June, 2007
June 1st, 2007, 9:08 p.m. - Yeah, I am!
I'm going on vacation tomorrow! Whether you like it or not!
June 9th, 2007, 3:55 p.m. - The roundup
Like last summer, I read a bunch of books at the beach and will have to talk about them all at once. So here's my now-annual beach reading roundup:
15. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
16. The Woods (Harlan Coben)
After this I was going to read Dean Koontz's The Good Guy, but I quickly realized that I'd gotten a bum copy - some of the pages weren't printed. So I read this instead:
17. Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress (Susan Jane Gilman)
18. The Spellman Files (Lisa Lutz)
Up next: A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
June 10th, 2007, 10:02 p.m. - Get it? "True to foam"? Like "true to form," but with...foam? Well, I thought it was funny
June 14th, 2007, 5:59 p.m. - Let the drama begin!
June 16th, 2007, 11:24 p.m. - A love letter to Afghanistan
19. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
Up next: The Good Guy (Dean Koontz)
June 19th, 2007, 5:20 p.m. - See? Sometimes Democrats are funny!
Chelsea could kick Meadow's butt. And yes, that is Vincent Curatola (AKA Johnny Sack).
11:12 p.m. - Eh
20. The Good Guy (Dean Koontz)
Up next: New England White (Stephen L. Carter)
June 21st, 2007, 8:54 a.m. - That was the best title I could come up with at 11:45 last night
"Put Another Lobster on the Barbie"
June 26th, 2007, 7:58 p.m. - This is why I'm not a journalist
So...now can we stop talking about Paris Hilton? No? How about now? No? Okay, then.
June 28th, 2007, 8:24 p.m. - So long, and thanks for all the shellfish
"'I Guess I Didn't Really Understand How Complex Franks and Beans Are'"
The Kite Runner was this summer's The Secret Life of Bees for me. Both were popular when they came out and both took a while to catch my interest. I'd actually tried a couple of times to get into The Kite Runner before last week, but once it started moving, I raced through it. Great story, great writing, and great characters - especially the protagonist, Amir, who is both flawed and likable. I'll be tackling Hosseini's new book A Thousand Splendid Suns in a little while.
Eh. I've liked Coben's past mysteries (Tell No One is terrific), but this didn't do much for me. Coben really isn't a brilliant writer. His novels are definitely plot-driven, which is kind of annoying, especially since they don't have memorable (or even very likable) characters to make up for that. Still, it was nice to read another Coben mystery since I hadn't for a while.
Gilman states that she wanted to write this memoir because so many chick-lit novels and memoirs are about men, dating, having sex, being single, etc. Amen! I'm sick of chick-lit in general, since the label makes it sound like it's dumbed down for women (which it often is). Some of Gilman's memories of her life do revolve around men and sex, but for the most part they're just honest renderings of the memorable moments in her life, like growing up a little liar, learning about her heritage by writing about teenagers' visits to concentration camps, and skipping out on the possibility of meeting Mick Jagger and later being rewarded by unexpectedly meeting...Mick Jagger. Gilman's honesty is what's most refreshing - she doesn't hold back, and she's not afraid to admit to her past mistakes. She definitely makes me want to read more about her childhood.
The Spellman Files is kind of like Veronica Mars in book form (if Veronica had a mom and younger sister who were also PI's). Basically, in a word, it's awesome. Definitely my favorite book so far this year. Lutz is hilarious, and I love her dialogue (which is always something I focus on when I read because unmemorable or unrealistic dialogue drives me crazy). Every character is wonderfully drawn, especially Izzy, the protagonist, and her little sister Rae. More from Lutz, please!
As much as The Kite Runner was about how friendships can fall apart because of human beings' weaknesses, A Thousand Splendid Suns is about how friendships can be strong despite human beings' weaknesses. Like The Kite Runner's Amir, Laila and Mariam, the protagonists of the novel, are flawed but realistic, and that's what makes them relatable (Laila especially). A few parts of the book are a little annoying - Rasheed is one-dimensional and Laila's story wraps up a little too perfectly - but I love Hosseini's style and the way he weaves stories. He writes such vivid scenes and presents beautiful images. I hope he doesn't take so long to write his next book.
Is it bad that I was more interested in the psychotic villain than the two heroic main characters? Because if so...yeah, it wasn't good.