the weird one about twins.

 Who writes a book like this?  Terribly, terribly strange and disturbing.  Or maybe just further evidence that I am not a fan of sci fi and never will be.

Her Fearful Symmetry is the follow-up novel to Audrey Niffenegger's Time Travelers Wife.  The topic of the novel was intriguing: a quirky aunt dies and leaves her fortune to her nieces; becomes a ghost and observes them. There is a cast of equally quirky characters and an interesting setting near a cemetery in England.  That said, the relationship between the twins is at once dark and incestuous.  And what ultimately happens in the book is downright dumb.

The reviews of Her Fearful Symmetry have been horrific.  Kirkus Reviews calls the plot of this book "breathtakingly far-fetched."  The book is terribly readable but ridiculously macabre. 

This book was a gift - if you want to call it that.  I should have known the novel was a stinker from the first page.  The names of the two main characters are Edwina and Elspeth.  Shame on me that I didn't put the novel down after page 50.

the one about butchers.

I am BEYOND thrilled about my new book club.  Kate is hosting at her house next week for an eclectic group of girls (non-related except for a love of books).  I'm eager to meet some of Sarah's blogging friends and someone who lived kitty korner from me freshman year in Brandt!

But about the book.  I'm pretty sure I read Master Butchers Singing Club years ago.  It was on my shelf.  But as I read the book again ??? it was so unfamiliar.  I'm hoping this book will cement in my memory now with a lively discussion.  It is a saga of grand proportion and written by a woman who knows words.

Without revealing too much, thoughts I had about the book:
1) What must it have been like to be a German American during/after WWII?  I'm German after all.
2) Has Louise Erdrich experienced death/cancer?  B/C she writes so authentically about the experience.
3)  How in the world did Erich get to a POW camp in N.  Minnesota?  Really?
4)  How was Delphine's relationship with Fidelis any different than with Ciprine?
5)  Did TOO much drama sacrifice character dev?  The female undertaker and Step and a Half?

I'm excited to read Last Report at Little No Horse now set in the same fictional town of Argus.  And I anticipate the next assigned novel for our new book club without a name.

the lukewarm one.

I have been dying to read The History of Love by Nicole Krauss.  And now that I've read it, I'm not even sure what to say.  The book was confusing and it didn't have to be.  Just trying to understand the plot took away from reveling in the beauty of the characters.  If it weren't for old man Leo, I would have put the book on the shelf days ago. 

This seems to be a popular book attracting those that enjoyed Time Travelers's Wife and flocked to the  movie Julie and Julia.  The novel has a very devoted following.  Just hoping that someone who loved the novel can help me understand.  My brain is a muddied mess after reading the last page.

ho-hum.