I'm Booking It
Mom on the move, book in hand
Book Club L
Book Club M
Upcoming Book Club Books
Book club M has selected our next 6 months of books, although we don't have the order yet. You can see our process and ballot in an earlier post.
We already had Cures for Heartbreak by Margo Rabb scheduled for our discussion next Monday.
Coming up after that, we now have:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Halting State by Charles Stross
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
Which is a nice set of books that I'm looking forward to reading. I'll review them here, and also follow up with how well they worked for us for discussion.
We had a few books that almost made the cutoff and will be on our ballot next time. This includes a couple that I may read anyway, because I was really hoping they would make it. Just because I run things doesn't mean I get my way :-). Really, one of the best things about being in a book club is reading books that I might not have picked up otherwise.
Posted by Laura on April 30, 2009 in Book Club, books, M
Tags: Book Club, books
Review: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
(Anyone in my book club that is discussing this book on Thursday may want to skip this review, at least until after our meeting!)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. I hesitate to give it 5 stars, because it may not be quite that good of a book. I was just enjoying it too much to notice.
I suspect that there are many people who will hate the book for the exact same reasons I love it. In particular, any fan of the Patriot Act or anyone that is not interested in technology should probably avoid Little Brother unless they want to come in with an open mind.
In the beginning, we are introduced to the main character– Marcus to the outside world, w1n5t0n (Winston) to his inner circle of buddies. He's talking his friends skipping out of his day in high school to play an "alternate reality" game with "physical, online, and mental" components. Along the way we hear about the surveillance every high school has as a matter of course (Laptops crippled with official spyware, "gait recognition" cameras to watch who comes and goes from the school). We listen to w1n5t0n explain how he can get around all of these and more. We also hear how he handles the principle, who thinks he's been up to something, but can't quite prove it.
As the group finds their way to the game's most recent clue, Something Happens. They aren't sure quite what, but they are taken prisoner by what seems to be the bad guys. Except it turns out the be the Department of Homeland Security. And aren't they supposed to be the good guys?
Marcus and two of his friends are released, not knowing the fate of the last of their group. The Bay Bridge was attacked by terrorists, and nothing will get in the way of those that intend to keep us safe– particularly not little details like the Bill of Rights.
Marcus continues to use his leadership skills and technical wizardry to try to preserve the rights he believes in.
I particularly loved the secondary characters. My favorite, with a fairly brief role, was the social studies teacher who risked her career to facilitate an honest discussion about the role of civil disobedience in standing up to government in the past and (the books) present. But I also appreciated Marcus's dad, who honestly believed going along with DHS was the right thing to do; and the friends that decided at various points that although they thought what Marcus was doing was right, they couldn't afford to take the chance of going along with it.
There was nothing subtle about the portrayal of where the author things certain government policies would go, given the opportunity. 1984, The Patriot Act, and the unrest of the 1970s all inspired the point and counterpoint of this novel.
The unique thing this book had going for it was its use of technology. Doctorow understands and is able to explain computer security, cryptography, computer networking and more. He uses them all in a realistic and interesting way. I never thought I'd see a good explanation of a "man in the middle" attack in a work of mainstream fiction. The technology worked for me as a techie, and I think it would work for an interested non-techie. I suspect a non-interested non-techie would be able to gloss over it without losing much steam in reading.
I enjoyed that this book encouraged me to think, and I also liked the ride it took me on. I think the ending probably was a bit too pat, but I'm willing to overlook that, and strongly recommend it to anyone not scared away by this review.
View all my reviews.
Posted by Laura on April 28, 2009 in Book Club, books, L, reviews
Tags: Book Club, book review, Cory Doctorow, Little Brother
Review: The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji
The Writing on My Forehead: A Novel by Nafisa Haji
I received this book from a Goodreads first reads giveaway. I signed up for several books that looked interesting, and was excited to hear I was selected for this one.
