Top Ten Books I Loved But Never Wrote A Review For

August 23, 2011 2 Comments


This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is Top Ten Books You Loved But Never Wrote A Review For (either books you loved and couldn’t bring yourself to write a review for or books that you read long before blogging…time to give them a shoutout!)

To be honest, this is one reason why I have a Books That Made Me feature, so that I can gush over my favorite books that I read long before I had a blog. But there are also some books that fall outside that category that I wish I had written reviews for.

1) The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton — I routinely gush about this book but have never written an actual review. 5/5
2) The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis — another book I enjoyed last year that I never got around to writing a review for. 4/5.
3) The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas — this book was thoroughly infuriating but in a good way. 4/5.
4) There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried To Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya — a short story collection I actually enjoyed? Stop the presses! Dark fairy tales. Definitely should’ve given this one its due. 4/5.
5) The Collector by John Fowles — sort of creepy though I predicted the ending (my co-worker who recommended it did not however so it’s a tossup whether it’s actually predictable or not) It’s a really good read either way to be honest. 4/5.
6) After Dark by Haruki Murakami — my first Murakami. I wish I’d written a review for this one to better solidify the plot in my mind. Also because a lot of Murakami fans don’t seem to like this one and I think it needs more love. 5/5.
7) Dark Places by Gillian Flynn – just a damn good mystery. 5/5.
8) Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood — I’m sure Atwood’s other books are better than this, but this is a fun but still smart little book. The ending was slightly disappointing (a bit rushed), but I’d recommend it nonetheless. 4/5.
9) We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson — unsettling, creepy, you know, what Shirley Jackson seems to do best. 4/5.
10) The Secret History by Donna Tartt — not to worry, I’m sure I’ll do a Books That Made Me post on this one ;) 5/5. ~favorite book status~

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Book Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun

May 23, 2011 2 Comments

Title: South of the Border, West of the Sun
Author: Haruki Murakami
Format: Trade Paper
Publisher: Vintage
Pub Date: 1999; this edition: 2000
Read: May 2011
Source: wow, I actually…don’t remember
Why: I’ve read 2 Murakami books, both of which I loved; however, the reason I picked this one has to do with something I read…authors discussing books that stayed with them or haunted them or the ending was devastating…or something along those lines. Jeez, my memory with this book is failing like whoa.
Fulfills Challenge? Yes
Notes: N/A

Review/Thoughts:
This novel was reminiscent of Norwegian Wood for me, but I think I liked this one more. It is just as melancholy but I found that it had a more sinister feel to it, which kept me more interested in the outcome. Like all of Murakami’s work (or so it would seem), it has that dreamlike quality. Strange things happen, things go unexplained, people go unexplained.

From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle,

Is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another?

We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person’s essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything important about anyone?

I don’t think Hajime, the main character, ever tries to convince himself that he knows Shimamoto well, but her unknowability, the absence of information surrounding the details of her life is a greater presence than any single detail about her. What Hajime doesn’t know about her could fill a book and essentially does.

The main character’s tendency to act in his own self-interest, with little regard to others, especially the women in his life, will rub some people the wrong way, but I was not bothered by it. His unlikability is a complaint I’ve seen launched at this book over and over again, and I can definitely see where people are coming from even though I don’t feel that way myself. I felt very neutral toward him (didn’t like or dislike him), but I loved the story. And despite my frustration over the lack of answers (damn you Murakamiiiiiiii *fist shake*), I still loved the book.

Final Verdict:

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10 Books I Want to Reread

May 18, 2011 6 Comments

I got this idea from Sarcastic Female Literary Circle (what a great name for a blog btw!) and thought I’d do 10 of my own. So, here we go!

1) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: As I have probably mentioned before, I first read TKAM in 6th grade. After literally spending months analyzing this damn book, I think I can safely say that more than a few of us were sick and tired of it. Still, I consider it to be a masterpiece, but I’d definitely like to give it a try without all the analysis.

