B.Read List 2014
Tuesday, January 13
Favorites: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly; Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami; Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Least Favorites: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt; A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers; Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Re-reads: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly; Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli; I Am Not Myself These Days by Josh Kilmer-Purcell; Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans
Nonfiction: Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni; Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer; Thrive by Arianna Huffington
Notable Mentions: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris; Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer; Thrive by Arianna Huffington
To summarize: I was definitely surprised to read books by two of my favorite authors (Chuck Palahniuk and Dave Eggers) that I felt just "Eh" about. On the upside though, I discovered a new-to-me author that I fell in love with: Haruki Murakami. Though I wasn't as smitten with After Dark as I was with Kafka on the Shore, they were both interesting reads. I look forward to reading more by him and by Jeffrey Eugenides. Shawn handed me Into Thin Air when I was between books; I wouldn't have picked it out on my own based on the premise, but what an enthralling read! It was also fun to re-read books from my bookshelf, Stargirl in particular because I originally read it as a teenager and I had a different understanding of it this time around. And of course, The Book of Lost Things is my absolute favorite and I loved reading it another time through. I want to read more by John Connolly but it's my understanding that the majority of his other books are a very different genre, unfortunately.
2 comments:
Oh, yay! I was hoping you'd post this. What a good looking group of books there! Having read both "Heartbreaking Work" and "The Circle" now by Dave Eggars, I have to say, I really, really dislike him as a writer. Though that one book, "Zeitoun" was strong. His other stuff, when he's writing as himself, no merci. To each their own! I'll have to look into "The Book of Lost Things" now since you mentioned it was your favorite! xo
The only other books I've read by Eggars are "You Shall Know Our Velocity" and "How We Are Hungry"; I enjoyed both of those, but I really disliked "Heartbreaking Work" and only finished it on principal. If you're willing to give him another try though, I recommend "You Shall Know Our Velocity". Though, I read that when I was 21 and traveling Europe, so perhaps that had something to do with my outlook on it. And yes! -read "The Book of Lost Things"! I've never really been into the fantasy genre so it's incredibly strange to me that I enjoy it as much as I do... but there's just something about it...
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