the one about Laura Bush.

I just finished American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld and let's just say that I have very conflicted feelings about this novel.   The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of Laura Bush.  Or maybe not, because the author recommends you put Laura and George Bush out of your head while reading.  Really? Because reading this novel without thinking of the Bush presidency is nearly impossible to do.  The similarities between Alice Lindgren and Laura Bush are just too close for comfort.  I learned that Laura Bush was in a fatal car accident in high school, that her views on abortion are complex, that she made compromises in life for love.  So many other spoilers worth reading.

If modeled after George Bush, the character of Charlie Blackwell did not help enamor me to the president.  He attends Princeton, manages a meat packing industry, owns the Brewers and basically comes across as an egocentric, entitled and rough around the edges guy.  Not making a statement here about George Bush - just Curtis Sittenfeld's Charlie.  Charlie really irritated me throughout the novel and I questioned how a woman could marry a "boy" who is scared of the dark.  Alice portrayed many admirable characteristics - just not her choice in men.

In the end, this novel is fiction.  But reading about the president's drug use and sexual proclivities made me uncomfortable.  Relationships should on some level be private and held sacred.  This novel just goes to show that people are a lot more complicated than their public perception.

I enjoy reading Curtis Sittenfeld (author of Prep).  I would recommend this novel in part.  Just wish she had pared it down by about 200 pages.  The last third of the book steers off course and seems more a political commentary than a character exploration.  The beginning of the book - LOVE.

the one where death is the author.

This book absolutely wrecked me.  I'm still scraping away tears as I write this review.  The first fifty pages had me confused, the next 400 pages held my interest and the last 50 swept me away.

I will remember images from this book forever . . . Hans Habermann keeping watch and reading with Liesel through her nightmares, Rudy Steiner asking for his kiss, Rosa calling everyone a Saumensch, the pluckishness of Liesel stealing books from the mayor's wife.

I loved the last line of this book.  "I am haunted by humans."  Stories of World War II always grip my heart but this is perhaps the best novel I have read yet about Nazi Germany - the brutality, the heroism, the complex relationships that existed then.

The narrator in the book is Death himself.  He talks about collecting souls.  If you have ever lost someone close to you and witnessed their transformation, this book will mean something different to you.  I hope my soul is "sitting up" when that time comes.

The author has such control over the reader's emotions, revealing the plot at surprising moments.  You're left breathless.  Such an amazing book.  I want to read it all over again.

the one that is a mystery.

Will summarize later but consider this book read.

the one where dogs talk.

Another book from Christmas.  Note yellow lab, front and center. 

I was disappointed in The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  I know this is a popular book club pick and yet I just couldn't get into the voice of Enzo as the narrator.  An interesting idea.  I guess I just don't believe that dogs are that philosophical.  I also wasn't having the metaphors about life being like a racetrack.  Not my hobby.

Others might like this book.  The plot line is extremely sad.

And if you like dogs, you might be touched.  I just really wasn't.  A quick read.

the one that EVERYONE is reading.

I can totally see this book becoming a movie.  Kathryn Stockett, the author, sounds like she's loaded and grew up without a care or concern in this world.  She's a good author though and she knows how to spin a tale.  In this case, a tale of 3 women who anonymously write a book about the domestic help in Jackson, Mississippi and the horrid racism that existed there in the 1960s and probably still lingers.

That Hilly Holbrook . . . she is about the worst villian that ever was.  Many of the characters in the book make mistakes and you find a way to forgive them for their ineptitude.  Hilly is evil.

The coming of age that Skeeter experiences and her mother's bout with cancer was emotional to read.

I can't imagine that Kathryn Stockett will write another novel quite this good.  She writes the voices in this one pitch perfect because she lived the experience.  I have heard that some critics feel this book was written to help whites feel better about the time.  That it was "soft."  That Kathryn tries to impose her idea of what it's like to be domestic help and perpetuates stereotypes.  That the book is utterly predictable and doesn't hold memorable lines.  I would perhaps agree but at least the novel initiates a conversation for the many followers it will surely find in women's book groups.  And that is a start.

Looking forward to the discussion with our Stillwater Book Club.

the one that moves too slow.

Twenty 10 is off to quite the start!  I finished my second book on January 2nd.  Don't expect to see me back here for a few days though as I'm breaking open page 1 of The Help next.

In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore.  Learned about this book on a blog last spring.  Opened the book right away and wasn't terribly interested.  It really spoke to me though in late December when the world was crashing in.  I decided to change my schedule at work and (gasp) close the door for extended times when I was answering my email/phone messages.  I also shifted to a new way approach of handling email aka ALWAYS CLEAR OUT THE INBOX!  I stayed away from social lunches that drained my energy and actually ended up leaving work on time.

