Club Dead: This is kind of an awkward start to this project because this is the third book in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Southern vampire mystery series, better known as the inspiration for HBO's True Blood. David's aunt kindly gave us her collection of the series and we've been reading through them whenever we have a mo'. The characters/writing aren't great, but the plot is what you'd expect from a series that is about vampires and other supernatural creatures. The series is much better than Twilight, which is all I wanted (though not hard to achieve).
Sophie's Choice, William Styron: I confused this book with Sophie's World for a while, and I'm glad I can now differentiate the two. This details the (fictional) experiences of an Auschwitz survivor. It took me about a week to read, but I loved every second of it. There are literary allusions galore, dynamic characters, and believable events. It almost read like a memoir, especially since the narrator, Nathan, is an aspiring novelist. Would recommend.
The Little Prince/Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery: The cutest children's story ever. I've read both the French and English versions and can't decide which I like better. It's meant for children, but has sweet moments that adults can enjoy, too. And it has an illustrated snake that I actually find kind of precious. See?
Adorable.
The Bone People, Keri Hulme: I almost stopped reading this book in the middle, but that's similar to breaking the highest moral law to me, so I finished as quickly as possible. It's about the abusive, but at the same time loving, relationship between an adopted son, his father, and a woman they happen to latch onto. It takes place in New Zealand and the characters speak a mixture of Maori tribe dialect and English. The diction was very difficult for me to get into, so reading each sentence took a great deal of effort, and to be honest, it wasn't really worth it. I hoped it would be a postcolonial novel but didn't really get that sense.
The Ten Year Nap, Amy Wolitzer: Like a fictional version of The Feminine Mystique. Quite a few women who ended up being stay-at-home moms regret or reevaluate that decision. I loved the feminist aspects of this novel (there was a contingent of women in a consciousness-raising group who felt their daughters had betrayed their fight for women's equality), but it had virtually no plot to speak of, and the characters didn't grow much. I don't regret reading, but probably would not recommend unless the reader had lots of free time, and that description fits nobody I know.
Shattered Dreams, Irene Spencer: Absolutely fascinating memoir written by a woman who grew up in the Mormon church. She detailed her life from a starving child fighting for the affection of her father to a plucky woman starving for the affection of her husband (whom she shared with at least six other wives). Would recommend to anyone even slightly interested in the Mormon religion, even though it was heartbreaking at times.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells: I bought and read this book because I remember watching the movie with my mama. I liked it, for the most part, but I still liked the movie better, probably because I have happy memories associated with it.
The Polysyllabic Spree: "The hilarious and true account of one man's struggle with the monthly tide of the books he's bought and the books he's been meaning to read." This collection of columns by Nick Hornby is MY LIFE, you guys. Ironically, I bought the book at a time when I felt my book list was lagging (????), hoping for recommendations to add. Now I find myself passing over any promising books he writes about because my book list is totally out of control.
That's all for now. I probably should've saved this for the end of the month but school is starting soon and I felt I should do it while I still have the patience. S'later.
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