2) A Separate Peace by John Knowles: I read this the summer before high school, not expecting to like it very much, but I ended up loving it. I also ended up crying because of what happens to Finny. I had cried over books before this but this was the first time I cried over a human character (that’s right…all previous sob-fests had involved an animal). Recently bought this at Housing Works so I could eventually reread it (also, because I actually didn’t own it).

3) The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton For whatever reason I did not like this book quite as much as I thought I was going to or as much as other people do. I’d picked it up a few years after reading The Custom of the Country but found that I liked the underappreciated work a lot more. Last year, I bought the Modern Library edition with the express intention of eventually rereading it.

4) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald As I mentioned in the 30 Day Book Meme, I really loved Gatsby when I first read it but recently came to the random and unsubstantiated conclusion that this book is overrated. I’d definitely like to give it another shot.

5) Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews You didn’t think I was only going to name classics did you? Yes, sometimes I really do feel like revisiting this (as well as the rest of the series). But I also feel like some things are better left alone.

6) After Dark by Haruki Murakami It has not been that long since I’ve read this book, but I read it SO quickly, and on my computer surprisingly enough! It just flew by. I loved it, but now I can’t remember very much of it. So definitely need to revisit in the future.

7) Wayside School Is Falling Down by Louis Sachar Gotta revisit my favorite children’s book, c’mon son!

8) Arcadia by Tom Stoppard The one and only book I did not finish in my ILS (Integrated Liberal Studies) class in high school. We didn’t have to know it for the oral exam and so I never actually read the end myself (I think I looked it up later on or gleaned the ending from class discussions) and all I remember thinking was shit! I should’ve finished that, it sounds so good!

9 & 10) The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer A two for one special! Nah, but seriously, I’d love to read both of these again, especially The Iliad… oh Achilles, you’re so sexy when you’re ragey!

Filed Under: reading Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I have dreamed of you so much, you are no longer real

May 25, 2010 2 Comments

Have you ever formed an attachment to an author or a book before reading them? Working at Barnes and Noble I seem to be especially prone to such attachments. They come without warning, these attachments, for any number of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with the content of the book itself.

After the first floor rejected Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, I took it under my wing and nursed it as if it were my own child. I put it on our favorites table and never looked back. Two years later, it still sits there thanks to me and every time I go on vacation I remind my coworkers that it is one of three books that had better still be on the table when I get back. I am attached to this book for no reason other than I could not believe the first floor didn’t immediately put it on their favorites table.

Norwegian Wood is another of the three that I am especially fond of. I finally read it this weekend, but before that I insisted on having it on the table always. Admittedly I am a little familiar with Haruki Murakami’s work, having read After Dark on a whim last year. By on a whim, I mean I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I simply sat down and started reading it with no knowledge or expectations. (I also finished it in one sitting). But even before that, I think I was a little fond of Norwegian Wood for reasons I cannot completely explain. It is not simply that I know it will sell off of the table. That is certainly part of it, but I know of plenty of books that will sell off of our table that I don’t latch on to in quite the same way.

And then there is Everything Is Illuminated. Unlike the aforementioned titles, I cannot even begin to trace this attachment to anything substantial or otherwise. I do know that I have always had a thing for writer couples, and the husband and wife duo of Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss is no exception. But this fact has nothing to do with my personal feelings for the book. I didn’t even know these two were married until just a few months ago. In addition, I have never had any real interest in the plot, making this particular attachment particularly strange. I am finally giving in, however. Everything Is Illuminated is part of my own personal summer reading list. It feels almost as though I am giving in to something that started a long time again. I am giving in to a pull I don’t quite understand, but what the hell? At least it’s just a book, and not drugs, yeah? And because I can’t leave out Nicole Krauss without feeling a little guilty, I’ve decided to read The History of Love this summer as well. In fact, I’ve already started it.

Filed Under: literary Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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