I found this book both entertaining and thought provoking. In one sense, this is the story of Saira and her sister. It is the story of of a girl growing into a woman and of the meeting of cultures. It is also the story of an extended family, and many other sibling pairs within it. More than anything else, it is a story of relationships.
Saira is a child of Indo-Pakistani immigrants to the US. Her sister seems to be quite happy in the role she is cast into by their parents' culture, but that just isn't the person that Saira is meant to be. Even as a young child, Saira always wants to know "why" and always pushes at her prescribed boundaries.
A trip to Pakistan at age 13 introduces Saira to some of her extended family and her family's history. She continues asking "why", and begins to hear the stories of the relationships that helped form who her parents are, and to form their attitudes towards her sister and herself. These come together as she grows older and begins to experience a run of tragedies, ending with one hinted at in the beginning of the book.
I found almost all of the characters interesting, likable (in their own way), and individual. In spite of each character having his/her own personality, each pairing (sibling or romantic) contains an echo from other relationships in the family, through different times and locations.
Going into this book, I didn't know very much about the history of the relationship between India and Pakistan. Although I was glad to know more, I was saddened to think about how much strife is going on in that part of the world, and reflect on the breadth of it. This is a theme touched on briefly in the book.
The writing was very good. There were a few points where it felt clumsy, or where the reader was told things perhaps we should have been left to discover on our own, but these were rare. For the most part, the writing stayed out of my way, which I appreciate in a book.
I'd recommend this book, and will keep my eyes out for others by the author. I give it a high 4 stars, wishing once again for half stars.
Posted by Laura on April 25, 2009 in books, reviews
Tags: book review, Nafisa Haji, The Writing on My Forehead
Review: Dead Ex by Harly Jane Kozak
Dead Ex by Harley Jane Kozak
This book was a fun read (or listen, in this case).
The basic plot was a "someone being framed for murder, best friend to the rescue" standard. The details were unusual, with entertaining twists and turns.
I loved the main character, Wollie. I should have found her hard to connect with: a 6 foot tall denizen of the L.A. celebrity set (she isn't a celebrity herself, although she has a brush with it), but I was clearly riding through the book with her– laughing as the situations she got into inspired some of her "alternative greeting cards", worrying about the trouble her best friend was in, concerned about her relationship with her boyfriend.
She's got a new guy in her life, and doesn't quite know where she stands. She's sleeping in his apartment, with her stuff in a suitcase in her very own walk in closet. Both of them are having a little trouble (or maybe too little trouble) separating work and pleasure: She picks up a job as a "dating correspondent" for a soap gossip show, he's an FBI agent with an undercover role dating a beautiful woman.
I don't know if the portrait of life in the community surrounding a soap opera was realistic or not. I don't really care, I enjoyed suspending disbelief. The characters were all exaggerated (in a good way), larger than life. The situations the characters found themselves in were as well.
I particularly enjoyed the "You will see Greeks everywhere" thread running through the book. Wollie is commissioned to paint a mural featuring Greek Mythology, in spite of knowing nothing about the subject. She is told that as she learns more, she will notice Greeks and Greek mythology everywhere, and so it happens. Perhaps this should have been more subtle, but subtle doesn't describe anything about this book.
In general, I found this book a very quirky read, and one that I enjoyed. I will read more of the series at some point.
Posted by Laura on April 23, 2009 in reviews
Tags: audiobook, book review, Dead Ex, Harly Jane Kozak
Past book club books
Tonight I faced that dilemma of book bloggers everywhere: Read or blog? (I'll ignore all of the other things I should be doing!).
After spending some time on Twitter talking about potential book club reads, I thought I'd share the list of what one of my book clubs has read to date.
This is a Book Club L, which came out of a moms' group I was part of. We started meeting when our kids were still very small, and are still going 9 years later. Some members have left, others have joined, but a core is still taking part each month.
Since 2004, we've used a consensus method of selecting books. Before that, we tried other voting methods, taking turns selecting the book, and probably others I'm not remembering.
This is almost 10 years of books! I'd already collected most of this list, I only needed to fill in the last year or so. I also listed the books we've selected but not read yet, so they are subject to change.
