening to every time we got in the car and so we heard the entire series about 4 times. But I think I have been converted, at least for long car trips such as my trek back and forth from home to school.
Like interpreter of maladies, Unaccustomed Earth is a collection of short stories. One of the amazing things I find with these is that while the stories pick up at a moment in the life of the characters, give us a glimpse into a set of events, and then we leave them. There isn't an ending in the traditional sense. The ending we get isn't meant to be a clean wrap up, there's no "and they lived happily ever after" only a sense of "oh please tell me more". Lahiri does this so well it is both breathtaking and heartbreaking. She also takes what can plain, even ugly words (like flaccid for example) and strings them together and makes them brilliant and amazing.
The cd experience was very interesting. The readers, one male and one female, both very good with the Indian accent and pronouncing words (names and cities) that I might have stumbled across. They were very good at reading with emotion and not using a flat tone and so inserting life into the words. It was over too soon and I am sad to say goodbye to this one.
(finished September 18, 2013)
Monday, September 2, 2013
Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq by Farnaz Fassihi
Before I tell you what I think of this amazing book I want to share a little six degrees moment with you. One of my best friends, Ann, is married to Rick. One of Rick's dear friends is Babak. Babak is the love in Farnaz's life. A few years ago, not too long after this book came out, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Farnaz and Babak while Ann & Rick were in NYC visiting. Farnaz was so kind and I was glad to meet friends of my friends but now, after finally having read her book, I feel even more pleased and honored to even for that short time have got the chance to talk to her.
Farnaz was in Iraq as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal during the time leading up to the US going in there and during the first few years of what can really only be called our occupation of the country.
There is some history of the tribal differences between Sunni and Shiite and a first hand account of the change in the country caused by the long running war. But the real story between the covers of Waiting for an Ordinary Day is the insight into the real people just trying to survive, to care for their families, their children. Things like visiting family, celebrating birthdays or weddings, going to work and school, all become instances of taking a risk with your life.
This isn't a sugar coated story, this is a real glimpse into life in a war zone. It is painful and messy. The beauty is that even in all the danger there is still life going on, babies born, couples getting married and love of art and culture. There is a lot of history and religious background that adds layers of complication to the situation. Farnaz does a touching and powerful job of taking her reader with her as she watches the fallout.
(Finished September 2, 2013)
Farnaz was in Iraq as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal during the time leading up to the US going in there and during the first few years of what can really only be called our occupation of the country.
There is some history of the tribal differences between Sunni and Shiite and a first hand account of the change in the country caused by the long running war. But the real story between the covers of Waiting for an Ordinary Day is the insight into the real people just trying to survive, to care for their families, their children. Things like visiting family, celebrating birthdays or weddings, going to work and school, all become instances of taking a risk with your life.
This isn't a sugar coated story, this is a real glimpse into life in a war zone. It is painful and messy. The beauty is that even in all the danger there is still life going on, babies born, couples getting married and love of art and culture. There is a lot of history and religious background that adds layers of complication to the situation. Farnaz does a touching and powerful job of taking her reader with her as she watches the fallout.
(Finished September 2, 2013)
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
I was taken by surprise by this book.
The format is brilliant, the chapters alternate taking place in the present and in the past as Victoria tells her story. In the beginning I was sucked in but at the same time related almost too much to the broken and unlovable way she feels.
As a foster child Victoria ends up with Elizabeth and learns all about the Victorian language of flowers and how to communicate using them. Elizabeth also tries to teach Victoria about love but she isn't ready yet and Victoria ends up back in a group home.
As an 18 year old aged out of the system Victoria is on her own and unprepared for the world. But somewhere in her heart the time with Elizabeth lingers. As she gets to the part of her story where she explains what happened when she was removed from what could have been her forever home she begins to understand she is capable of love even though it scares the bejezzus out of her and everything in her wants her to run.
By about 3/4 into the book I found it very painful to read, I was feeling so much for Victoria and had to close the book but it only lasted a couple of minutes because I needed to keep going and know if she was ok.
There is a listing in the back that is Victoria's list of flowers and their meanings and I found that very interesting. What a lovely way to tell someone how you feel about them, even when it's not so nice.
(Finished August 27, 2013)
The format is brilliant, the chapters alternate taking place in the present and in the past as Victoria tells her story. In the beginning I was sucked in but at the same time related almost too much to the broken and unlovable way she feels.
As a foster child Victoria ends up with Elizabeth and learns all about the Victorian language of flowers and how to communicate using them. Elizabeth also tries to teach Victoria about love but she isn't ready yet and Victoria ends up back in a group home.
As an 18 year old aged out of the system Victoria is on her own and unprepared for the world. But somewhere in her heart the time with Elizabeth lingers. As she gets to the part of her story where she explains what happened when she was removed from what could have been her forever home she begins to understand she is capable of love even though it scares the bejezzus out of her and everything in her wants her to run.
By about 3/4 into the book I found it very painful to read, I was feeling so much for Victoria and had to close the book but it only lasted a couple of minutes because I needed to keep going and know if she was ok.
There is a listing in the back that is Victoria's list of flowers and their meanings and I found that very interesting. What a lovely way to tell someone how you feel about them, even when it's not so nice.
(Finished August 27, 2013)
Monday, August 26, 2013
Find Me by Debra Webb
On page 77 I thought to myself that I had this all figured out and I was a bit annoyed to have it so soon. But I kept reading because I enjoy Debra Webb's style. She writes a good sex scene, her female leads are damaged but strong woman who learn that to let love in doesn't diminish their strength and she writes mystery that is tension filled.
As I kept reading there are plenty of clues that point to my theory being correct and I was thinking that while I liked the story and wanted to know what the heck everyone in this town had hidden I was feeling disappointed and smug. Until the reveal started. And then I was glad because while I was in the right ballpark I didn't hit a homerun.