A few interesting thoughts/quotes:

"The secret of life is always to look for the tempo guisto"

Harvard Dean Harry Lewis writes a letter to every undergraduate freshman entitled "Slow Down."

In the early 1900s, many actually predicted a decreased work week (4 hours a day).  Hah!

"There is more to life than increasing it's speed"  Gandhi

A good book but it's not flashy and didn't always engage my attention.  Couldn't slow down enough to read it, I guess.  Oh the irony  . . .

the first one.

Starting over this year and my first book read is:
Traveling with Pomegranates


I didn't think too much of this book in the beginning.  Bought it 50% off in Cleveland.  Great title though about the legend of Demeter and Persephone and the transformation mothers & daughters go through.  Initially, I felt the authors (mother and daughter Kidd) had way too much time on their hands to analyze dreams and explore foreign countries.  Rough life.

That said, this was an extremely honest reflection on discovering oneself.  I'm insanely jealous of the time they spent exploring Joan of Arc and the Black Madonnas and Athena in Greece & Paris.  If you love Secret Life of Bees, you'll enjoy Traveling with Pomegranates.  Sue Monk Kidd talks about writing the book here.  I would recommend to Claudia et al who like feminist literature but no others.

Book Thirty Five

Well, my aspiration of becoming an official bibliophile will have to wait one more year.  But I'm proud nonetheless that I worked my head around 35 books.  I KNOW that I can hit 50 in 2010!

The last book I finished in 2009 was the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  Craziest book title ever but a poignant story.  I love reading about the occupation and World War II and felt pleasantly introduced to the Guernsey Islands and its inhabitants.  My fascination for London is quickly escalating and I would LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE to travel to Guernsey in person. 

The love story . . . didn't do much for me.  But I enjoyed reading all the letters describing Elizabeth and others who demonstrated great acts of courage.  The author writes in a style that resembles Maeve Binchy.  The characterization and sense of place is spot on.  This was a quick read.  I couldn't necessarily predict the surprises that lay in store and I wanted to read more.

I am happy for Mary Ann Shaffer that she could write such a novel in her golden years.  I won't remember this novel for long but am glad it has been published and will fill library shelves.

Book Thirty Four

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  It had guts.  I thought it would be just another book about a male ego but it was more than meets the eye.  I'm desparately sad about missing this book club as I feel I could gain a lot from the discussion.  Unfortunately, it snowed today and I had a commute from hell.  Somedays, it is awfully hard to appreciate Minnesota.

But, back to the book.  Guterson's writing was very detailed which caused me to detach from the characters initially.  Clearly, John William Barry was depressed and his depression was aggravating as most depressions are.   I found myself more taken with the setting than the characters at the outset.  Guterson writes about the Seattle mountains and environs with great admiration.  I'm not a hiker but I felt as if I was breaking my own trail.  A mix of action and contemplation, this could be a book for both genders.

As the book continued on, it made me think.  Similar in plot but  more developed, this novel seems more ambitious and enhanced than Krakauer's Into The Wild.  It is thoughtful about existentialism and delves further than just the actions of the hermit.  It wonders about nurture and nature and if John William Barry suffered the effects of bad parenting.  It makes you question Neil Countryman's decisions and motives and consider what life might be like if 19 million dollars fell out of the clouds one day into your hands.

This is a novel that I might recommend (to some) and would certainly be on a personal Top 10 list of my own IF it were just a little less verbose OR if I was just a little more male.  Know what I mean?

Book Thirty Three

I've been hearing in blogland (the place I go to check out & simultaneousy be inspired) that Ruth Reichl is the bomb.  And also that the world is now coming to an end with the close of her Gourmet magazine.  I had to find out for myself and read Garlic and Sapphires.  Here, Reichl discusses her reign as the restaurant critic for the New York Times.  The title drew me in but the cover turned me off.  Ick.  I had to strip the book down before I could read it.  And yes, I accidentally ordered large print through Better World Books.  Maybe this is a book I'll read again in thirty years when the eyes are shot and trips to NYC are a distant memory.

That said, the memoir was a tad bit self important and vapid.  And yet, I have to admit that I was hungry reading it.  I have heard of all these executive chefs before: Rocco DiSpirito and Daniel Boulud, for example.  Famous haunts like Le Cirque and Tavern on the Green.  The book was very cosmopolitan and good background reading if you are a fan of the Martha show.  I nearly put Martha back in my Tivo so I could taste the dishes and glimpse the celebrity in person.  I will never eat at Le Cirque (never say never) but I feel as if I have eaten there after finishing this book.

I wonder what Reichl will do next?  What adventures does she have in store for us now?