Our Past Book Club books
February 2000 Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama (St. Martin's Press, 1991)
March 2000 Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott (Fawcett Books, 1994)
April 2000 Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (Tor Books, September 1998)
May 2000 Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments (Anchor Books, February 1994)
June 2000 The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Viking Press, October 1986)
July 2000 Mothers Who Think: Tales of Real-Life Parenthood edited by Camile Peri and Kate Moses
August 2000 From Strength to Strength by Sara Henderson (St. Martins Press, April 2000)
Sept 2000 Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
October 2000 The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver
Nov 2000 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Dec 2000 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
January 2001 The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
February 2001 Married to a Stranger by Nahid Rachlin
March 2001 The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende.
April 2001 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Based on a True Story by David Eggers
May 2001 The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
June 2001 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling
July 2001 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Aug 2001 A Woman's Path : Women's Best Spiritual… (Maya Angelou, Diane Ackerman, Anne Lamott, & more)
Sept 2001 West with the Wind by Beryl Markham
October 2001 How Stella Got her Groove Back by Terry McMillan
Nov 2001 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Dec 2001 The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Jan 2002 Shop Girl by Steve Martin
Feb 2002 Big Purple Mommy: Nurturing Our Creative Work, Our Children, and Ourselves by Colleen Hubbard
March 2002 The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver 566 pages
April 2002 All New People by Anne Lamott 166 pages
August 2002 Skellig by David Almond 182 pages
Oct 2002 Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley 876 pages
Nov 2002 One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 304 pages
Dec 2002 Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis 336 pages
Jan 2003 The Nanny Diaries: A Novel by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus 352 pages
Feb 2003 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Helen Fielding 368 pages
Mar 2003 Sarah: Women of Genesis Orson Scott Card 352 pages
Apr 2003 Emma Jane Austen 384 pages
May 2003 The Giver Lois Lowry 208 pages
June 2003 Seabiscuit: An American Legend Laura Hillenbrand 432 pages
July 2003 The Heart of a Woman Maya Angelou 272 pages
August 2003 Bellwether by Connie Willis
Sep 2003 Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
October 2003 Firestorm by Nevada Barr
Nov 2003 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia) by C.S. Lewis
Dec 2003 Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
January 2004 Catch me If you Can by Frank Abagnale Jr.
February 2004 In Code: A young woman's Mathematical Journey by Sarah Flannery
March 2004 Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
April 2004 Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
May 2004 The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
June 2004 Holes by Louis Sachar
July 2004 Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Sep 2004 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
October 2004 Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
Novem 2004 Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Dec 2004 A Newbery Christmas: Fourteen Stories of Christmas by Martin H. Greenberg, Charles G. Waugh (ed)
January 2005 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
February: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
March: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
April: Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M Forster
May: About a Boy by Nick Hornby
June: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
July: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
August: Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen
September The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
October Blue Shoe by Anne Lamott
November Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
January 2006 The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble
February God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
March: The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter by Katherine Ellison
April: The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
May: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
June: Spirits in the Wire by Charles de Lint
July: The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory
August: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
September I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
October Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
November The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
December The Wave by Todd Strasser
January 2007 My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
February Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
March The Night Listener by Armistead Maupin
April To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
May Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle
June The Prince of Morning Bells by Nancy Kress
July Earth by David Brin
October Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
November The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
January 2008 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
February: The Faith Club by Idliby, Oliver & Warner
March: What is the What by Dave Eggers
April: The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
June: Heart in the Right Place: A Memoir by Carolyn Jourdan
July: The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
August: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
October: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
November: Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Meth Addiction by David Sheff
December: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
January 09: Not a Genuine Black Man by Brian Copeland with http://www.siliconvalleyreads.org/
February "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke.
March "The Visible World" by Mark Slouka
April "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow
May Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
June "Interred with Their Bones" by Jennifer Lee Carrell
July "Welcome to Biotech Nation" by Moira A. Gunn, Ph.D.