So far I have been enjoying her books. They make for nice breaks from heavy school related or emotionally rough reads.
(Finished August 26, 2013)
Also by Debra Webb
Nameless
Faceless
As I kept reading there are plenty of clues that point to my theory being correct and I was thinking that while I liked the story and wanted to know what the heck everyone in this town had hidden I was feeling disappointed and smug. Until the reveal started. And then I was glad because while I was in the right ballpark I didn't hit a homerun.
So far I have been enjoying her books. They make for nice breaks from heavy school related or emotionally rough reads.
(Finished August 26, 2013)
Also by Debra Webb
Nameless
Faceless
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow
This was a laying out of facts in the least dry history lesson you can get. The premise here being that the way wars or military operations are started now is not how the framers of our constitution intended. The bottom line being that one person should not wield that much power and that the legislative branch is to act a system of checks and balances in the President's ability to send out men and women in the military into combat.
What this book wasn't was a bashing of our military or a definitive statement against ever putting them into action.
Rachel Maddow writes the way she speaks on her show. She uses whit and sarcasm and a lot of well documented facts to lay out her points.
Very informative and very well done.
(Finished August 24, 2013)
What this book wasn't was a bashing of our military or a definitive statement against ever putting them into action.
Rachel Maddow writes the way she speaks on her show. She uses whit and sarcasm and a lot of well documented facts to lay out her points.
Very informative and very well done.
(Finished August 24, 2013)
Sunday, August 18, 2013
You're Not You by Michelle Wildgen
Ogres, onions and this book. What could they possibly have in common? They all have layers.
This book surprised me. When I read the back of the book I half expected this to be a formulaic tale of a flighty young woman who sees the error of her ways and finds herself growing up after she starts caring for a woman with Lou Gehrig's Disease. I say half expected because this book was given to me by my friend and fellow reader Rachel and she doesn't strike me as the kind who likes that kind of easy wrap up and wouldn't warn me I would feel some tough emotions while reading it if that had been the case.
Bec is the young woman in college hating her major and sleeping with a married teacher. She and her childhood friend are roommates and she still has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up. When she takes a summer job being a caregiver for Kate it changes her in ways she never expected.
Kate was diagnosed with ALS 2 years before Bec becomes her caregiver. Until her diagnosis she was a happily married, young, beautiful and vibrant young woman. Her disease has progressed fairly quickly and she is just about fully paralyzed and has a lot of trouble being understood when she speaks.
Over there time together an intimacy develops between them. An uneasy trust that comes from Bec doing things for Kate that aren't easy for either of them creates a bond and a love that takes them both by surprise.
One of the wonderful things about this book is that Bec isn't all of a sudden this selfless person who doesn't blink an eye at the things she needs to do for Kate. She is hesitant, unsure, embarrassed and even annoyed at times. She comes off the page as real and honest, thinking things that most people would think in her shoes, like how hard it is for her to touch Kate during showers and helping her go to the bathroom. Bec always does what she needs to but is, at least in her head, honest about how this isn't fun or pretty.
Evan is Kate's husband and his role in the story raises thought provoking questions and the way a terminal disease diagnosis touches the life of the spouse of the sick person. What are they expected to sacrifice and for how long? What is reasonable when it comes to their needs?
The way Wildgen uses descriptions of food and their tastes and smells and the act of shopping for and preparing it is sensual and adds a depth to the world taking place between the covers of this book. Color, sound, taste, they are like characters vital to the story and add such depth.
I felt extremely raw and unnerved by the end of this book. This isn't a criticism but more a testament to the way the story was so vivid and uncensored.
(Finished August 17, 2013)
This book surprised me. When I read the back of the book I half expected this to be a formulaic tale of a flighty young woman who sees the error of her ways and finds herself growing up after she starts caring for a woman with Lou Gehrig's Disease. I say half expected because this book was given to me by my friend and fellow reader Rachel and she doesn't strike me as the kind who likes that kind of easy wrap up and wouldn't warn me I would feel some tough emotions while reading it if that had been the case.
Bec is the young woman in college hating her major and sleeping with a married teacher. She and her childhood friend are roommates and she still has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up. When she takes a summer job being a caregiver for Kate it changes her in ways she never expected.
Kate was diagnosed with ALS 2 years before Bec becomes her caregiver. Until her diagnosis she was a happily married, young, beautiful and vibrant young woman. Her disease has progressed fairly quickly and she is just about fully paralyzed and has a lot of trouble being understood when she speaks.
Over there time together an intimacy develops between them. An uneasy trust that comes from Bec doing things for Kate that aren't easy for either of them creates a bond and a love that takes them both by surprise.
One of the wonderful things about this book is that Bec isn't all of a sudden this selfless person who doesn't blink an eye at the things she needs to do for Kate. She is hesitant, unsure, embarrassed and even annoyed at times. She comes off the page as real and honest, thinking things that most people would think in her shoes, like how hard it is for her to touch Kate during showers and helping her go to the bathroom. Bec always does what she needs to but is, at least in her head, honest about how this isn't fun or pretty.
Evan is Kate's husband and his role in the story raises thought provoking questions and the way a terminal disease diagnosis touches the life of the spouse of the sick person. What are they expected to sacrifice and for how long? What is reasonable when it comes to their needs?
The way Wildgen uses descriptions of food and their tastes and smells and the act of shopping for and preparing it is sensual and adds a depth to the world taking place between the covers of this book. Color, sound, taste, they are like characters vital to the story and add such depth.
I felt extremely raw and unnerved by the end of this book. This isn't a criticism but more a testament to the way the story was so vivid and uncensored.
(Finished August 17, 2013)
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