August "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
September "Second Honeymoon" by Joanna Trollope
Posted by Laura on April 20, 2009 in Book Club, books
Review: Malice Domestic 3
MALICE DOMESTIC 3 by Rosalind Greenberg
I downloaded this collection of "cozy" short stories from Overdrive on a whim.
I find short story collections to be hit or miss even at their best. As I listened to the first pieces, I thought perhaps this one had been a mistake. Short story mysteries are tricky, and maybe they don't adapt well to the audio format. Not having a list of stories/authors didn't help*.
# His Tears by Marilyn Wallace
# Sign of the Times by Nancy Pickard
# Cast Your Fate to the Wind by Deborah Adams
which didn't make much of an impression on me. In fact, I remember pretty much nothing about them.
After that, either I adapted to the stories, or the stories got better.
I really enjoyed
# Fannie's Back Fence Caper by Susan & Bill Albert
and will need to track down the authors, who have been recommended to me before. Following the path of a small town adventure through call-ins to the local radio show was very entertaining.
# The Dying Light by Taylor McCafferty
Was an interesting character study. Very creepy, a little spooky, and a nice buildup.
# The Family Jewels by Dorothy Cannell
Is an absolutely hilarious parody of historical adventure/romance novels.
# The Trouble with the Shoot by Camilla T. Crespi
Didn't grab me. Fashion and a dead body.
# High Heels in the Headliner by Wendy Hornsby
This was entertaining. I looked at as meta-fiction, the story of a woman who got a little too involved in the research for writing a myster novel. Or she could have just been delusional, in which case this would just be creepy and bizarre.
# Cara's Turn by Marlys Millhiser
Something about real estate. I restarted several times, but I just kept tuning out. Don't know whether it was the story or the narrator that was the problem, but it didn't click for me.
# Gentle Reader by Sharyn McCrumb
A humorous piece, which I enjoyed, even if it was a bit predictable– an author and the mob.
# Double Delight by L.B. Greenwood
# Make Yourselves at Home by Joan Hess
# Highwater by D.R. Meredith
As far as I can tell, these weren't in the audiobook, even though they were listed in the IBL as being in the collection.
In the end, I think the collection was successful. I'll check out more from Overdrive at some point.
*(Thanks to the Internet Book List http://www.iblist.com/ for the list of stories and authors)
Tags: audiobook, books, Malice Domestic, reviews
Review: Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
Pardonable Lies: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear
As I was reading, I was thinking this might be my first 5 star rating in a while. The characters were intriguing, the plot drew me in, the details on life in the 1930s were fascinating. The writing was wonderful (and I normally don't notice the writing). The plot lines wrapped up one by one. Just one left dangling…
Then the book almost dropped to 3 stars, I was so angry about how that story line resolved. OK, I suspect if I went back to the beginning, the details needed to make the conclusion relevant were there. But I really felt like it was pulled out of nowhere.
Grumble. But the rest of the book was really good, so I'll focus on that.
I'm a character driven reader– If a book has interesting characters, I can gloss over a lot of plot weakness. If the characters are weakly drawn, I have trouble caring about strong writing and plot. This book was strong on all of these.
The characters in this book were wonderful. I was drawn into Maisie's conflict, coming to terms with her past while trying to solve some cases that dredged up her history with WWI. Even most of the secondary characters were textured, and there are several I'd like to get to know better.
After the characters, what I liked most about this books were the reflections of the effects of war, even years after it ends. You see the effects on people that were there and of those that are left behind, of the effects on entire communities.
I like this series, the earlier books as well as this one. I'll go on to read the rest sooner rather than later. I'm just still disappointed in the conclusion of that one plotline!
Tags: books, Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs, Pardonable Lies, reviews
Laura de Leon is Booking It
I'm always reading, and usually on the move. I'm a mom-at-home exploring where I want to go in the world, trying to see what my next move will be. For more information, see About Me
My review policy and ethics statement is also on my About Me page.
Please leave comments!
You can also contact me at ImBookingIt@deLeons.com